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Musicians on “This…”

The band line-up on “This is for You” is an exciting combination of exceptional artists – here’s Andy to introduce them:

Nick Beston: Saxophones

“We met at university while Nick was studying jazz. The first gig I heard him play was on a bus-café we opened in New Cross! It was Nick who one day said, ‘Andy, we should do something with this music…’ To start with that meant playing clubs together, later recording, touring, and the story goes on…”

 

Stan Majerski: Keys & programming

“Stan and I met in Serbia – the place that was my home for ten years. I’m always stunned by Stan’s creativity and lateral thinking… a funky man.  On ‘This is for you” – as well as playing and programming – it is Stan who has engineered and arranged the songs.”

 

Scott Barnard: Bass & Trumpets

“Give to Scott an impossible score and he’ll play it perfectly adding that ‘Je ne sais quoi!’ that makes a Barnard bass-line.  You’ll also find him playing the subtle harmonising trumpets in the background of ‘Silhouetted'”

 

Buster Birch: #1 Percussion

“He’s playing all over the world but he has time to put in gigs with us too. He’s the ultimate drummer who – as one person pointed out – ‘Can play slow and fast’.”

 

Luke Wastell: #2 Percussion

“Luke’s toured with us several times now and adds some Wastell spice to retro-sounding ‘Flattered’ on this latest album – in fact it was while we were touring in the Balkans that we set aside an afternoon in an artists’ ancient brick studio and asked Luke to play that distinctive retro snare sound.”

 

Natasha McDonald: Backing Vox

“She’s amazing – took time out from London shows to pour in some extra magic to five of the songs on ‘This is for You’. Her voice is incredibly versatile as one reviewer wrote, “a delight”.

 

Daniel Weatherley: Violin

“Usually found playing with Catherine in chamber quartets, Daniel came to join us for the recording of “This is for you”.  Somehow we squeezed a “strings section” into the “Railway Carriage Studio”…

 

Catherine Brooker: Cello

“Friends from way back and now bringing her sound to this recording, classically trained Catherine is the heart of the string quartet easing into the title track.  A most mellow cello.”

 

Pete Ringrose: Double Bass

“Pete’s a genius. So precise yet with a soul… From the lineup of our first tour, it’s something special to have him back for ‘This is for You’.”

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Musicians on “Dreams…”

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[col_two_five last=”true”]Recorded in Serbia, mixed in Croatia and pressed in Germany…  these are the musicians featured on “Dreams of a Homecoming”.

 

 

Guitars, mandolin and vocals:
Andy Mayo

Keyboards and programming:
Stanislav Majerski

Saxophones:
Nick Beston

Additional Guitars:
Stanislav Majerski (Whining of the brakes, Salvation Day)
Zoran Zivancevic (The Reason, Coming Home)

Harmonica:
Emil Cizmanski

Additional Backing Vocals:
Jelena Djokic (Today, Coming Home)

Anita Adamek, Marjan Djoicinoski, Stanislav Majerski, Dule Martinov, Marija Martuljak, Ivan Zlatanovic (May the Lord Answer you)

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Dreams of a Homecoming – Andy Mayo – Bio at time of “Dreams” release…

Musical Beginnings:

Learning to play the guitar at the age of twelve, the instrument quickly became part of my identity. The fret-board never far from my fingers, friends always turned to me for a song. Sade, Muddy Waters or Otis Reading-style songs were great atmosphere-builders and I loved to oblige a request for “a bit of music”.

Later, free weekends saw me at Oxford Circus Tube or playing in a club…

 

Jesus and my Life:

Parallel to my enjoyment of music but increasingly surpassing it was my experience of walking with Jesus Christ as my King and Saviour. At seventeen I started to write songs about Him with the purpose of communicating something more radical and revolutionary than simply a good vibe.

Friends unable to talk about such close-to-the-heart subjects would listen, enquire, cry, laugh and question the deepest themes when they came out of a song… some coming right to that place of responding to Jesus and experiencing that ultimate of homecomings.

University missions in cities such as Birmingham, Cardiff and London were good opportunities to take this message to a wider audience. During this time I met jazz saxophonist Nick Beston with whom I played a number of venues. His melodic solos complemented my compositions and his friendship and creativity inspired me to push the music further…

 

Serbia, Croatia and Bosnia:

My wife – Faye – and I moved to Serbia during a shocking period of that region’s history. But in partnership with local believers and under the auspices of Oak Hall, we began a mission course to facilitate the sending out of Serb, Croat and Bosnian missionaries to their own people.

We praise God for the opportunities that we have seen as over one hundred and fifty people have been with us for a year of study and outreach experience and then moved out to the mission fields around us. A team of twelve local people now work alongside us to lead this project.

During the last seven years in the Balkans, the music recorded on “Dreams of a Homecoming” has been written played and honed in places ranging from train stations to TV stations, theatres to beach bars…

 

Dreams of a Homecoming

The theme of “Homecoming” is a powerful one to me in the context of the destruction we have witnessed: wars, ethnic-cleansing, refugees and bombing.

But this theme is not one that is just for the Balkans: the world is full of those who dream of a homecoming.

As He explains in Luke 15, it was to bring us “home” that Jesus came.

In the insert of the CD I wrote:

“A longing for a homecoming fills countless people’s hearts: a yearning for peace…”

My prayer is simply that this album would communicate about Jesus – the Prince of Peace – the One who died to bring us home.

– Andy 01/05/03