Celestial Fire
And so, with family to support and bills to pay, session work regained its old importance.
But creative musicians do not stop creating. Bainbridge launched a crowd-funding campaign to produce his second solo album Celestial Fire.
He enthused, “It is an album I’ve always wanted to make, which really draws upon the excitement and exhilaration I first felt, listening to many of my early musical heroes (Yes, Gentle Giant, Clannad, Mike Oldfield, Keith Emerson, Ralph Vaughan-Williams and his contemporaries).
“Although I love Iona’s music, there have been certain musical areas that I know I’m good at that would, perhaps, feel out of place on an Iona album.
“For example, my first instrument is piano / keyboards, and in Iona’s music the keyboards often fulfill a specific role: to create atmospheres, over which Jo’s voice or the guitar, pipes, violin or (in the early days) sax or flute can soar. However I also love playing rock Hammond organ solos and solo piano, both of which I haven’t really had the opportunity to explore within the band.”
Those influences are let loose on Celestial Fire, which could be the best recording he has ever made. With Randy George’s Rickenbacker bass taking a Chris Squire approach and some keyboard tones reminiscent of Patrick Moraz, the Yes influence is probably the strongest.
It is as if his pent up desire to express himself in this way has fired up all of his best efforts. Another motivating factor could be a sense of responsibility to the funding crowd, whom he has had to repay with a variety of ‘perks’.
Crowd-funding works by the artist offering incentives for the up-front investment of cash to fund the recording process. Small amounts simply earn the earliest copies of the album, but in Bainbridge’s case, higher investors earned piano lessons by Skype, house concerts and even ‘Piano for You’, where (for £150) Bainbridge offered “a unique solo piano version of any Iona song of your choice” sent digitally and on a signed CD.
One investor craftily made the most of this, claiming the whole of the 20-minute BBC-commissioned “Snowdonia Suite” from the Iona box set.
“The house concerts I did as part of the Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign were all very special in different ways and all great fun,” Bainbridge commented. “It introduced my music to new audiences and made me realise that I’ve inherited more of my parents’ entertainment genes than I’d thought!
“Both my parents had been professional musicians, singers and all-round entertainers, performing in big theatres around the country in the ‘40s and ‘50s, then in smaller venues like working men’s clubs in the ‘60s and ‘70s. In fact my Mam was still in demand as a club organist and entertainer right into her 70s.
“Having no one else to rely on, it’s been really nice to develop a rapport with audiences and to develop my adlibbing skills. One thing that people have really appreciated about the house concerts is seeing a skilled musician very close up, rather than miles away on a stage. It makes the whole experience more personal and real.”
Describing another house concert, he recalled, “In a huge country house, the host had the idea of booking me just before Christmas and inviting loads of his friends, primarily because he felt that people outside the church rarely got together to sing carols any more. So for the last part of the concert I played carols and it was really special to hear all these people joining in with gusto with songs celebrating the Saviour’s birth - songs that they’d probably not sung since they were children.“So is this the end of Iona? “It’s difficult to know how things will pan out. In July I did a great tour as a duo with Sally Minnear and that was very well received and is much more economical to take out on the road than a full band. We’ll definitely be building on that, but I hope 2016 and beyond will see a mix of touring from all of these projects. For me the music on Celestial Fire is a continuation of my work in Iona, both musically and spiritually.”
And for those who want a possible exclusive on the future, “I have a solo piano album almost finished and that will be the next release.”
It’s all so much bigger than that dream of 100 cassettes. Invivo Sauvignon Blanc 2014
Derek Walker Here’s another Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand’s Marlborough, but with a difference, coming from a dryer and cooler part of that South Island region, the Awatere Valley.
Pale straw in the glass, on the nose, it was intensely full and aromatic. Refreshingly crisp and dry at first sip: then, on the palate, there emerged mineral notes and as it opened up a procession of fruit flavours. There was first something of Europe: fresh green apple and green gooseberry, a touch of lemon. (For a French Sauvignon counterpart think perhaps the Loire’s Pouilly-Fumé. But then came the tropics: guava and passion fruit. Something of citrus again reasserting itself followed, riper this time, coming out very much at the end and continuing on to the finish, which was long and satisfying.
Serve moderately chilled. Alcohol by Vol. 12.5%. A fresh and lively aperitif, will go well with white meats and fish dishes.
Graham Gendall Norton