From Lewis Carroll's "Alice through the looking glass"

Jabberwocky

Yulduz Masharipova, Marina Nikolaeva, soprano
Anastasia Krasnoperova, alto
Tatiana Ukolova, flute
Daria Pershukova, cello
Vlas Ivanyuk, vibraphone
Alexandr Andrianov, conductor
Kristina Drozd, sound engineer

Anna Danilova, composer

"Music without words" for two sopranos, alto and instrumental ensemble - Anna Danilova, composer

Fan Yu - piano (China)
Chamber orchestra "Soloists of Nizhny Novgorod"
Conductor Vladimir Onoufriev

Concertino for piano and string orchestra - Anna Danilova, composer

Recording by the UNLV Wind Orchestra featuring Eric Marienthal (alto sax), Colin Gordon (soprano sax), Mitch Forman (piano), Kevin Axt (electric bass), and Bernie Dresel (drums).

In "Bordello Nights,"  the tango-like rhythms throughout juxtaposed with the ensemble of jazz improvisers intertwined with a dark, film noir-like fabric paints a historical picture of the types of music that were often performed in bordellos in the early twentieth century. 

According to The History Of Jazz by Ted Gioia, New Orleans jazz pianist Jelly Roll Morton (1840-1941) was hired to perform in these venues, which held a substantial place in the music business in the early 20th century: “More than any other major New Orleans jazz artist, Morton’s apprenticeship in the music business took place largely in the bordellos of Storyville (although Morton worked mainly in the white bordellos where few other jazz players could follow)…His great-grandmother expelled him from home when she learned of his activities in the District, and before long Morton started on the peripatetic freelancing that would occupy most of his life.” – Gioia, The History of Jazz

The composer Astor Piazzolla (1921-1992) composed tango music for the concert hall with the mission to bring tango from bordellos to other venues. For example, his composition Histoire du Tango,  specifically his first movement titled “Bordello, 1900,” brings to the concert hall music that was associated with bordellos in Buenos Aires.

"Bordello Nights" was written for the UNLV Wind Orchestra featuring a jazz band comprising soprano sax, alto sax, piano, bass and drums. 



The Return

Bordello Nights

Buy Album

Bordello Nights (2016) - Concerto for Jazz Band and Wind Orchestra

sun sets on the other side
mother sleeps while her daughter cries
windows painted on the grey-blue walls
but beyond there's nothing at all

heard of a boy from around the bend
greeted by an unknown man
smiled back at his fathers ghost
where was the world when he needed it most?

lost somewhere down in the midwest
can't remember the last time i slept
long ago i buried my name in the sand
he's in my head, but i took his hand

no one's sane
no one's sane
no one's sane anymore

Name In The Sand

can you tell me why you hang around?
why are you toughing me out?
i remember that day
you called me on the phone
and i wasn't in a proper state
but i'm drinking to remember

just forget

i know you've got the best intentions
i can't say the same for myself
if you get too close, you'll only get hurt
honey, stop playing with fire
and someday you're gonna find me
laying face down in the snow
and that's what you'll remember,

so just forget

Just Forget

by now, you surely have noticed
in your hours spent awake
every house has lost its windows
every car thrown in the lake

and this plastic is all that sticks in your hand
the only words you'll understand
one of these days, in the doorway
of your smashed up apartment
walls like wet parchment

what a fluorescent time for tragedies
flow like so much blinding light into blinded eyes
all the best architects of memories
have to rip apart this high-rise
apt at mourning, dressed in black ties
so many months get buried under this street

by now, surrounded by whirling
when it calls but you're not here
every thread gets thrown together
into brief flashes of fear

this elastic is all that sticks in your hand
the only words you'll understand
one of these days, in the doorway
of your smashed up apartment
walls like wet parchment

Memory Architect

awake in a dizzy house,
the spark on your shoulders arising
all specks in a coughing smoke,
burnt birds and advertising

i'd swear your little life grew legs,
and sat down at the foot of my bed
your face covered in ink
covered in black dyes

so wipe your eyes with the knives in your hands,
with the knives in your plans
i can listen but can't understand
it's not mine to demand
from the life in your hands
from the wasted nights thrown in your plans
i can hear you, but i cannot understand

people want you stumble in the dark,
people want you to get home safe
people want you to hurry through the dark,
people want you hiding in the alleyway

you're here in a messy house,
the storm outside moves higher
a jagged turn to ash
the ads and the birds you buy her

i'm sure the sea's your visitor,
this life is oh so insular
it bathes you in weird inks
a face full of long sighs

The Knives

in the open water, i don't feel alone
tired eyes swept me out, and i'm not going home
i'm a bleeding soul in an ocean,
creatures gnawing at my wounds
i show you my great devotion,
but please don't pull me out soon

the waves are the only company i need
let the water cleanse my mind

born and raised far from the sea
the tide rolls in, like a blanket, it covers me
i feel the warmth in the coldest places
that's what i tell myself, at least

the waves are the only company i need
let the water cleanse my mind

my heart is made of salt
so know the time i spend alone is not your fault
you touched my hand but i'm too numb to feel a thing
best not waste your precious time

Open Water

if a caged bird could leave,
where would it fly?
when a woman can't sing,
and a man can't cry

he's forever tipping on the scales,
forcing onto a bed of broken nails
by seeing the wrong beauty,
he steals the wind from her sails

so why does she let him?
why does she go along with him?

she's at the bottom of her own landslide,
while he slides over her for the ride
neglecting her dreams of a plateau,
he leaves her to die

if he only knew
if he only knew what was inside,
he would hate what he makes her hide

Jabberwocky

Derek Demierre