About Me
Welcome to my website! I have always had a Biography to tell people what I’ve done in my professional life, but it has always seemed so clinical and factual, and never really given an inch of who I really am. So here’s my chance to reveal a little more about myself.
I am PIANIST! The piano is an extension of my being. I have played since I was about 6, when I first started learning from my Dad. We used to play The Merry Peasant together as a duet, and later on Jazz standards like Misty. Taking music lessons at school provided me with the necessary discipline from around 10, but I didn’t like reading music and preferred to play by ear, learning songs from the radio, and accompanying myself singing. Which brings me to…..
I am SINGER! My mother was a singer! It was such a natural thing in our household to be learning songs. In those days you couldn’t just download lyrics, you actually had to listen to the tape and write them down!! Singing and playing were inextricably linked for me, almost like one thing! I mostly sang songs that lyrically made sense to me and that I could relate to… I still do!!
I am ARRANGER! In high school my favourite music was the Soundtrack of FAME, and I have always loved orchestral pop music.
I am PIANIST! The piano is an extension of my being. I have played since I was about 6, when I first started learning from my Dad. We used to play The Merry Peasant together as a duet, and later on Jazz standards like Misty. Taking music lessons at school provided me with the necessary discipline from around 10, but I didn’t like reading music and preferred to play by ear, learning songs from the radio, and accompanying myself singing. Which brings me to…..
I am SINGER! My mother was a singer! It was such a natural thing in our household to be learning songs. In those days you couldn’t just download lyrics, you actually had to listen to the tape and write them down!! Singing and playing were inextricably linked for me, almost like one thing! I mostly sang songs that lyrically made sense to me and that I could relate to… I still do!!
I am ARRANGER! In high school my favourite music was the Soundtrack of FAME, and I have always loved orchestral pop music.
I am SONGWRITER! Oh so many original songs, and just like so many working musicians, most still in my head! They are autobiographical and personal in nature, I’ve never been one who finds it easy to put that stuff out there. Some have been recorded and some played live at concerts with the help of my talented and prestigious colleagues. One day we’ll make an album!
I am MUSICIAN! Put it together and what do you get….bibbidy bobbidy boo!! Freelance musician…. Carrier of gear, roller of leads, packer of vehicles, all the unglamorous stuff! Then we put on some lipstick and high heels and play the night away.
I am MOM! MOB to be exact (Mother of Boys), not a vocation to be taken lightly, and not for the faint hearted!! But most rewarding job on earth….watching my boys turning into young men!
I am CREATIVE! Sometimes when music gets too much, I paint or make dreamcatchers or all kinds of creative stuff with paint, scissors and glue.
I am PHILOSOPHER! Explorations of Joseph Campbell, Carl Jung, Richard Dawkins, Neale Donald Walsh, Rob Nairn…..A Story for another day…best we have coffee and chat about it…..
One day I’ll write a book!
(or at least a Blog)
Photography: Colette Yslie-Benjamin
