Howard Jones will play a full electronic gig at Zoetermeer, The Netherlands on August 17, 2019. He will be joined on stage by a guitarist, a second keyboard player, an electronic percussionist and an electronic drummer. The gig celebrates both the outcome of his newest album Transform and the 35th anniversary of his debut album Human's Lib. I believe I am but one of the few dutchmen to have ever paid attention to his body of musical work. So much so, that I believe this is one of the few gigs he's ever played on dutch soil in the 35 years he's been in the music industry. Such a shame; his music is fairly underrated outside the UK, but I hope he will re-gain some european attention by playing these few gigs on the continent (The Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Spain). 

As a tribute to his work, I'm in the middle of a project covering some of his music, more particular songs from the first five albums. In this upload one can hear two covers from his last Warner-album In The Running (1991): The melancholic piano-based ballads One Last Try and City Song. I recorded these in one continuous take.

Howard Jones cover - One Last Try & City Song (1991)

Kind of an oldie, dating way back to 2007. Lyrics and music, and all the arrangements by me. Originally recorded with my former band, the Nieuwegein-based and 1996-founded The Freakin' Factory. As a band consisting of people with mild mental disabillities and/or autism we mostly played material, both Dutch and English written by our musical teachers-chaperones. By 2003 some of the band members started contributing lyrics and musical bits and for our 2004 album "Tijd" some of us actually got to (co-)write a few songs. "Way To Heaven" was written for and included in our 2007 album "En Nu Naar Huis", which once again had a mix of Dutch and English songs, which were all new material. As I left the band in 2007, I took this song with me for further finetuning. I re-arranged and recorded it in 2011 - playing all instruments and singing all vocal parts myself - but that version was kinda blurry and highly distorted, due to poor recording skills, although that version became the song's final form. In august 2019 I once again decided to re-record it, and this is the final version (based on the 2011 one). It has piano, synth, bass, drums and lead & various backing vocals and it's sound quality is an improvement over 2011 (but it still has amateurism written all over it, LOL).

Way To Heaven - August '19 Version

I am dedicating these four contemplative piano pieces to the glorious feeling of snow on your skin and to feeling liked and loved. 

00:00 no. 1 in E flat minor 6:52 
06:53 no. 2 in G minor 7:11
14:05 no. 3 in D flat major 3:10 
17:16 no. 4 in F major 4:32

Winter Contemplations (2020) - four improvisations for piano solo

A musical view of social distance in dark corona times.

My restrictions for this improvisation were:
- Key of C# sharp minor
- Minor modulations encouraged
- My left hand plays a bigger part than usual

Quarantaine Observations part 1 - A Message From Beyond - for piano solo

Another musical, improvisational piano-take on quarantaine and social distancing.

I set a few ground rules:
- Key of G# minor
- Adagietto-like tempo
- More rubato playing than usual

Quarantaine Observations part 2 - When The Mind Wanders Off - for piano solo

This piece of music, the third installment from my Quarantaine Observations cycle, is for everyone who has some kind of silent sorrow (hence the title) they cannot deal with on their own. May this piece be some kind of solace for a couple of minutes.

Quarantaine Observations part 3 - Silent Sorrow

Job Vink (voice), Arjen Leistra (box organ) - Priez Pour Paix (Francis Poulenc)

Started out as a minimalist improvisation, but I'd like to think of this as a full blown composition now. It's a meditation on the current lockdown measures that are active on most of earth, with people looking forward to vaccines and a slight return to olden days.

TASCAM DR-07MK2

Quarantaine Observations part 4 - January 2021, A New Outlook

00:00 1. Solitairy Snowflakes - adagio molto(F# min) 4:22
04:24 2. Frozen Flower - lento espressivo (Eb min) 2:27
06:52 3. The Beautiful Silence of Snow - lento sognando (F maj) 1:37
08:31 4. Magnolia's Solitude - adagio comodo (A maj) 3:29
12:02 5. Still Standing - piu mysterioso (F min)2:16 
14:19 6. Dawn - andante molto moderato(G min) 4:30
18:50 7. Full Snow for Magnolia - un poco maestoso(D maj)3:02

Job1979