4 Star Commended Entry in the 2022 UK Songwriting Contest

Bonfire Night or Guy Fawkes' Night takes place on November 5th each year in Great Britain with bonfires and firework displays. It recalls the Gunpowder Plot of 1605; an attempt to blow up the Houses of Parliament. Guy Fawkes was captured before he could light the fuse to 36 barrels of gunpowder. Back in the day, children would make a scarecrow-like effigy of Guy Fawkes to be thrown on the communal bonfire during the 'celebrations'. In the run up to the evening they would ask for "a penny for the guy" to spend on sparklers, sweets or other treats.

We must remember every November, we must remember the fifth of November,
For the gunpowder, treason and plot, the gunpowder, treason and plot,
With Mr Guy Fawkes evil intentions, he certainly got all of our attention,
For the gunpowder, treason and plot, but did it succeed, it did not.

Penny for the guy, build your bonfire high,
Let the old boy fry, with fireworks in the sky,

Look at the fireworks lighting the night sky, building the bonfires, building them so high,
Flames burning golden and hot, for the gunpowder, treason and plot,

Penny for the guy, build your bonfire high,
Let the old boy fry, with fireworks in the sky,

Poor Mr Guy Fawkes, remembered to this day,
With burning bonfires and a firework display,

Penny for the guy, build your bonfire high,
Let the old boy fry, with fireworks in the sky,

We must remember every November, we must remember the fifth of November,
For the gunpowder, treason and plot, the gunpowder, treason and plot,

Penny For The Guy

Penny For The Guy (Graham Williams)

There are times in our life when we  reflect through our thoughts.
Our Souls are the platforms that harbour these thoughts, emotions and desires.
I recently experienced these moments, which inspired this track.
I hope this music will take you through the same journey.
Composition, piano, 
midi (guitar,celo and choir)

our Souls in Solitude

I Melt Into The Twilight

IN A DOORWAY
IN THE SHADOWS
AS THE RAIN MUTES
THE NEON SIGNS


HANDS IN POCKETS
OF A SLICKER
MIDNIGHT STRAGGLERS
MEANDER BY

HOLLOW PROMISE
REMINISENCE
LIKE AN ARCING
ELECTRIC LINE

4:00 IN THE MORNIN’
SHE’S AT THE AFTERPARTY
NO ONE IS WARNIN’
SHE SHOULDN’T LEAVE ALONE, NO…

EVERLASTING
I DON’T THINK SO
EVERY BARGAIN
WILL BE BETRAYED

JESUS TOLD ME
I AM SPECIAL
CLOCK IS TICKING
IT’S JUDGEMENT DAY

FADE TO BLACK
SHE’S NOT COMING BACK

FADE TO BLACK
A FRESH MANIAC

Thanks to Janine Levinson, Cheesemont Paisley-Paisley, and Wheelwright for consultations various.

Amour Noir

WHO’S WHO WHAT’S WHAT
WHERE’S LEFT FROM RIGHT
WHAT’S RIGHT FROM WRONG
ME  I DON’T KNOW

CAN YOU MAKE OUT
DAYLIGHT FROM NIGHT
OR HIGH FROM LOW
ME I DON’T KNOW OH
 
QUESTIONS QUESTIONS
WITH NEVER ANSWERS
WHY?
THAT’S ANOTHER QUESTION

WHO ARE YOU WHO IS ME
WHOEVER WE MAY BE
DESTINY
DESTINATION

HORNBILLS CHEAP THRILLS
FOOLS ON BLUEBERRY HILL
THE QUESTION IS
WHO’S GONNA PAY THE BILL 

WHO’S WHO WHAT’S WHAT
WHERE’S LEFT FROM RIGHT
WHAT’S RIGHT FROM WRONG
ME I DON’T KNOW

QUESTIONS (Lyrics)

Brian Butts - Guitar, Drums, Bass, Keyboards, Main Mix
Nigel Manning (The Windscale Blues Experiment) - Saxophones, Saxophone Arrangement https://soundcloud.com/windscaleblues?utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

Reification

Bandcamp

Spark (feat. The Windscale Blues Experiment)

Cosmic Danse – The Planetary Shuffle
February 2023
Duration: 3:00
Listen to the Cosmic Danse Playlist: https://soundcloud.com/bruce-klepper-1/sets/comic-danse
Special thanks to John-Marc Ventimiglia https://soundcloud.com/john-marc-ventimiglia for his highly valued musical input and for creating the planetary panning/gliss/rotation tool that was used to compose this piece.

The Solar System is the gravitationally bound system of the Sun and the objects that orbit it. It formed 4.6 billion years ago from the gravitational collapse of a giant interstellar molecular cloud.  The four inner system planets—Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars—are terrestrial planets, being composed primarily of rock and metal. The four giant planets of the outer system are substantially larger and more massive than the terrestrials. The two largest, Jupiter and Saturn, are gas giants, being composed mainly of hydrogen and helium; the next two, Uranus and Neptune, are ice giants, being composed mostly of volatile substances.  The orbits of the planets are ellipses with the Sun at one focus, though all except Mercury are very nearly circular. The orbits of the planets are all more or less in the same plane, called the ecliptic and defined by the plane of the Earth's orbit.  The orbits of the planets, based on Earth's 1 year orbit, are as follows: Mercury .24 years, Venus .61, Earth 1.00, Mars 1.88, Jupiter 11.86, Saturn 29.46, Uranus 84.01, Neptune 164.80, Pluto 248.80.  They all orbit in the same direction, counter-clockwise looking down from above the Sun’s north pole; all but Venus, Uranus and Pluto also rotate in that same sense. 
For alto sax, tenor sax, baritone sax, trumpet, metallophone, piano, bass, virtual instruments and percussion.

Cosmic Danse - The Planetary Shuffle

This song began with Jeff (Stoner Jazz) sending the foundational tracks of guitar and drum/bass machine to Stephen (Tex Mex Shaman), who added some additional guitar and sound effects. They then sent it over to Terry, who added synth and percussion to the second half, as well as took over the role of producer for the entire track. Terry then sent it to me. I added the mandolin and the five string fretless bass to the whole thing. Terry used Hosam's vocals for flavor at the beginning, too. I had a lot of fun working on this one. Jeff and Stephen are excellent musicians, who are open to pushing the envelope of creativity. Terry is similarly open minded and super talented behind the board. Hosam's vocals were just right for what we were trying to do, too. I sincerely hope that that, although this is already my second song with Terry, that it will be the first of many with Jeff and Stephen, as well. all of these guys make exciting, amazing music on their own, too. I'm honored to be a part of their musical world.

Dig Dug (with Tea R. Sea, Tex Mex Shaman, Stoner Jazz, and Hosam Yusef)

don't hardly know her

Grey Brain

Telepathic war

A laboratory with an open bar and floating altar. Come on in! 

Here are various solo and collaborative projects - songs, soundscapes, live looped solo guitar improvisations. 

This project used to be called "imaginary friends", but it became too real for that name, as did many of you.

I hope you enjoy something you find here. Do feel free to be in touch, you never know what might happen.  

I also invite you to attend @hypnopompetus, a duo project with the illustrious Cheesemont Paisley-Paisley https://soundcloud.com/sel-sync, and Fictive Sisters, a transatlantic band with  the incomparable Wheelwright https://fictivesisters.bandcamp.com/album/immaculate-distraction.

Amour Noir

Jonathan Beckenstein