Categories Album Mission Creep Down on the Bowery Music Print Media

JAZZIZ Editors’ Choice

Exceptional Talent

by Matt Micucci | JAZZIZ | May 26, 2023

The editors of JAZZIZ have the good fortune of being able to listen to new music before it’s officially released in stores and streaming platforms. And because we’re always listening to new tunes, we always know just what to recommend. That’s why we’ll bring you a roundup of ten songs each Monday, featuring music from our favorite new albums, singles and other tunes that may have flown under your radar.

Marking the musical debut of acclaimed actor Damian Lewis, the historic Decca label is set to release his first album, titled Mission Creep, on June 16. The album’s inaugural single, “Down on the Bowery,” showcases Lewis’ exceptional talent in the realm of music. Listen to this week’s JAZZIZ Editors’ Choice playlist via Spotify here.

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Categories A Spy Among Friends For Your Consideration Print Media

How the A Spy Among Friends Score Creates Audible Paranoia for Its Spy Characters

Craft Considerations: Composer Dustin O’Halloran Layers Paranoia and Heartbreak Into an Experimental Score

by Staff | IndieWire | May 23, 2023

The story of Kim Philby, the high-ranking British intelligence official who turned out to be one of the biggest double agents in U.K. history (and a hero of the Soviet Union, if you take the Russian point of view), is well known at this point. Dozens of books, fiction and nonfiction, have been written about how Philby took in the great and the good of MI6 and the CIA for decades before he finally had to flee across the Iron Curtain in 1963.

This version of Philby, played with the kind of rumpled fatalism only Guy Pierce can muster, spends a lot of time keeping those friends close at the cost of his own soul, particularly Nicholas Elliott (Damian Lewis). But MGM Television’s “A Spy Among Friends,” which traces Philby and Elliott’s relationship from World War II to the ramifications of Philby’s defection (though not necessarily in that order) has no interest in spelling out how genuine the friendships of spies can be. It is interested in giving us the clues, hidden (among other places) in the adrenaline and emotion of the miniseries’s remarkable score.

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Categories Album Mission Creep Broadcast Media Music

Damian Lewis Music on BBC Radio 2 TONIGHT

The Blues Show with Cerys Matthews

by Gingersnap | damian-lewis.com | May 22, 2023

Cerys Matthews will be sharing Damian’s single ‘Zaragoza’ on BBC Radio 2’s The Blues Show with Cerys Matthews tonight, May 22, 2023 at 9:00 p.m. BST. Be sure to tune in here and the programme will be available shortly after the broadcast. Those outside the UK may need to utilize a VPN.

Damian’s debut album Mission Creep is set for release on June 16, 2023 and can be pre-ordered from several outlets here. Upcoming shows include Black Deer Fest on June 16, Rough Trade East (includes album signing!) on June 19 and Union Chapel on July 11 in London. Don’t miss out, get your tickets now!

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Categories Broadcast Media Micky Love Video

Damian Lewis in His First Onscreen Performance

Damian as “Clive” in Micky Love

by Gingersnap | damian-lewis.com | May 20, 2023

Thirty years ago today on May 20, 1993 a little known, fresh-faced, ginger-haired 22-year-old Damian Lewis made his onscreen debut as “Clive” in the ITV 1-hour television movie Micky Love.

Plot: Micky Love is an aging television quiz show host who after climbing his way back to the top since conquering alcoholism, has hosted the highly rated “Family Values” for over ten years. But when he hears a false rumor that his show will be axed to make way for a new one, which will be hosted by young upstart Greg Deane. Mickey bitterly resorts to desperate measures to cling to his career. Enjoy:

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Categories Album Mission Creep Makin' Plans Music Video

Damian Lewis Releases Third Single and Music Video: Makin’ Plans

Makin’ Plans

by Gingersnap | damian-lewis.com | May 19, 2023

Today Damian released his third single and official music video, this time for the track ‘Makin’ Plans’ performed live at Hoxton Hall on March 3, 2023. Download the newest single from any music service you use, from iTunes and Spotify to Amazon Music here. You can also view his two previous official music videos for ‘Down on the Bowery’ and ‘Zaragoza’ here. Damian’s debut album Mission Creep is set to be released June 16, 2023 and can be pre-ordered from several outlets here. View Studio Photoshoot and Album Artwork Gallery here.

Upcoming shows include Black Deer Fest on June 16, Rough Trade East (includes album signing!) on June 19 and Union Chapel on July 11 in London. Don’t miss out, get your tickets now!

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Categories Billions News Print Media

The Biggest Shows Affected by the 2023 Writers Strike

From Billions to Severance: Some of Your Favorite Shows are Already Seeing Significant Delays Due to the WGA Strike

by Grant Rindner | GQ Magazine | May 12, 2023

The ongoing writers strike may seem, at first glance, like a much bigger deal to the writers affected than to the average TV watcher. The longer it goes on, however, the greater the chances that one of your favorite shows could be among those disrupted. That’s how a strike works, after all, meant to show that “business as usual” is impossible without the contributions of the striking workers. Some of television’s biggest shows have already been affected. Since the Writers Guild of America’s strike was officially authorized on May 2, with Severance, Stranger Things, and the latest Game of Thrones spinoff among the shows being halted or otherwise directly impacted.

Issues motivating the strike are complex, but hinge in part on the industry’s move into streaming, and writers’ ensuing demands for contracts that reflect the new television paradigm. As GQ has covered, streaming doesn’t provide the same continuing residuals that have represented a writer’s “gold ring” for decades. The last writers strike took place in 2007, a time before streaming became the dominant method of distribution, and the WGA is also working to get protections related to the nascent use of AI in television writing.

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Categories Album Mission Creep Music Print Media Review

Live Review: Cheltenham Jazz Festival

Cracking Band

by Brian Payne | Jazz Journal | May 11, 2023

In mixed weather, this year’s Cheltenham Jazz Festival spanned six days from 26 April to 1 May. Most performances took place in Montpellier Gardens, the site of the Big Top and Jazz Arena. Other locations in town included the Parabola Arts Centre, Cheltenham Town Hall and the Daffodil Restaurant. The Daffodil is a restored 1920s cinema with a balcony, sweeping staircase and superb art-deco features.

I hadn’t come across Damian Lewis before. He’s a television and film actor by day yet here he was at Cheltenham fronting a cracking band. I was pleasantly surprised. Lewis sang and played a mix of roots, blues and rock ’n’ roll and his vocals and guitar accompaniment were spot on. Some of the numbers were his own compositions. He was backed by members of Kansas Smitty’s House Band with Giacomo Smith on alto saxophone, David Archer on guitar, Joe Webb on piano, Will Sach on bass and Will Cleasby on drums. Kitty Durham supplied backing vocals, hand-held percussion, harmonica and at times also guitar.

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Categories A Spy Among Friends Print Media Review

Critic’s Notebook: Damian Lewis Returns to the World of International Espionage

Damian Lewis is Outstanding as Elliott

by Mike Hale | New York Times | May 10, 2023

It has been a quiet season for international television on American screens — nothing has grabbed attention on a Squid Game or Downton Abbey scale. But barely a day goes by, in the streaming age, without an interesting series washing up from some foreign shore. Here are four recent shows worth tracking down, from an elegant British thriller to a Chinese dramedy about a demon god and an immortal warrior who meet cute on the mortal plane.

Damian Lewis returns to the world of international espionage as an MI6 agent in the complicated, fact-based mini-series A Spy Among Friends.

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Categories Album Mission Creep Music Print Media Review

Cheltenham Jazz Festival: Damian Lewis – Live Review

Well Crafted Songs and Strong Vocals

by Hannah Compton | Building Our Own Nashville | May 1, 2023

Actor Damian Lewis has always had a passion for playing music and putting out a record of his own. Signed to Decca Records, Damian released his first single ‘Down on the Bowery’ on April 13th 2023.

His debut album Mission Creep is out June 16th and can be pre ordered here.

Playing in the Jazz Arena at Cheltenham Jazz Festival with a seven piece band that consisted of the Kansas Smitty Band, the show was an absolute sell out full of keen fans of the actor who were curious to be a part of one of his first ever live performances promoting his forthcoming debut album.

“Hello Everyone”, Lewis greeted “I am a Cheltenham Jazz Festival virgin only to be deflowered by this audience and I am glad it’s you”.

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