Overview

• The singer marks his milestone with a handful of hometown performances in Belfast around his birthday.
• Since telling Uncut in 2017 he was weary of making albums, he has released eleven studio records, bringing his total to 47.
• He says new arrangements and projects are waiting because distributors can handle only limited output at a time, making two albums a year difficult and one manageable.
• Released in June, Remembering Now is his first album of original songs in three years, featuring material he says should have come out earlier.
• The 2016 knighted artist emphasizes a jazz-oriented, non-commercial approach and says his job is to make the music rather than shape audience response.