L.H.B.

Influences - Oceansize

I was very keen to write a piece that started with an improvised solo, firstly to add variety to the types of structures I was using and secondly to ensure that I was allowing my musicians room to be creative. I also thought that I’d try to write a slow, spacey tune to try and add a relaxed environment for performer and listener alike.

When I write chord sequences, I always try to find a strong thread throughout the form to keep a sense of coherence. In this case, I wrote the first section (A) with the same 3-note triplet figure running throughout the whole sequence. Rick plays this figure at the start of his solo, but it is not necessarily meant to be played, it only acted as a tool to help me write a coherent sequence. You could try singing or playing the triplet phrase to hear how it fits over the chords!

The guitar and clarinet line enters as the A section repeats and the piano solo continues. This line is fairly obscure, and is meant to act as an ethereal accompaniment to the solo, rather than as a main melody. As the line goes on, increasingly faster rhythms are used to create heightening tension and energy.

The section releases into a four bar chord sequence that feels warmer and more secure in comparison (B) with a shimmering guitar texture adding depth and presence. I was inspired by the Manchester Progressive Rock band Oceansize here, who use an incredible array of textures and orchestration to great effect.  Check out their song ‘No Tomorrow’ to hear an example of the guitar sound I was after.

In my head, the piece was aching to build up into a back-beat. With this in mind I decided to write a transition where the bass drops out and leaves us high and dry with the piano and guitar stuck on a tremolo of no clear harmonic direction to deny any expectations of what is to come.   

The piano solo continues into a new 4/4 section (C) which feels much heavier and more grounded than the section in 3. The guitar still provides textural depth and shimmer with thicker tremolo chords. When the section repeats, the piano gets locked into playing big voicings in a constant quaver rhythm and the sax plays a simple, strong melodic line.

For a while, this was how far the composition got due to time restraints. However, when I was walking to teaching one morning and practising polyrhythms along with the tempo of my strides, I realised that my pace was exactly the same as the quavers in the piano part at letter (C). One polyrhythm that I was fond of (4 over 5) became really locked into my head that day, and I though I’d try using it later. I kept the piano chords moving at exactly the same speed, but they then turned into the ‘4’ that would fit equidistantly over a new 5 beat bar (D). Try tapping the piano quavers from the sax melody at (C) and continuing to tap at the same speed when we reach letter (D).

The chords remain the same as (C) but now with a new feel. The piano is constantly playing 4 over 5, the bass and drums are also highlighting the 4 over 5 but missing the 3^rd of 4 to supply a backbeat and with the drums also keeping the new 5/4 tempo very clear. Meanwhile, the sax and guitar are playing a melody based on minims, which obviously don’t fit perfectly into 5/4 and thus create odd resolution points.

The sax is then given a chance to improvise over this new feel, before the melody returns again to build up to an abrupt ending. The original tempo makes one last cry for attention by taking hold of the last bar and very strongly stating the old ‘4’ feel from (C).

There was no title for this tune until I was watching a program on our solar system, which mentioned the ‘Late Heavy Bombardment.’ During this period in history a large number of asteroids collided with the planets in the inner solar system, including Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars. However enthralled I was to learn about this incredibly destructive event, I was more exited because my latest piece did exactly the same thing! In terms of shape and intensity, it gave the listener a Heavy Bombardment, Late on in the piece! L.H.B. was born!