Fully connected: Joseph Leighton reflects on his Navigator Residency at The Riverbank Arts Centre

It seemed like the perfect opportunity to work on some ideas that I’ve had for a while. My aim during the residency was to come into the beautiful Riverbank Arts centre each day with my guitar and write music. Composition is a muscle that has to be worked on a lot, just like learning to play over changes or comping, so this was the perfect scenario for me to do this quite intensely.

A week before my residency began, I was still in New York at the end of a 5 week project at the Irish Arts Centre, so the idea of coming to Newbridge seemed like the perfect remedy to a busy few weeks. I was definitely in the mood for a bit of isolation in the Curragh. New York was incredible and very inspiring; seeing some of my favorite musicians perform, and being part of a brilliant show for a month, but I was excited to do the opposite of big-city-living for a bit. When I saw the AirBnB accommodation in Kildare, I was delighted at the prospect of being around more sheep than people - the place has a lovely long driveway and cats that greeted you with typical nonchalance - ideal!

I arrived at Newbridge on Monday 6th July after not much sleep (jet lag and watching the world cup) to meet Matt Rafter, programmer for Riverbank, and Aoife Concannon, Creative Producer at IMC. There was a lovely vibe from the place even though it was a quiet period, but this was perfect for me. There was a nice green room area which I could retreat to if I needed a coffee or a sit down on the couch - no napping occurred for my stay, but it was definitely a thought that came to mind on a few occasions. I also met John, the production manager. I didn’t need to pick his brains much because my setup was quite basic, but he was a super helpful and knowledgeable person who I enjoyed nattering to each day.

I jumped right into things after my arrival, and started listening to voice notes I’ve saved over the past few months of various ideas that popped into my mind. A lot of my compositions start this way. I’ve maybe only written one of my compositions in one go. I like to record small ideas, and then come back to them over time in the hope that new inspiration may strike. I say ‘inspiration’ but really a lot of composing can be a long process, and the inspiration is usually from hard work that you’ve put into listening to other music and the work you put in on your instrument - new voicings/scales/sounds.

The next day I did a usual warm up session on my guitar first thing. I've noticed that being fully connected to my instrument is a massive help in letting ideas flow without constraint. I then would load up some ideas into my looper and play around with them. John helped set up audio from my laptop to go through my amp so I could load up drum loops which are great to play along with, and good for keeping time!

I got into a nice routine each day and really looked forward to coming into the centre to progress ideas from the previous day. Some days were much easier than others, but it was important to turn up and work on old and new ideas. Most days after finishing I would go to a nearby gym and then home for some food at my lovely Airbnb in the Curragh. I was really thankful in those moments for such an opportunity, and really wish that this could be my life, forever!

On my third day I was excited because Matt had lined up a workshop with young people from the surrounding areas through the Music Generation programme, which is run by Alan Costello, a really lovely and passionate guy who clearly cared a lot about giving the young people opportunities like this. I also met the great Diarmuid Lally who is a fantastic bass player and the leader of the jazz ensemble at Music Generation. These young people sounded fantastic and it made me so happy to see them being so enthusiastic and passionate about learning jazz, it reminded me of myself when I got the odd opportunity to go to a workshop back home in Derry, which left a big impact on me. The workshop went really well and it was fun to play alongside, and hear these young people playing at such a high level. I can’t wait to hear more from them. The future of jazz in Kildare is in safe hands! My first set of days in Newbridge came to an end, and I was happy with the progress I made, but was especially excited for the second batch of residency days to come, where I was going to play duo with the great Phil Robson.

After a quick trip back to London, I returned to Ireland to teach at Sligo Jazz Project, which I’ve been going to since I was 16 years old. This was the perfect way to spend the week before returning to Newbridge because I was left thoroughly inspired from playing, teaching and listening to some of the greatest contemporary jazz musicians. Upon return to my residency, I knew that I had two days to prep material and finish writing before Phil would join to work and perform together. Phil taught me for a while at Trinity Laban and has always been somebody that I admire in the world of jazz guitar. I was really pleased that he would be joining me and that we had an excuse to play together!

Over the next couple of days I rearranged some of my older music for two guitars which was a fun process. I know the sound and the way Phil plays really well, so it was easy to imagine what it would sound like and what would/wouldn’t work. The sound of two guitars playing together can be a really interesting, especially if you imagine all of the possibilities that are available, I didn’t want to think of it like ‘You solo, I play chords and then I solo, you play chords’ because there are many textures that can be explored without it sounding like this.

I picked Phil up from Dublin airport and we had great craic as usual on the drive to Newbridge. A big part of enjoying creating music with somebody is to actually feel comfortable with them beyond the music, which is never in doubt with Phil. We got to Riverbank and played through the music to see how things sounded. It all sounded good pretty much instantly, and it felt great to be playing with another musician after being on my own. On day two we prepared a little bit during the day and soundchecked for the event later in the evening. John kindly offered to film and record audio, which was great to know that it was all being documented.

Showtime came and we were both chuffed that a really nice audience came to watch us even though it wasn’t an official event, but it was great to see a room full of people all here to enjoy the music. I enjoyed every minute of the gig, even the nervy moment of using a loop pedal which can go horribly wrong with the slip of a foot. But thankfully my foot behaved itself and the looping part was a nice contrast to the rest of the set. We ended the set with a new piece composed during my residency called ‘Tunnels’ which was composed specifically with the sound of two guitars in my mind. The concept was that we had a chord progression that kind of felt like it never ended, and we would both play different voicings over the progression whilst using our ears to hear what the other one might do next, and then tailor our choices based on that. Many people came up to us afterwards telling us that this was their favourite tune of the performance, so I’m glad that there was a method to my madness in the end.

My Navigator residency came to an end, but I was so happy and fulfilled that I had the opportunity to do this. It was inspiring to work on my music in such a beautiful environment. I will be continuing to write for two guitars after this residency, and can’t wait to return to Riverbank again to see everybody, and bring one of my projects back!

A big thanks to everybody at Improvised Music Company for this opportunity, if you are a musician who is thinking of applying, DO IT!! You won’t regret it.

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