Pieces of Eight

I have been contemplating the women who have been in my life over the years and our connectedness and how we inspire each other. Perhaps it is the onset of middle age, or observing my own extended family or just plain nostalgia but the female link between us forms a sort of loose communion of souls which I wanted to observe.

None of these women would regard themselves as having had remarkable careers or lives; indeed many of them by today’s standards have woefully undersold themselves, despite their obvious talents and skills. They would regard themselves as ordinary - commonplace even - and yet between them have overcome cancer and other serious conditions, care for partners with long-term illnesses, manage work and bringing up children, and all have striking and creative gifts. It has struck me that if these qualities were in men they would be praised to the skies, probably be paid much more and commended for their multifacetedness. But I don’t want to make champions of these women; they and their achievements are no more and no less than thousands of others; it just feels right to show a snapshot of their lives - heroic or not.

First, on taking on this delicious task there were some boundaries; I decided to go for shorter pieces (almost all songs), which meant that Rigoletto or Sheherazade didn’t make the cut. It meant that the kernel of these women’s characters had to be captured in a small, brightly lit sonic and/or verbal worlds. Secondly, describing the essence of their characters had to be kept to minimal words - much harder and less succinct than a piece of music, but this is my humble attempt. A list three times this length could have been compiled, so here is an inadequate selection of some of my pals. Let’s call it Part One…

Clare M

I knew I was going to like Clare when we first met at college because she belched and swore better than I did. Unusually for an oboist, she behaved more like a brass player, which was always going to appeal. She was also a gifted performer and a brilliant sight reader - which became obvious when she could musically eat up almost any piece of ‘fly shit’ (muso term for difficult piece of contemporary music) placed on the stand. When she started working professionally, much of her work was in the West End which of course suited her strengths. Although eventually she became disillusioned with the free-lance musical world she made a classy career switch by moving into garden design. I choose for Clare ‘Oye Mi Canto’ by Gloria Estefan. It reminds me of sharing a house together and how she could pronounce this in either a posh Morningside accent or a dirty Glaswegian one.

Find Claie’s gardening skills at https://www.facebook.com/claremcmillangardendesign

Fleur has an infectious laugh and spills out her emotions more freely than anyone else I know. She will say this is to do with her Welshness, and whilst I couldn’t possibly comment, her singing voice is definitely strongly Celtic, passionate and musical, as is her writing and speaking. Fleur’s other passion - and indeed probably the meaning of her life - is her involvement in the Baha’i faith. She is always striving to deliver the messages of this peace-loving creed and its altruism, and literally spreads peace and love wherever in the world she goes. The piece of music I have chosen for Fleur will make her smile, sing, weep and dance because - let’s face it - she doesn’t need much excuse to do these things anyway. She loves black music with a sunny flavour and I know she’ll be singing along. Al Jarreau and George Benson serenade her with ‘Breezin.’

Lizzie P and I met on the very first day in our hostel in London. Percussionists and violinists aren’t supposed to socialise much, but I liked the look of Lizzie; she had the appearance of a German student, loved cooking, introduced me to soya milk and pesto (at the time exotic ingredients) and had an intriguing uncompromising vibe about her. Anyway, we connected and have never stopped being friends and sharing gossip and pictures of our kids. She has perfect pitch, is an inspirational teacher and is a deeply sensitive player. I choose for her ‘James’ by Pat Metheney.

Claire R and I actually encountered each other through a conversation in the car on the way to a venue. I am told it was a robust exchange and although I don’t remember it, this sounds plausible; Claire is brutally honest you see. I find this stimulating and brave and full of integrity. She makes you aware of how many tiny fibs we tell most days, most of the time - because she almost never does. This robustness can be heard in her musicianship; she is a clarinet and sax player, has an outstanding ear and is a brilliant sight-reader. We work together a lot, and I can honestly say I rely on her second opinion for so much of my professional life. For Claire I choose ‘We are Family’ by Sister Sledge because family and her band - ‘The Soul Patrol’ mean so much to her.

thesoulpatrol.com

Musicstreet.co.uk

Wendy and I started talking in the first term at college when I asked her the results of some assessment or other. She was an outstanding classical bass player but said in our first conversation ‘I’m really much more interested in writing songs.’ Instant admiration followed - not because I had any aspirations to be a songstress myself but because I loved her broader

creative interests and refusal to be straightjacketed into a musical box. At any time, she might be experimenting with jazz voicings on the piano, or noodling about with bass and cello sounds or brass instruments - it doesn’t matter. She has always stayed true to her current interests, and is always looking for new musical stimulation. She has impeccable taste and a huge knowledge of traditional musicals. However I’m not going to choose that for her. Instead, I choose Ella Fitzgerald singing ‘Love is Here to Stay.’ I could have picked anything that she sang, because she was probably the greatest and most prolific interpreter of the American Songbook, but I hope Wendy will approve of this one.

Liz W’s life is filled with beautiful words because they inhabit so much of her character. She is a writer in the truest sense of the meaning; words and their significance occupy so much of her thinking and there is always a poetic or prose project on the go. It might be childrens’ poems, teenage stories, or essays on mental health or long term illness. She is also a pianist, a music teacher and is blessed with an easy sense of phrasing that spans both the writing and playing. Her tendency to absorb the spiritual nature of words makes her uniquely sensitive to them and for that reason I had to think harder than I ever do about the meaning of my song for her. I hope she approves. Lizzy Hardingham singing her song Harvester of Gold sums up so much of what Liz loves; I first heard this song at the Ely Folk Festival which she introduced me to. The artist in question is young - and Liz thinks it is Gen Z which will save us - so this seemed apt. Lizzy Hardingham delivers her lines in an uplifting, folky, crystal clear voice.

Sarah will probably be astonished that I am writing about her as it won’t have occurred to her that her life is worth documenting. And yet she is ferociously articulate, an outstanding musician and thinks deeply and seriously about life. She was an easy choice of trombone teacher for our oldest because she is the best brass teacher I know (apart from Big C of course - ahem). Her clarity of thought contributes to her refreshing angle on accepted ideas; you would never get bored listening to her words or her musical playing. My choice for Sarah is ‘Every Day I have the Blues’ as sung by Joe Williams with the Count Basie Band. I always think of Sarah when I hear the trombones come steaming in at the end of the long and filthy introduction to this song. It’s a compliment - believe me.

Melina

In some ways, Melina features in my life more regularly than anyone else as I am a customer of hers. She owns and runs our local Refill Shop and, although we met several years before, our socialising has increased since the shop opened. I love everything about it; it sits pleasingly on a street in the older part of town and the sun shines prettily through the windows when you want to stop for a vegan cake or oat milk latte. This shop matters not just because it ticks all the eco boxes, but because it demonstrably shows that principled and careful living can exist without being drab and miserable; it enhances and doesn’t take away - and that in essence sums up Melina. She is pensive and artistic (professional painting is another part of her life), speaks three languages fluently and is a philosophy aider (as opposed to ‘teacher’ - which apparently you can’t be in philosophy). Her personal guiding principles seem to be to keep interested in the world with kindness and care and to continue to stimulate her own personal interests - which in turn are ours. It’s catching. I choose for her ‘Watermark’ by Jimmy Webb and as sung by Art Garfunkel. Some may find the words bleak, but it is still a beautiful song wonderfully played.

Check out ‘The Refill Shop,’ St Neots