No 4 in a series of improvisations with recorded church & municipal bells. Autumn 2021: I'm walking down a street in Dortmund & I hear a big bell ringing. I start humming, then singing with it/against it, & that's where this little project started. I downloaded some bell recordings, all from cities & towns in mainland Europe, and got started. The bells in this piece were recorded in Kyiv at dawn on 24th February 2023, one year on from the invasion.

Peter Spafford's Album

Swing 4: She Wakes in Kyiv

No 1 in a series of improvisations with recorded church & municipal bells. Autumn 2021: I'm walking down a street in Dortmund & I hear a big bell ringing. I start humming, then singing with it/against it, & that's where this little project started. I downloaded some bell recordings, all from cities & towns in mainland Europe, and got started.

Swing 1: Dreaming of Das U

Hope Is what you can see when you can see further than what you can see

Hope is what you can see when you can see further than what you can see

organ, piano, electric piano, singing, more singing 

words and music by hugh nankivell - bristol november 2023

Hope

One Lucky Day was first performed at The Irish Centre as part of Unsung Sports 2023. Composed by Peter Spafford, arranged by Dave Evans, sung by Agnes Leonovics & played by Chapel FM Jazz Collective, the lyrics are written from the experience of women players in South Leeds Valkyries basketball team. Image: Lizzie Coombes.

One Lucky Day (extract)

Walk Through The Wall, written from the words of Leeds Aikido players by Peter Spafford, arranged by Dave Evans, performed by Agnes Leonovics and the Chapel FM Jazz Collective, recorded at The Irish Centre by James Jelliman as part of Unsung Sports 2023, a Leeds 2023 project. Image: Lizzie Coombes.

Walk Through The Wall (extract)

Hands To It is a song for Unsung Sports 2023 written by Peter Spafford from the words of women basketball players in Leeds (South Leeds Valkyries), arranged by Dave Evans and performed by Peter Spafford, Agnes Leonovics and The Chapel FM Jazz Collective. Recorded Live at Leeds Irish Club, October 25th 2023. Image: Lizzie Coombes.

Hands To It (extract)

Bob Jones is a song for Unsung Sports 2023 written by Peter Spafford from the words of Aikido players in Leeds (Leeds Ichiban), arranged by Dave Evans and performed by Peter Spafford, Agnes Leonovics and The Chapel FM Jazz Collective. Recorded by James Jelliman Live at Leeds Irish Club, October 25th 2023. Image: Lizzie Coombes.

Bob Jones (extract)

A last day of November song, before the coming of advent.

Piano stool cover made for me by my mum Muriel.

Closing Down

A setting of the poem by Robert Burns, I Murder Hate, in which Rabbie declares he'd much rather have lots of sex than kill people. Kind of 'make love not war' for the 18th century. Zimri was a king who died in the arms of his concubine, Cozbi. I've added the names of some of Burns' great loves: Betty, Mary... Image: Lizzie Coombes

I Murder Hate

The idea for the song came from a John Donne poem, An Anatomy of The World, with the line; 'For there's a kind of world remaining still'. My song imagines a person in grief and seeks to console her/him, as does the original poem.

There Is A World

Writer, composer, performer based in Leeds, UK.

Swing 4: She Wakes in Kyiv

Edible Tent

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