Bobbie-Jane Gardner
Bobbie-Jane Gardner on music inspired by cooking, Noam Chomsky, and the city of Birmingham.
Bobbie Gardner is a composer, pianist, arranger, producer and music leader. She has received commissions from Uchenna Dance Co., VocabDance Co., mac arts, Punch Records, Vivid Projects, Sound and Music, Fierce Festival, Grand Union and Heart n Soul. She has extensive experience of working in schools and in the community under Sound it Out, Birmingham City Council Looked After Children, CBSO, THSH & Spitalfields Music. Her piano playing skills have seen her perform with an array of bands and ensembles, in 2010 she completed a tour playing live synths for Dubstep producers Dusk and Blackdown. She played keys for Heart n Soul‘s Lizzie Emeh at the South Bank for their Beautiful Octopus Club in 2012 and created string arrangements for Lizzie Emeh’s new LP event in autumn 2014. Bobbie loves orchestrating, arranging and remixing music, and in 2015 she created orchestral arrangements for opera singer Byron Jackson with the Birmingham Sinfonia and a remix of ‘Coco Butter’ by The Fish Police.
She is running the final phase of for-Wards; a city-wide music programme where Birmingham’s 10 districts (comprising 40 wards) inspire the creation of 10 pieces of music by 10 Brummie composers and 40 community groups.
LISTEN/WATCH
Chef Concertino begins at 00:38. Chef: Urban Thompson; interviewer: Graeme Rose (Stans Cafe); performed by Birmingham Conservatoire Composer's Orchestra, January 23, 2014.
Tick begins at 8:10.
Tapeworm begins at 11:05. Performed by Noszferatu: Finn Peters, Alto Saxophone/Flute;
Ivo de Greef, Piano; Percy Pursglove, Trumpet; Joel Bell, Electric Guitar; Joe Cutler, Artistic associate
Bournville Chimes begins at 14:17.
11 and a half years begins at 18:32. Performed by Ensemble Krock.
Coming Back to Balsall Heath begins at 22:37. Anton Butler-Clarke, clarinet/bass clarinet; James Douglas, cello; Chris Mapp, double bass/electric bass/samples; Percy Pursglove, trumpet; David Westcombe, flute/alto flute
Mentioned in this episode
Occupy - book by Noam Chomsky
for-Wards - Birmingham public music project
Wolfgang Mozart, George Benson, and Bob Marley (Urban Thompson's "desert island" choices)
Extras
Thai Prawn Salad recipe by Urban Thompson
1 stick lemon grass, trimmed, thinly sliced
lime juice
2 tablespoons peanut oil
1 1/2 tablespoons palm or brown sugar
2 teaspoons fish sauce
2 small red chillies, deseeded, thinly sliced
1kg (cooked) king prawns, peeled (tails intact), deveined
2 cucumbers, peeled into long thin strips
2 spring onions, thinly sliced diagonally
coriander leaves
mint leaves
roasted peanuts, roughly chopped
finely chopped ginger (at the chef’s discretion)