Listed below are a few videos from a new project I am involved with: called “A Golden String: William Blake in Songs and Words”, which combines songs by Susheela Raman and Sam Mills with spoken word sections by me.
Acclaimed for her audacious cross-cultural musical creations, singer/composer Susheela Raman’s latest adventure encounters the magical imagination of one of London’s most creative sons, William Blake, who was born in Soho and baptised at St James's Church Piccadilly.
Susheela's original settings of Blake poems, such as the epic “Proverbs of Hell”, are threaded with spoken word performances of Blake's writings by Jason Whittaker, author and Blake expert and accompanied by inventive guitarist and composer Sam Mills.
Blake summoned his visionary art and poetry from many sources and continues to fascinate and inspire countless writers, music makers and visual artists. The “Golden String” offered here unwinds in words and music though Blake, from the Renaissance magic of Shakespeare’s “Tempest” to William Burroughs and David Bowie.
Below are some photos from the performance of “A Golden String” with Susheela Raman, Sam Mills and Jason Whittaker performing on 18 November, supported by the avant garde performer and composer, Charles Hayward. Photos by Tim Smith, courtesy of St James’s at Piccadilly.
