The fabulous Round House Venue, Chalk Farm Road, London NW1 8EH is hosting a Celebration of Simon Emmerson with some amazing special guests. The event takes place on Friday 15 December 2023 from 7pm.

Simon Emmerson left an indelible creative streak that runs though our popular culture. He was a musician and Grammy nominated producer at the leading edge and whose work helped bring us together.

In the early 80s with the band Weekend he helped to bring jazz and post-punk together forming the basis for its successor Working Week. The band laid the foundations of the British wave of jazz dance and acid jazz that dominated the 90s. The Afro Celt Sound System came of age in the era of rave and electronic music blending Gaelic folk and West African music to a pulse more in-tune with dance music. Perhaps his biggest concept was The Imagined Village using his take on the English folk songbook to represent present day multiculturalism, fusing elements of folk, bhangra, dub reggae and dance music. His range of collaborators spanned the most influential of names: Billy Bragg, Tracy Thorn, Robert Wyatt, Martin and Eliza Carthy, Robert Plant, Benjamin Zephaniah and Baaba Maal to name but a few.

This one-off concert, with very special guests, will showcase music from all of his bands and projects. It will raise funds for palliative care at home and abroad including the Weldmar Hospice who looked after Simon at the end of his life.

Simon was a dear friend and an honourary Bard of OBOD.  He is deeply missed, but this event will be a wonderful celebration of his incredible music and the beautiful person he was.

To find out more details and book your ticket click here

In this tea I talk about my latest book (in audio/ebook/paperback) The Gift of the Night

Many of you will be familiar with the fabulous music of Nick Gent from The Mind Orchestra. Nick has a new album out called Ground Luminosity. Nick explains,

‘Ground Luminosity’ our latest album, is a druidic odyssey that weaves an alchemical tapestry of sound, where interspecies collaboration meets the introspective depths of meditative practices. Within this sacred ambient space, the electrical songs of sacred plants and trees harmonise with the soul-stirring echoes of human instrumentation and voice. As an offering to imaginative freedom, each track emerges from the silence like a treasure box opening, revealing the spontaneous magic of existence. The myriad display of phenomena conjured in sonic textures and emotions arising from integrated forms. There are sounds from over ten species of plants and trees. Oak, Gorse, Hawthorn, Self-heal, Sun Opener, Calea Zacatechichi, Copper Beech, Daisy, Enchanter’s Nightshade and many others have all contributed to this work. Crafted with a healer’s touch, this album invites listeners to journey through soundscapes of discovery and transformation, where the heart’s resonance guides the narrative, breaking free from the confines of form and rigidity. ‘Ground Luminosity’ is offered as a gateway to the profound simplicity and boundless creativity that underpins our being, echoing the deep connections existing between all life forms. 

‘All experience is assimilated to spontaneity: the five elements, matter and energy, all appearance, arise to demonstrate timeless, unthought spontaneity; self and other deconstructed, as pure intrinsic clarity the elements are assimilated autonomously as ordinary mind. Let the six senses relax in the amorphous perceptual field!’ ~ Longchenpa

You can buy the Album on Bandcamp 24bit Wav/Flac/mp3: https://themindorchestra.bandcamp.com
Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/2tSK4…
One page website for streaming and download links: https://themindorchestra.hearnow.com/ 

And listen below on YouTube:

Here is the article I read from: ‘Breaking the Spell’ by Dr Rosalind Watts

In this tea I read Stephen Spenders’s poem ‘I think continually of those’.

Thumbnail image: Jonathan Baldock. Poem read: Fern Hill by Dylan Thomas. Join a worldwide community of like-minded people interested in nature-based spirituality for a weekly exploration of a spiritual topic and a meditation. Live every Monday at 8pm UK time. To learn more about the Druid community and training go to https://www.druidry.org To find all the Tea with a Druid meditations on the ‘Yewtube’ Outdoor Woodland Cinema, go to: https://zodogo.com/yewtube/

This week I’m joined by Isla MacLeod, author of ‘Rituals for Life: A guide to creating meaningful rituals inspired by nature’ which you can find in the OBOD store here
and see her website islamacleod.com

Wishing you all every blessing of the season: within the profound release of Samhain or the joyful blossoming of Beltane, may you find peace, deep connection and healing! /|\

I quote from ‘The Celtic Devotional’ by Caitlin Matthews, and mention she has a substack.

And I mention my latest book The Gift of the Night

And the latest OBOD-sponsored podcast episode of Adventures in Nutopia: