City Waites
Encyclopedia
The City Waites is a British early music band. Formed in the early 1970s, they specialise in English music of the 16th and 17th centuries from the street, tavern, theatre and countryside - the music of the common man. They appeal to a wide general audience as well as scholars. They have toured the UK, much of Europe, the Middle East, the Far East and the USA, performing everywhere from major concert halls and universities to village squares. Collaborations include the National Theatre (where they performed for her Majesty the Queen), the Royal Shakespeare Company and Shakespeare's Globe. They can be heard on several movie and TV soundtracks; they broadcast regularly and have made more than 30 CDs.
. He also plays bandora
, cittern
, and tabor
. Due to his promotion of the band they were voted the second-best Folk Band of the Year in the pages of Melody Maker. His down-to-earth approach sets the tone for the band. In his words, they avoid the "Laura Ashley
school of Early Music". Douglas writes musicals for children.
www.blazemusic.co.uk/Roderick_Skeaping.html
, recorder
, oboe
and sings. He was a chorister at Westminster Abbey
. He is related to the famous horn
player Dennis Brain
. On stage he gives spirited descriptions of how the instruments are constructed. He also works as a plumber
and in his own words, is the only member who also has a proper job outside of music.
Lucie Skeaping
Lucie Skeaping sings and plays the baroque violin. Lucie is also founder-director of "The Burning Bush" which explores klezmer, traditional Jewish music as well as Arab-influenced music (www.theburningbush.co.uk). The band includes Robin Jeffrey who plays middle-eastern instruments. Lucie presents BBC Radio 3's Early Music Show and other programmes which showcase early music ensembles of the UK and other countries. ("The Early Music Show" is currently broadcast on Saturdays and Sundays from 1 to 2 p.m. on radio 3). Lucie is the author of the award-winning schools book "Let's Make Tudor Music" (pub Stainer and Bell) and her "Musical Mystery Tour" visits numerous schools each year. Lucie's many CDs include "Home Sweet Home" (with Ian Partidge), a celebration of 19th century parlour music, and 'English National Songs' (Saydisc). Her book 'Broadside Ballads' (Faber Music) won the Music Industry Award for Best Classical Music Publication 2006. Her latest publication is: 'Who gave thee thy Jolly Red Nose?', an anthology of recorder music for Peacock Press.Douglas Wootton
Douglas Wootton is one of the few tenors who accompanies themselves on the luteLute
Lute can refer generally to any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back, or more specifically to an instrument from the family of European lutes....
. He also plays bandora
Bandora
The Bandora or Bandore is a large long-necked plucked string-instrument that can be regarded as a bass cittern though it does not have the "re-entrant" tuning typical of the cittern. Probably first built by John Rose in England around 1560, it remained popular for over a century...
, cittern
Cittern
The cittern or cither is a stringed instrument dating from the Renaissance. Modern scholars debate its exact history, but it is generally accepted that it is descended from the Medieval Citole, or Cytole. It looks much like the modern-day flat-back mandolin and the modern Irish bouzouki and cittern...
, and tabor
Tabor (instrument)
Tabor, or tabret, refers to a portable snare drum played with one hand. The word "tabor" is simply an English variant of a Latin-derived word meaning "drum" - cf. tambour , tamburo...
. Due to his promotion of the band they were voted the second-best Folk Band of the Year in the pages of Melody Maker. His down-to-earth approach sets the tone for the band. In his words, they avoid the "Laura Ashley
Laura Ashley
Laura Ashley was a Welsh fashion designer and businesswoman. She became a household name on the strength of her work as a designer and manufacturer of a range of colourful fabrics for clothes and home furnishings....
school of Early Music". Douglas writes musicals for children.
Roddy Skeaping
Roddy was involved in the Early Music revival from its earliest days, working with the Academy of Ancient Music, David Munrow’s Early Music Consort and the Consorte of Musicke. He was appointed Leverhulme Research Fellow at Royal College of Music where he also taught the viola da gamba. As a composer he creates all the group’s musical arrangements and has also written scores for the Royal National Theatre, Shakespeare’s Globe, the Royal Shakespeare Company and several historical feature films.www.blazemusic.co.uk/Roderick_Skeaping.html
Nicholas Perry
Nick trained as a horn player at the Guildhall School of Music going on to study instrument making as a Craft Council apprentice. He has performed and recorded for most of London’s leading early music ensembles including the Gabrieli Consort, the English Baroque Soloists. the Taverner Consort and His Majesty’s Sagbutts and Cornetts. He is a regular player at Shakespeare’s Globe and the Royal Shakespeare Company and continues to work as an early brass instrument maker. He is currently the UK’s only professional serpent leatherer.Michael Brain
Michael Brain plays curtal, baroque bassoonBassoon
The bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family that typically plays music written in the bass and tenor registers, and occasionally higher. Appearing in its modern form in the 19th century, the bassoon figures prominently in orchestral, concert band and chamber music literature...
, recorder
Recorder
The recorder is a woodwind musical instrument of the family known as fipple flutes or internal duct flutes—whistle-like instruments which include the tin whistle. The recorder is end-blown and the mouth of the instrument is constricted by a wooden plug, known as a block or fipple...
, oboe
Oboe
The oboe is a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. In English, prior to 1770, the instrument was called "hautbois" , "hoboy", or "French hoboy". The spelling "oboe" was adopted into English ca...
and sings. He was a chorister at Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey
The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, popularly known as Westminster Abbey, is a large, mainly Gothic church, in the City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom, located just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English,...
. He is related to the famous horn
Horn (instrument)
The horn is a brass instrument consisting of about of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. A musician who plays the horn is called a horn player ....
player Dennis Brain
Dennis Brain
Dennis Brain was a British virtuoso horn player and was largely credited for popularizing the horn as a solo classical instrument with the post-war British public...
. On stage he gives spirited descriptions of how the instruments are constructed. He also works as a plumber
Plumber
A plumber is a tradesperson who specializes in installing and maintaining systems used for potable water, sewage, and drainage in plumbing systems. The term dates from ancient times, and is related to the Latin word for lead, "plumbum." A person engaged in fixing metaphorical "leaks" may also be...
and in his own words, is the only member who also has a proper job outside of music.
Former members
The Skeapings and/or Douglas Wootton have been core of a constantly changing line-up. Musicians who have worked with the group previously include:- Joe Skeaping - violin
- Keith Thompson - woodwind
- Barbara Grant - soprano, violin
- Nicholas Hayley - bass viol
- Robin Jeffrey - lute
- Richard Wistreich - baritone
- Graham Wells - woodwinds
Discography
- The English Stage Jig (Hyperion) - released March 09
- The English Tradition (ARC)
- Low and Lusty Ballads (Regis)
- Penny Merriments (Naxos)
- Bawdy Ballads of Old England (Regis)
- Christmas now is drawing near (Saydisc)
- How the World Wags (Hyperion)
- Pills to Purge Melancholy (Saydisc)
- The Music of the Tudor Age
- Music of the Middle Ages
- Music of the Stuart Age
- Music from the time of Henry VIII
- Music from the time of Charles II
- A Madrigal for all Seasons