Short Jazz Stories are more like short musical tales than standard compositions and I never know at the beginning where the story will lead me.
This is a homemade amateur recording. 
Since childhood, I’ve enjoyed discovering new sounds, combining them, playing with tones, and coming up with new compositions. But I've never had enough discipline or energy to write them down or record them systematically. So, most of them fade from memory over time, and I find joy in discovering new ones again. 
Maybe that's a shame. I've recorded something here and will preserve it this way. Perhaps listening to these small pieces will bring someone the same pleasure I felt while creating them.

At the Manor House - Czech Folk  (2022)
Another song I tried to interpret is the Czech folk song U Panského Dvora (At the Manor House). It’s a melodic, emotional and melancholic.
Folk songs have influenced many composers. And not just songs—also the landscape we live in and the life within it are reflected in music.
I’d like to focus on one of the most played Czech composers, Bedřich Smetana (1824–1884), where we can clearly see this influence. His music shows inspiration from folk songs, but also echoes of nature. I feel especially close to this composer because I live in the countryside, surrounded by nature in the region where Smetana often came for inspiration, rest, and to be close to important people in his life. Eventually, he moved there permanently for the last nine years of his life.
It’s also where he completed his most famous work, the cycle of symphonic poems Má vlast (My Country). So when I go for walks with my dog, the same forests, meadows, fields, and ponds speak to me—just like they do in the fourth symphonic poem of this cycle, Z Českých Luhů a Hájů (From Bohemian Woods and Meadows).  And when the wind catches me in the forest, under the dimness of rain clouds and the forest creatures grow uneasy, there's no doubt I hear sounds that are expressed in the composition as a remarkable four-voice fugue
If you know and listen only to the piece Vltava from the cycle My Country, try the other beautiful pieces too—especially the one from our region: From Bohemian Woods and Meadows.
By the way, one of the main musical themes in Vltava, his most played symphonic poem, is actually based on a children’s folk song Kočka leze dírou (The Cat Crawls Through the Hole), just transformed into a minor key :-)

08 At the Manor House - Czech Folk

Short Jazz Stories are more like short musical tales than standard compositions and I never know at the beginning where the story will lead me.
This is a homemade amateur recording. 
Since childhood, I’ve enjoyed discovering new sounds, combining them, playing with tones, and coming up with new compositions. But I've never had enough discipline or energy to write them down or record them systematically. So, most of them fade from memory over time, and I find joy in discovering new ones again. 
Maybe that's a shame. I've recorded something here and will preserve it this way. Perhaps listening to these small pieces will bring someone the same pleasure I felt while creating them.

Steam Locomotive (2023)

This composition is a memory of childhood and trips into nature aboard a steam locomotive. At first, it was meant to be a song for children. I stuck to that plan through the first verse and chorus, but during the first interlude I somehow got carried away—and that was the end of the song…
So, honor and glory to all steam locomotives!
What did I jot down about it?
To the rhythm of the axles regularly jolting over the expansion gaps between the rails (the familiar tydymty dam, tydymty dam), you can hear the movement of the steam engine, the locomotive starting up, the bustle at the station, the ride through the countryside and the whistle of the steam siren.
In the second part, the locomotive gains momentum and speeds along a long straight track. There’s even a glimpse into the driver’s cabin. We find ourselves very close to the steam engine, near the firebox and boiler. The stoker fires up the boiler so intensely that the locomotive races ahead and eventually disappears from view…
I see music as a means of communication—one that can share stories and paint pictures. It’s no wonder I enjoy music that isn’t too bound by rules. That’s the kind of music created by two other greats I admire: Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel. My musical recommendation here is L’Isle Joyeuse by Debussy. The sheet music may terrify you at first glance. But you’ll be pleasantly surprised by how naturally it fits under your fingers. Your hands glide across the keyboard as effortlessly as when you’re passionately telling a story and unconsciously gesturing with your body.

10 Steam Locomotive

Short Jazz Stories are more like short musical tales than standard compositions and I never know at the beginning where the story will lead me.
This is a homemade amateur recording. 
Since childhood, I’ve enjoyed discovering new sounds, combining them, playing with tones, and coming up with new compositions. But I've never had enough discipline or energy to write them down or record them systematically. So, most of them fade from memory over time, and I find joy in discovering new ones again. 
Maybe that's a shame. I've recorded something here and will preserve it this way. Perhaps listening to these small pieces will bring someone the same pleasure I felt while creating them.

When I Ride Through That Forest - Czech Folk (2022)

Folk songs are an endless source of ideas and inspiration—especially when they resonate with you and reflect the same cultural elements you carry inside. Because the Czech Republic lies in the heart of Europe and many nations moved through it in ancient times, people say that every Czech has one-third Celtic, one-third Germanic, and one-third Slavic blood. So it’s no surprise that the range of songs I love is very wide.
For this piece, I chose the Czech folk song Až já pojedu přes ten les (When I Ride Through That Forest). I let it sink into my subconscious (neuroscientists would say into my cognitive map), and now you can hear how it came out.
After listening, you probably won’t be surprised that among the musicians I admire and enjoy are George Gershwin and Dave Brubeck. And yes, the song met them somewhere along the journey through my musical landscape :-)

07 When I Ride Through That Forest - Czech Folk

Short Jazz Stories are more like short musical tales than standard compositions and I never know at the beginning where the story will lead me.
This is a homemade amateur recording. 
Since childhood, I’ve enjoyed discovering new sounds, combining them, playing with tones, and coming up with new compositions. But I've never had enough discipline or energy to write them down or record them systematically. So, most of them fade from memory over time, and I find joy in discovering new ones again. 
Maybe that's a shame. I've recorded something here and will preserve it this way. Perhaps listening to these small pieces will bring someone the same pleasure I felt while creating them.

Minor Third (2022)

When my son was about ten years old, he once brought me a piece of paper and said, “Dad, I’ve written some lyrics—could you make music for it?” I was really happy. First, because he was being creative, and second, because he trusted me to compose music for his words.
The rhyme scheme was simple: A-A-B-B. So I grabbed my guitar, grouped the lyrics into verses  and a chorus, and quickly composed two slightly complex but melodic themes. I added about 36 chords and excitedly started singing the song to my son.
But I didn’t even get to the second verse. He stopped me right away and said something like, “No, not like that! That’s totally wrong—you didn’t get it at all!”
I stopped singing, looked at him, and asked, “So how do you imagine it?”
He took the lyrics from me and rapped the whole thing from memory in a rhythm like “tydymta tadamta tydymta.” The “tydamta” part was made of two identical notes and a reversed minor third. Then he stayed on the lower note and repeated it three more times (“tadamta”).
I said gently, “Sounds like you’ve already finished it.” He replied, “Pretty much, yeah,” and walked away.
Years later, I found the lyrics again. I thought, “Well, the melody is already set, but he didn’t say anything about harmony.” So I played around with the two-note motive and ended up composing a little piece based on the minor third interval, which became the main building block of the song.
But I’m not exactly original. I can smile and say that a similar motive was already used by Ludwig van Beethoven in his Symphony No. 5 in C minor (Fate Symphony). There are only some minor differences. He repeated the opening note three times (I only did it twice), making it rhythmically more urgent. He used the 3rd and 5th notes of the minor chord (a major third), while I used the 1st and 3rd notes of the minor chord (a minor third), and my key is D minor :-)



05 Minor Third

Short Jazz Stories are more like short musical tales than standard compositions and I never know at the beginning where the story will lead me.
This is a homemade amateur recording. 
Since childhood, I’ve enjoyed discovering new sounds, combining them, playing with tones, and coming up with new compositions. But I've never had enough discipline or energy to write them down or record them systematically. So, most of them fade from memory over time, and I find joy in discovering new ones again. 
Maybe that's a shame. I've recorded something here and will preserve it this way. Perhaps listening to these small pieces will bring someone the same pleasure I felt while creating them.

Monologue (2022)

For one work teambuilding event, the task was to prepare a one-minute self-introduction. So I wrote a short song to introduce myself. In the end, I didn’t use it, but I reused the musical theme for a new short jazz piano piece. 
I added a bridge and a solo, and it was done.

06 Monologue

Short Jazz Stories are more like short musical tales than standard compositions and I never know at the beginning where the story will lead me.
This is a homemade amateur recording. 
Since childhood, I’ve enjoyed discovering new sounds, combining them, playing with tones, and coming up with new compositions. But I've never had enough discipline or energy to write them down or record them systematically. So, most of them fade from memory over time, and I find joy in discovering new ones again. 
Maybe that's a shame. I've recorded something here and will preserve it this way. Perhaps listening to these small pieces will bring someone the same pleasure I felt while creating them.

The Bells Are Ringing (2021)

In the beginning, there was the text. It was supposed to be a song, but somehow it went off track by the third bar, and in the end, it turned into yet another short jazz story. The interval of a perfect fourth in the opening motive refers to the sound of a bell, but you won’t find any other idea in there :-)

04 The Bells Are Ringing

automagical - 9:1:25, 4.20 PM

Jazz M2

ill - Sweet Honey

Canon Adkins - Trumpet
Ricky King - Fender Rhodes 
Christian Austin - Electric Bass
Christian St. Marseille - Drums 

Cover Art - Noah Witt

Mix & Master - Christian Austin

Recorded live on March 13th, 2025 at California Baptist University Lab Studios

ill (feat. Canon Adkins)

Vinyl Voyages - 03.11.25

(っ◔◡◔)っ ♥ Edinburgh community radio ♥

𝓵𝓲𝓼𝓽𝓮𝓷 𝓵𝓲𝓿𝓮: www.ehfm.live
𝓰𝓮𝓷𝓮𝓻𝓪𝓵 𝓮𝓷𝓺𝓾𝓲𝓻𝓲𝓮𝓼: hello@ehfm.live

I compose for my pleasure, but maybe it could pleased also someone else.

Sweet Honey is a neo-soul jazz trio based in Riverside, CA, with Christian Austin on Rhodes/keyboards, Vicktor Pargas on bass, and Christian St. Marseille on drums/percussion. Their sound is derived from their jazz background and other contemporary styles such as Hip-Hop, R&B, and Funk. They often collaborate with other artists to add another unique voice to their trio, such as RYCE, Dan St. Marseille, and Kevin Richardson.

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