I guess a lot of you heard already but I made a big step on my road to recovery last night. My last gig was at a late night jazz venue in January and after seven months away from gigs it was a relief to return. Yesterday I played a ninety minute rehearsal plus a full church service at All Souls Langham Place with no ill-effects.

I had developed Carpal Tunnel Syndrome earlier this year and after a few months of total rest from the bass I embarked on a slow period of months of rehabilitation and physiotherapy. It was a real joy to get to play last night. I felt myself becoming more alive as I played…fortunately with a great group of musicians and a top notch conductor too!

We played as a nine piece plus Noel Tredinnick who is a wonderful musician himself as leader, conductor and musical director. He helped me feel at ease despite me being in the unfamiliar position of playing with a conductor, transposing on the fly and playing some written parts in unison with the organ pedals – which is a wonderful sound! Best octave effect ever! The line up was 2 singers, cello, trumpet, piano, acoustic guitar, keyboards/organ, bass and drums….and the congregation of course…several hundred all strong.

I took my trusty Wal fretless and went direct to the church PA using the church Hartke 100 watt combo by my side…I could hear everything pretty well…those sound guys do a great job considering every line-up is different.

I do hope this is the first of many gigs again and it certainly won’t be the last time playing in All Souls, that was a blast! Thanks for all the advice, prayers and encouragement.

And look after your hands!

You can follow my travails over a year of hand injury affected bass playing at my blog/diary at My Left Hand and a recent update on my comeback at Phil Wain – the Comeback!