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Time Out Ten

What Are You Doing The Rest Of Your Life?

Tony Coe

 

For this item you need to be able to stop for ten minutes.  

We are often moving on to the next job, the next meeting, scrolling down social media, taking the next call ......'Time Out Ten' asks you to stop for ten minutes and listen to a particular piece of music; to find a time when you won't be interrupted, when you can put in/on your headphones and chill out. Ten minutes isn't long.

 

Tony Coe

 

"There is only one way to eat an elephant : a bite at a time". (Desmond Tutu)

What are you doing the rest of your life
North and South and East and West of your life ....?

With lyrics written by Alan and Marilyn Bergman and original music written by Michel Legrand, the song first appeared in the 1969 film The Happy Ending. The song was originally written, of course, as a love song, but however you apply the title, it is a pretty big question to ask. In music, "Break it down" can have several meanings for example: 'In some live performances an artist will say “break it down” at the beginning of the bridge of the song. Usually everyone quits playing except the bass and drums. Then instrumentation is added back into the song slowly'. Either way, I have always respected the idea of breaking down a formidable task into bite-sized chunks.

This version of the Bergman / Legrand song comes from reeds player Tony Coe's 1978 album Coe-Existence. Writing about a recent release of Tony Coe's work, Robin Kidson said: "Any list of the most stylistically versatile jazz musicians must include Tony Coe in its top ten – top five, even." (click here). Coe-existence featured Tony (tenor sax, soprano sax, clarinet); John Horler (piano); Trevor Tomkins (drums); Ron Rubin (bass) and Frank Riccotti (percussion on one track). It is still available through Discogs and Amazon for mp3 and it remains one of my favourite albums.

Tony Coe and John Horler got together once again in 2007 for the album Dancing In The Dark, released last year.

What Are You Doing The Rest Of Your Life has some sensitive phrasing from Tony Coe and a fine piano solo from John Horler, perfect for taking time out for ten minutes as well spending a moment to reflect on the elephantine question.

 

Listen to What Are You Doing The Rest Of Your Life?

 

 

 

 

Talk In The Night

Why are you sighing?'
'For all the voyages I did not make
Because the boat was small, might leak, might take
The wrong course, and the compass might be broken,
And I might have awoken
In some strange sea and heard
Strange birds crying'.

'Why are you weeping?'
'For all the unknown friends or lovers passed
Because I watched the ground or walked too fast
Or simply did not see
Or turned aside for tea
For fear an old wound stirred
From its sleeping'.

ASJ Tessimond

 

How to eat an elephant

 

 

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