Blue Night came from a small snippet of poetry that I had jotted down or maybe posted on Twitter and then printed out as possible lyrics. Rosalie said it sounded like a lullaby, which I initially rejected (that’s just a knee-jerk reaction for me), but then later thought, well, why not? It does sound a little like a lullaby. We had discussed it several times, and then I fleshed out the words some. We recorded the background for this song at my apartment with Rosalie at the keyboards, and me in front of my desk with my guitar. One of the things I love about this song is the synergy and the improvisation. We played around with a couple of different piano settings before Rosalie settled on the more organ-like sound, and I had found an interesting riff to explore, and then we just played with no heed to what the melody might be, or how much time we needed.
During this kind of improvisation, I sink into the music and stop hearing it so much as seeing it due to the fact that I have a form of synesthesia which makes reading music (visual) extremely challenging for me. When I improvise, I can see the shapes of music, and the movement, and I can see how what I’m doing fits into it geometrically, but there’s no easy translation for what I see with what is written as typical musical notations. So we played and when we got to the end, I say, “Okay,” which I left in the track. That was the take.
I worked on the vocals a few days later, struggling to find the sound that would go with the background, working by ear, and growing increasingly frustrated until, with a slight adjustment in how I was seeing my vocals, I tuned into where and how I wanted the melody to go into the shape of the music Rosalie and I had created together. The background vocals took more redoing, and fussing with the mixing and whatnot, but the main body of this song was put together swiftly.~ Wendy Kheiry
Emotionally, this song is a testament to how even close, soulmate relationships don’t completely expunge the feelings of sadness and isolation people can experience. Sometimes all we can do is sit with someone through those times in a comfortable companionship that you wish would always be there, even if it includes the ever-present Blues.”
Tag: Improvisation
Behind The Song: Can’t Sing My Song Blues
“Can’t Sing My Song Blues”, evolved from a music improvisation class I took. The story song is laid out as to how I felt when another singer borrowed a song I’d brought for a music ensemble class. Even though it is a standard ballad, the song felt like my song as a band leader in a group I’d been singing in presented it to me as a good fit for my voice and delivery. Thus a bluesy feeling seemed appropriate for this number.
Rosalie Robison
Spotify and Apple links here.
Patchwork Blue can also be found on YouTube, and Deezer.
Lyrics can be found here.
Lyrics to Patchwork Blue Songs are Now Posted
Patchwork Blue has been variously described as a smoldering fire (I am assured this is a good thing), Avant Garde, Soundtrack music, and as defying expectations (some people liked this, and some did not).
This collaborative album I did with my friend, Rosalie, was born out of free form improvisation with jazz and Blues influences. The album is out on major digital markets. There are 10 songs on the album, 2 are instrumentals.
We had a request for the lyrics, and so I’ve posted them, and thought you-all might like to read them. 🙂
Also, I posted this new work on SoundCloud. It’s a sad, gloomy, and makes you wonder why I’m still breathing kind of song, but it captures that moment when I quite seriously felt that my existence here is just plodding on to the end, because what else am I going to do? Some losses can feel like that…but that feeling lifts eventually, maybe showing up in waves, each time a little less severe, a little less sad, a little less lonely. And if you’ve lost someone, and grieve so deeply, I’m sorry.
Grief is a difficult companion, but no one walks without it unless they cannot love. So, you loved well, and will heal in time, building the strength to carry it.
I took this song off of SoundCloud to rework it. So this is a dead link:
Listening To The Family At The Holiday Gathering
Guitar
Experimental
Improvised
I hope your holidays were peaceful.
May we all be able to gather safely in the coming year.
Daily Poem 11/13/2020
A dream so crystal clear
Another time, another place
The bustle of the crowds below
In multilevel grace
Upon a tile of rock I rose
To a location I cannot disclose
The music drifting from above
Love of Jazz Improvisation
They were waiting for my instrument
I stumbled slightly, my descent
Into the shuffling masses
The ring of laughter in the air
A celebratory fervor
Lovers whispering their nothings
In each other’s ears
Groups of people meeting up
To share in the jubilation
My voice lifted to those waiting
“I’m on my way!
I’m almost there!”
And then I woke.
I lay there longing to return
To finish out the dream
Even though the way back is closed
I carry with me now the satisfaction
A deep determination from
The images invoked
