This is just a quick update to wish you all a lovely holiday and festive season.
2012 has not been an easy year. The very recent tragedy in Connecticut is yet another stark reminder that life is precious. We have no way of knowing what's going to happen in the future. So whether you're celebrating Christmas or not, I hope you are able to spend the last few days of this year remembering the good times and preparing for a new year where we try to make the most of it for as long as we can.
As the year closes I think about all the love and support I have experienced over the last few months and I feel pretty overwhelmed. There is no way I could have survived without it. It is love that binds us together and gets us through the difficult and painful times, and it is love that helps us find joy again. I found this quote the other day, and for those of you who don't read the Guardian, I thought I'd share it with you as I think it's rather beautiful.
Love is more easily experienced than defined. As a theological virtue, by which we love God above all things and our neighbours as ourselves for his sake, it seems remote until we encounter it enfleshed, so to say, in the life of another – in acts of kindness, generosity and self-sacrifice. Love's the one thing that can never hurt anyone, although it may cost dearly. The paradox of love is that it is supremely free yet attaches us with bonds stronger than death. It cannot be bought or sold; there is nothing it cannot face; love is life's greatest blessing - Catherine Wybourne is a Benedictine nun.
I wanted to leave you with a tune Abram composed and recorded with his band last December before performing it with guest drummer and friend Jason Marsalis. It's called Wish and is part of a series of tunes for a new project called A New Orleans Style Christmas Story. Family was extremely important to Abram, he thought about them a lot whilst living in London and the project was inspired by them and their time growing up together in New Orleans. I hope you enjoy it.
Till soon!
Love
Jennie x
This post is dedicated to Abram's family and to Ana, the daughter of jazz saxophonist and educator Jimmy Greene, who on 14th December 2012 left this life for a better place. May her family find peace and light in the coming days and months.
Photo credit - Benjamin Amure
Trumpet and vocals - Abram Wilson
Double bass - Alex Davies
Drums - Dave Hamblett
Piano - Reuben James