Video

Videography was something I did professionally whilst working at the online tutorial site MusicGurus. I can’t say I got deeply into the technical side of the craft but I did enjoy the challenge of visual story telling, particularly the editing phase. I pursued a couple of projects freelance that are recorded below

Raph Clarkson’s Dissolute Society -Documentary Series

I put together a trio of videos for jazz musician Raph Clarkson. Raph’s produced an album inspired by his mother, who sadly died when Raph was in his early teens, and his grandmother, who was a German Jew in WWII. We spent a moving afternoon filming on Hampstead Heath with Raph and his dad in front of the camera, and me and my dad behind it.

Temmpo ‘Nobody’ – Live Music Video

On a memorable afternoon on a rooftop in Camden I filmed a live video for producer Temmpo. It was a pretty hectic shoot to handle on my own and syncing it all up was a bit of a nightmare, but I think it turned out alright.

Good Good Study – Chinese Education Documentary

I’ve got a soft spot for this project. I spent six months at a school in Beijing and the administration asked me to make a documentary to celebrate an upcoming anniversary. I was assigned two student assistants called Salena and Darwin – we checked out a few camcorders and off we went. I ended up going for quite a personal Louis Theroux-esque approach. I’m not sure it made the cut for the anniversary celebrations but it serves as a record of a wonderful adventure in China. You can check out the mandarin subtitled version here.

Save the Vortex Steinway – Campaign Video

I used to volunteer at the Vortex jazz club in East London. It’s a pretty madcap community-run organisation that’s an essential part of the UK jazz scene. They needed to crowdfund a restoration of their grand piano and I made a series of videos with top UK pianists to promote it. Each musicians talks a bit about the venue and then improvises a little.

Yazz Ahmed – Interview

I shot a brief interview between trumpeter Yazz Ahmed and Seb Scotney of London Jazz News. It was filmed at Kings Place in North London just next to the Regent’s Canal (where I moored up a few times during the brief period I lived on a canal boat)

MusicGurus – Music Tutorial Videos

The bulk of my video making experience came whilst working for MusicGurus. They provide a platform for pro musicians to take part in the boom in online video-based music courses. I learnt a tonne working with Christo and Tom and have a lot of fun experiences to look back on. Probably the most memorable was meeting up with Snarky Puppy’s Zach Brock in Italy (where he was out tour) to record a course on improvising as a string player.