le tour de Jack

This piece has quite a back story [read Egg, Chips (and Beans) from 2010 blog post.] To shorten things a bit . . .I wrote a piece for Jack’s dad, John, a few years ago, and last year, Jack asked me to write one for him. Jack is 20 now, and just finished his first year of college in London, studying jazz (he’s a great drummer.) I’m always motivated to write when I return home, so Jack’s tune was the first project I jumped on. I had asked Jack to sing a beat, a percussive line, into my digital recorder, that I might use for inspiration. I wanted to write something funky, and I wanted to use his rhythmic idea somewhere in the piece.

To then have the opportunity to bring the piece to Monteton almost a year later, and to perform it with Jack himself, well, that was one of my favorite moments of the week. From my journal, “Hard to put words into the pride I feel after the first performance of my work here in Monteton. So many kisses and hugs afterward. People so happy about the music. During the moment, things felt surreal. I loved the lighting on Jack as he played his solo. Watching Ian,Jonathan, Ferg and Jack – it was mesmerizing, hypnotic. Just a great feeling, coming off the stage and being congratulated by my friends.”

I’ve watched the video over and over, and am just amazed at everyone’s performances.

See video (sorry about the blurriness):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0r3v8gBW4Q