Neil Innes meets Micko Westmoreland

Bonzo Dog Band legend Neil Innes came to North London yesterday to meet producer/arranger Micko Westmoreland and hear the latest mix of "RIO"

"Rio" was originally a hit by Ex Monkee Mike Nesmith. Neil's new version which features The Values and various guest musicians is sounding great. There's still a bit of tweaking to do and then Team Beswick and Pye will make a full length You Tube film to go with it by June. The 2014 FIFA World Cup will be the 20th FIFA World Cup, an international men's football tournament, that is scheduled to take place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014.It will be the second time that Brazil has hosted the competition, the previous being in 1950. Brazil will become the fifth country to have hosted the World Cup twice, after Mexico, Italy, France, and Germany.

Above: "I only want to be with Uke"

Above: Neil adds a bit of piano

Above: Micko looks worried

Above: Neil and er... Lambchop

Horace Panter Live in London (28/11/2013)

Last week I saw "Horace Panter's Uptown Ska Collective" live at The 229 Club and took some terrible photos...

Horace in London

Above: Simmerdown

Above: Flute

Above: Guest singer: Joycelin Harris

Above: Horace fans

Bassist with the Specials for 35 years, Horace Panter a.k.a. Sir Horace Gentleman introduces his new project tonight, Uptown Ska Collective. An all star line up joins him onstage to perform classic Ska & Blue Beat tracks along with new material. "I have wanted a band like this for years" says Horace, "the guys I am using are all seasoned musicians; they all know one another so the musical rapport is amazing and, like me, they live and breathe this stuff." Horace Panter - Bass ( The Specials ) Dave Anderson - Drums ( The South ) Nikolaj Torp Larson - Keyboards ( The Specials ) Stan Samuels - Guitar ( Pressure Tenants ) Tim Smart - Trombone ( The Specials ) Jonathan Read - Trumpet ( The Specials ) Drew Stansall - Tenor Saxophone ( The Paradimes ) Tony Looby - Alto Saxophone ( Pressure Tenants )

Kes Richardson exhibition at Fold Gallery

I love Kes Richardson's new work in his show at Fold Gallery (15 Clerkenwell Close London, EC1R 0AA) it runs until Dec 14th. (Fold is open Wed to Sat Noon till 6pm)for more info visit their site: www.foldgallery.com

Above: Happy Kes

Above: Sam

Above: Rich 'n' Darren

Above: Vanessa and Liz

Above: Ceri and Jennie

Above: Julian

Above: Coombes, Cumberland & Daniels

Above: Fold Gallerist Kim Savage with Dom and Dom's Dad

Above: The legendary Derek Jordan with art tramp Simon Ould

Above: Mr Marcus Cope with Kes Richardson

Time Out magazine: "Man's desire to contain and tame nature through conservative garden design forms the basis of Richardson's paintings that question and repel the formality of order over natural impulsion"

Possible artwork to go with Micko Westmoreland's new album

Micko Westmoreland is currently putting the finishing touches to his new album. The working title is Yours Etc ABC. Here is a sneaky peak at some of the unfinished artwork which may or may not be included in the C.D booklet...

(Above: Unfinished painting by Harry Pye)

Above: Westmoreland Butterfly Jigsaw by Team Beswick & Pye (16 x 20 inches, 500 pieces)

(Above Micko Jigsaw by Team Beswick & Pye)

(Above: Gordon pretending to be Micko)

The Kontroversial Peter Harris exhibition at Konk Studios

Last night I went to: "Ray Davies Presents: Peter Harris - A Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy" at Konk studios (49 Church Lane, N8) just half an hour from my house! The show is open Monday to Friday 4pm - 8pm till the 7th of December but it's probably best to book an appointment with almarayk@hotmail.com rather than just turning up. Before The Kinks Ray was a student at the Hornsey School of Art and recently he curated a Meltdown festival on the South bank. This show is his personal pick of Peter's paintings. As a special treat Ray came and gave a little speech about how much he respected Peter's work and then performed a track from The Muswell Hillbillies album called "Here Comes The People In Grey"

(Above: Ray with The Rebel magazine logo painted by Peter Harris & John Strutton)

Above: "Cheers!"

Above: Peter has a bit of a "I can't believe it's really him" moment

(Above: Ray's speech)

(Above: Artwork by Harris, Shaw & Strutton)

(Above: Artist Matt Calderwood)

(Above: Ray goes unplugged)

(Above: "people take pictures of each other"

(Above: Jared Fisher)

(Above: Roger Evans, Thom Driver, John Strutton. Below: Harry William Pye and Ray Douglas Davies)

I first came across Peter Harris in 2000. I immediately became a fan of both the man and the work. His show Touche featured him making collaborative works with several different artists including John Strutton, George Shaw and Matt Calderwood. I'd left art school in 1995 and had the last 5 years writing about art, interviewing artists, doing fanzines and events. Although I'd made collaborative paintings and drawings that were along the same lines as what Peter was doing but I'd never thought of exhibiting them. Peter was definitely an influence on me and he inspired me to exhibit my own collaborative stuff. The Van Gogh image (painted by Harris & Strutton) became the logo for The Rebel Magazine. Peter was the first artists to put me in a show (he curated Funny at the Andrew Mummery gallery in 2000 which featured work he'd seen in my fanzine)I returned the compliment and Peter's work featured in several group exhibitions I curated including For Peel, 100 Mothers, Viva Pablo, Elvis, I Love You Because, Enough or Too much - and Peter's contribution often turned out to be the most talked about piece in each show. I've always loved The Kinks so it was surreal being in Konk studios listening to Ray Davies read out a speech about why he liked Peter's work and then dedicating a song to him. After the performance Peter cheekily asked Ray if he'd collaborate on a painting with him and Ray seemed interested. I really hope they make a painting together. And I hope Ray also gets to hear the excellent Piper's Son c.d. (which features both Peter's artwork on the sleeve and his pedal steel guitar)

Horace Panter at The Strand Gallery / The Writing Is On The Wall

Last night was the opening of Horace Panter's splendid exhibition. A great time was had by all.