The material for this symphonic movement comes from a song for vocalist, saxophone and keyboard: 'Musical chairs for the end of an age', setting the words of Michele Witthaus. She is a Leicester poet who has written a collection of poems during the lockdown ("'From a Sheltered place', published by Wildpressed Books").

Symphony No 8 'Jazz in the lockdown' 1st movement: It's no party

Sometimes our path, or journey as it were, leads us to an edge. Edges of self, life, circumstances, reality, cliffs, you name it… Some edges are dangerous, sharp and jagged, even life threatening. Other edges encourage us to traverse them. Back in the 1970’s, there was this great sand cliff we used to go to, in Northern Europe, where we could run and hurl ourselves off of it and land in the water below. It was exhilarating, as the hang time allowed for contemplation in the moment, during the free fall. It felt like we were flying like the bluebirds in the sky. At the base of the cliff, we hung out by the water. We were mostly unfamiliar with the freedoms we had found there. Harry ran off and intentionally lost his swim trunks on the beach, while chasing after a beautiful woman who herself was sans swimsuit. He was in love with her. She had other ideas. He was drinking heavily, then he passed out, ass up in the sand, under the blazing sun, after making a fool of himself. It was a sad moment all around. By the time we found him, he had a bad sunburn. Poor guy. Could hardly sit down. A bunch of us were camped in the forest, not far from the cliffs. That night, I was sitting by the fire next to a wild-eyed woman and asked her something in another language. She blew smoke in my face and laughed nervously as if taunting a bear. Then she kissed me. We all seemed to be chasing after a freedom that did not exist in this life, at least for us. Some of us would later die trying to find that same freedom. For some strange reason I survived. We were wild back then and maybe always will be. This song contains some of that freedom among other things.

Lammbone's Album

Have You Ever Been?

Hey. I am a late bloomer musically. Initially I started on acoustic guitar, then within the last 4 years: Banjo, slide guitar, dobro, recorder, harmonica and singing.  Most of my songs are rough, unpolished, unpracticed, recordings made on an old laptop. Thank you for the love and support, the insights and ideas, the camaraderie and fellowship, Lammbone

New tracks tagged #Jazz Riffs