The band’s manager in the early ‘70s, Max Hole, became A&R Director at Warner Bros in the ‘80s, discovering and signing one Howard Jones, which was ironic as that was my birth name before I changed it to John Howard in 1970! Last time I heard about Max, he was Head Honcho at...
I love the music ofJohn Howardas it is just so elegant and eloquent. There is a timelessness to his songs; he writes songs that could have graced the stage in the days of Coward and Berlin, or, in the days of Ray Davies or even McCartney in his geniusRamdays, or, in even more r...
Three of the four concerts in the series have featured pieces by the composer Howard Blake, best known for the song Walking in the Air that was used in the animated film of The Snowman, memorably covered by the young Aled Jones in 1985. In a long career Blake has written much else,...
Last year Aled Jones did a duet version and this year I�ve just done a new arrangement for Katherine Jenkins for her tour. �All these things join up to keep the interest going. And then there�s the book and the merchandising so The Snowman is a brand which is known all over...
Black Dub consists of long‑standing Lanois collaborators drummer Brian Blade (Wayne Shorter, Joni Mitchell, Norah Jones), bassist Daryl Johnson, and the spectacular young Belgian‑American singer Trixie Whitley, daughter of the late blues singer Chris Whitley. The "cinematic” aspect of Lanois'...
Terry Jones In addition to writing and performing with Monty Python, Terry Jones went on to direct the legendary British comedy troupe's movies and wrote numerous children's books. He died on Jan. 21 at the age of 77, more than four years after being diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia....
Christian Jones, bass trombonist in the Opera North Brass Ensemble, recalls that a memorable performance of Howard Blake's 'Sinfonietta' was conducted by Paul Daniel in Leeds Town Hall with virtually the same players who then constituted the brass section of The English Northern Philharmonia. The...