Paul Speare
ABOUT
I am a freelance musician, playing flute, alto flute and baritone sax, as well as tenor and alto saxes, and bass clarinet. I also compose, record and produce music at my home studio and at other studios.
Currently I am writing and producing four new tunes for release as an EP in the early Summer 2023. This is a follow-up to Time and Place (below) and will be titled In Search of Avet. It will feature an expanded lineup including brass section and string quartet in addition to the musicians and vocalists from Time and Place.
My previous project was Time And Place - a collection of original compositions performed with a superb group of musicians - with influences from jazz, soul, classical and cinematic genres. The first four pieces were recorded live for YouTube in March 2022, and an EP of new material Time And Place was released in November 2022 , on all streaming platforms, as well as a CD with all four compositions from 2022. We also played a live debut show at Pizza Express Live, London on 10th January 2023.
I have composed and produced soundtracks for visual artists Harry Pye and Gordon Beswick (Team Beswick and Pye) and produced albums for musical artists such as The Dave Ingham Group. See Media page.
My recent freelance work has included sessions for Paul Weller's albums Fat Pop (2021) and On Sunset (2020) - see Media page for details.
I have recorded and played live with various bands in the last few years, including Stone Foundation on their albums Is Love Enough? (2020), Everybody, Anyone (2018), Live Rituals (2017), and Street Rituals (2017) which was produced by Paul Weller.
In the past I was a member of the infamous Birmingham band Dexys Midnight Runners and played on the album Too-Rye-Ay (1982) as well as the singles: Come On Eileen, Jackie Wilson Said and The Celtic Soul Brothers. Later on I played on much of the Elvis Costello album Punch The Clock (1983) as one of the TKO Horns, and toured with him in the USA, Europe and the UK. I have worked as a session musician for various artists throughout my professional life. I was particularly proud to play on the influential protest song Nelson Mandela (1984) by The Special AKA.