Light & Darkness Impro Jazz 18/07/24

Bringing back a song I wrote nearly seven years ago. The American soul -- we like to tell lots of good stories about ourselves. Here's one that's not so good -- the account of the Moore's Ford Lynchings, in which a Black WWII veteran and his pregnant wife were murdered. No one was ever convicted of the crimes. How much of this same cruel spirit is still with us now?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moore%27s_Ford_lynchings

there’s a tree in Georgia that never should have grown
it held the bodies upright they were tied with rope

I will be redeemed I will sing and shout
I will be restored just not now

Mae Murray was  twenty four heavy with a child
when her head had fallen down they cut the baby out

forty legs that walked away forty eyes that saw
twenty souls that never said a word to the Georgia law

1997 fifty years had gone 
someone came to find the place and mark the dead with stones

Spotify Link

I Will Be Redeemed

There are people who change their mood a lot of times in the course of a day. I know several of them (and I'm not talking about me!) ...  

I could have arranged the parts better and tried different solutions, but I am beginning to feel a certain musical tiredness. So I leave the track as it is, maybe in a few years I will try again.  

-----  

Composed by Michele Ansani (2022-2025)
Posted on SoundCloud: 2025, January 29

Wandering around in uncertainty

Really enjoying the piano sounds off of the Yamaha Montage! Started with a simple "minuet-ish" piano movement in 2, and built up some melodies and textures around it

Minuet Montage

Licht im Dunkel ( Deutsch )

Моя новая запись - интерпретация русской народной песни "Ой да не вечер", песня под гитару, с гармониями и фортепиано. 
"Ой да не вечер" (ещё упоминается под названием "Сон Степана Разина") это народная песня русских казаков. Песня, вероятно, относится к стоянке казаков на островах Каспийского моря. 
Слушайте на Telegram/YouTube/SoundCloud, надеюсь, вам она понравится!
Желаю всем всего самого доброго!❤️

My new recording is an interpretation of the Russian folk song "Oy da ne vecher", a song with guitar, harmonies and piano. 
"Oy da ne vecher" (also referred to as "Stepan Razin's Dream") is a folk song of the Russian Cossacks. The song probably refers to the Cossacks' camp on the islands of the Caspian Sea.
Listen on Telegram/YouTube/SoundCloud, hope you will like it!
Wishing you all the best!❤️  

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Фотография: My September, церковь Покрова на Нерли 
Photography: My September, ancient temple of the Intercession on the Nerl River

Ой да не вечер

Ой да не вечер, да не вечер
Мне малым мало спалось
Мне малым мало спалось
Ой, да во сне привиделось

Мне во сне привиделось
Будто конь мой вороной
Разгулялся, расплясался
Ой, разрезвился подо мной

Налетели ветры злые
Со восточной стороны
И сорвали мою шапку 
Ой, с моей буйной головы

Ой да не вечер, да не вечер
Мне малым мало спалось
Мне малым мало спалось
Ой, да во сне привиделось
---

Oh it's not evening

Oh, it's not evening, it's not evening
I didn't sleep much 
I didn't sleep much 
Oh, it seemed to me in a dream

I dreamed
As if my black horse 
Went wild, danced
Oh, he frolicked under me

Evil winds came 
From the eastern side
And tore my hat 
Oh, from my wild head

Oh, it's not evening, it's not evening
I didn't sleep much 
I didn't sleep much 
Oh, it seemed to me in a dream


🎞️YouTube

Ой да не вечер

Chords (Inst.)

Greetings to the SoundCloud community! Gratitude to you all for your artistry and culture of kindness. 💕 

Due to life circumstances, I've had to step back from singing, but have decided to pull this song from the vault. 

I've been sitting on this one for more than a year, held back by the usual crippling perfectionism. I've decided life's too short to waste time hiding art, when it might possibly bring joy to someone else, so here it is in its imperfect glory. All vocals sung by myself - but I take no credit for the wonderful writing and arranging - please see credits below:

This is an amazing SATB choral arrangement of "I Love You" by Billie Eilish. Credit is due to both Billie Eilish O'Connell and Finneas O'Connell for the words and music, as well as Julia Dollison and Kerry Marsh for the choral arrangement. I came across it years ago, while working with a (fabulous) high school jazz choir. I fell in love with the crunchy harmonies, but had trouble deciding what colours I wanted for the instrumental part, which is part of the reason why it's sat in the vault for so long. 

In this particular choral arrangement, the instrumentation calls for piano, but here, I split it into a digital electric bass line, and electric piano. I kind of liked the funky, ethereal sound of it, but I wasn't sure if there was something else that might sit better against the SATB vocals. I'm curious, and open to hearing suggestions for other instrumentation options. Folks who know me know that I've got some experience with singing, but I am out of my league when it comes to arranging and recording, so I know there's always room for improvement.  

In this era of auto-tune, I would encourage listeners (and myself!) to embrace the imperfection of real, un-corrected vocals. Art doesn't have to be perfect to have value... right? I hope to convince myself...  🙃

Lyrics: 

It's not true
Tell me I’ve been lied to
Crying isn't like you, ooh
What the hell did I do?
Never been the type to
Let someone see right through, ooh

Baby, won't you take it back?
Say you were trying to make me laugh
And nothing has to change today
You didn’t mean to say "I love you"
I love you and I don't want to, ooh

Up all night, on another red-eye
I wish we never learned to fly
Maybe we should just try
To tell ourselves a good lie
Didn't mean to make you cry, ooh

Baby won't you take it back?
Say you were trying to make me laugh
And nothing has to change today
You didn't mean to say "I love you"
I love you and I don't want to, ooh

The smile that you gave me
Even when you felt like dying

We fall apart as it gets dark
I'm in your arms in Central Park
There's nothing you could do or say
I can't escape the way I love you

I don't want to, but I love you
Ooh

I Love You (Billie Eilish cover - SATB choral arrangement)

Traurigkeit in der Menschheit

Fasten seat belts! This is the result of the secret masters of disturbed arts black belt convention (SmaodiablabeCon). For more info play it again.
https://soundcloud.com/ultrasonic_pest_repellent

Moloko Drencrom | Collab with Ultrasonic Pest Repellent

2nd quarter of the album and titled for Ellesmere Island (see my map), it describes the hard final stage of the expedition to the 'Arctica Point', and first effects felt when getting closer, for example odd rhythms ;)

Translated lyrics explain it with more detail, again:

ELLESMERE (AVANZANDO EN EL HIELO)  /  ELLESMERE (MOVING FORWARD ON THE POLAR ICE)

Avanzando en el hielo polar,  /  Moving forward on the polar ice,
mi trineo se desliza hacia ese lugar…  /  my sleigh slides towards that place…
… aunque mi brújula loca está  /  … although my compass is crazy
desde más de cien kilómetros atrás.  /  from more than a hundred kilometers behind.

El sol me guiará,  /  The sun will guide me,
mi corazón me guiará.  /  my heart will guide me.
La aurora boreal me guiará.  /  Aurora borealis will guide me.

Los vientos polares me llevarán,  /  The polar winds will carry me,
los terribles vientos polares me empujarán.  /  the terrible polar winds will push me.
No tiene pérdida el lugar  /  There’s no missing to the place
donde se producen todas las singularidades físicas.  /  where all physical singularities happen.

Avanzando en el hielo polar,  /  Moving forward on the polar ice,
mi trineo se guía solo hacia ese lugar  /  my sleigh guides itself towards that place
y aunque mis perros no lo saben,  /  and though my dogs don’t know it,
esta brújula no cesa de girar.  /  this compass doesn’t stop spinning.

Voy cada vez más deprisa  /  I go faster and faster
arrastrado por mis perros,  /  dragged by my dogs,
acelero, voy cayendo…  /  I accelerate, I’m falling…

Cerca del Punto Ártica  /  Close to the Arctica Point
el tiempo empieza a correr.  /  time starts to run.
Cerca del Punto Ártica  /  Close to the Arctica Point
dejo de envejecer, ¡dejo de envejecer!  /  I stop getting old, I stop getting old!

ER34 PA02 RUIZZO ©1996 ®2019

Licht im Dunkel ( Deutsch )

Axel Kroll