Infant Eyes, Wayne Shorter cover with Lyda Van Tol

Posted on by

Here’s our cover of Wayne Shorter’s “Infant Eyes” with wonderful vocals from Lyda Van Tol….guitar work from yours truly. Backed by the Confinement Crew. We hope you enjoy it.

Lyda and I have been exploring the ways to bring classical and jazz together. Looking at common ground, and investigating differences. Wayne Shorter’s jazz standard Infant Eyes seemed like a perfect starting point. Wayne Shorter being heavily inspired by French composer Eric Satie who was in turn inspired by French impressionist composer Debussy.
The story goes that Wayne wrote the melody while trying to sing his child to sleep.

The lyrics were written later by someone else. I cannot find a definitive answer to who and when they were written…..if you know please tell me. Anyway, here they are…

There’s no place beneath the sky, the voice will never arise
That could sing of my love, for my dear infant eyes

Infant eyes, you are my own
Without your smile, the stars would fall
And the moon would lose its glow
And the rivers would cease to flow

I wish you could realize, this love I have inside
A love that never dies, for my dear infant eyes

Some day you will grow up, you’ll grow up and have your problems
Little girl you must try to be strong, for being strong
Is the one thing in the whole world that will save you
And always keep room in your heart for love
For love will teach you to care
And in caring, you’ll find the need for sharing
And through sharing, you’ll live a happy life

A joyous life my dear sweet child
May God be with you all the while
And go on your way working harder day by day
Until your dreams, your dreams come true
Make your dreams come true

Infant eyes you are my own
Without your smile, the stars would fall
And the moon would lose its glow
And the river would cease to flow

You know, I wish you could realize
This love I have inside
A love that never dies
For my dear infant eyes
I love you infant eyes
I love you infant eyes

Just in time for Christmas…

Posted on by

I’ve been working hard with Lyda van Tol on five original compositions of hers. She wrote them in 2021. I recorded them for her and compiled some video footage to go with them. I finished them today. Just in time for Christmas! Enjoy! Merry Christmas!

5 Classical Piano Compositions written and played by Lyda van Tol. Written in 2021, recorded on location in South West France during autumn 2022. Each piece recorded as a single take so that it could be enjoyed as if it was a live concert.
I asked Lyda what she was thinking when she wrote each piece and used that as my starting point for the video compilation.

To Shave or not to Shave?

Posted on by

While I had my arm in a cast I stopped shaving as it was too difficult. I’ve had the cast off a couple of weeks now….arm getting back to normal. Now, do I shave or not….until spring?
Pendant que j’avais le bras dans le plâtre, j’ai arrêté de me raser car c’était trop difficile. Le plâtre a été retiré il y a quelques semaines maintenant… le bras revient à la normale. Maintenant, est-ce que je me rase ou pas… jusqu’au printemps ?
#hannahats

Doom and Gloom….

Posted on by

Stoner Doom in fact. My latest musical effort. I know you wanna hear it. Cooked up on a Sunday afternoon…..Fender Stratocaster straight into a Focusrite Scarlett, and thereby into Ableton Live with a Neural DSP Archetype Cory Wong plugin. Enjoy!

Oooops I did it again!

Posted on by
Right forearm X-ray

Fell off my MTB, broke my right ulnar. Did it back at the start of October. Would have mentioned it sooner, but I couldn’t type! The metalwork on the X-ray is from when I broke it when I was 14. Look to the left of that and you’ll see the new break. I’ve had it in a cast for 7 weeks. Got the cast of now and trying to get back to normal. I’ve been told not to ride until mid December. But I can play my guitar! Got some work to do as it’s quite sore/stiff/weak.

I was riding down a trail that I’ve ridden hundreds of times en route to Cognac la Foret. It is quite tricky. It’s a rocky stream crossing. I usually make it OK. Not this time though. Front wheel dropped into a hole and I went straight over the bars, landed on my arm on the rocks. I didn’t know it was broken at first. I thought I would be OK. I was a bit shaken, and it took me a while to get up. My arm was hurting so I put it in the cold stream water while I gathered my senses and worked out what to do. I noticed I had cut my arm open. I took it out of the stream, gave it a rinse from my bike bottle and wrapped my buff around it.

The plan now was to abandon the ride and cycle home along the road. Just getting to the nearest road was tough. Just getting on my bike was tough. After a few kilometres I knew I was going to have to call Carla for help. Carla took one look at my arm and told me I would need to go to hospital. The hospital doctor took one look and sent me for X-ray. 5 hours later I’m stitched up with my arm in a cast.

Thank you…

Posted on by

If I should die, think only this of me;
That there’s some corner of a foreign field
That is for ever England. There shall be
In that rich earth a richer dust concealed;
A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware,
Gave, once, her flowers to love, her ways to roam,
A body of England’s breathing English air,
Washed by the rivers, blest by suns of home.

And think, this heart, all evil shed away,
A pulse in the eternal mind, no less
Gives somewhere back the thoughts by England given;
Her sights and sounds; dreams happy as her day;
And laughter, learnt of friends; and gentleness,
In hearts at peace, under an English heaven.
Rupert Brooke. 1887 – 1915