Alastair Russell is a pianist and composer and a long-time friend. He was, naturally, the first person I spoke to about this project. We were having one of many conversations about this project.
We were listening to Stormzy and laughing at the incongruity of it: two middle aged white guys nodding along to Heavy is the Heart that Wears the Crown.
AR - It's all about tension and release, tension and release. If you listen to it build in the chorus, there's a repetition that you know has to land somewhere eventually, and it lands on the refrain 'Heavy is the Heart'... listen.
I press pause and skip back again. He's right.
AW - Is this really rap though? It feels more like R&B or Soul.
AR - Man, he's really clever. It's all that and more. But it's really simple. Just four chords. (He hums along.) See?
I pretend to see.
AR - It's like stand-up comedy. We set something up that we know needs an answer or a resolution. And the really cool bit is when you expect one answer but get another. That's why we laugh. It's the release of tension.
AW - So when you hear a solo that goes where you don't expect it to go, but it fits - it answers the question in a surprising way.
AR - Exactly.
AW - A guy walks into a cafe...
AR - OK?
AW - And the sign says "Breakfast anytime." So he asks for French Toast during the Renaissance.
AR - That's what we're talking about. Same with music as with comedy. We know there has to be an answer. And one that fits - but also doesn't fit - surprises us.
AW - It wouldn't have been as funny if it was "French Toast during the Cultural Revolution."
AR - Exactly. French and Renaissance go together. So it fits. And it doesn't fit. Like that Ashanti Song you sent me. It's a weird time signature, so it wants to finish somewhere but it can't.
AW - Is it in 6/8?
AR - No it's more like 7/8. So it's always trying to catch up with itself. Tension. Tension. Tension. It just keeps rolling along.
This made me think of the Ashanti folk song I'd found and how I want it to act as a kind of echo in Cubah's Song - an echo of her past. I was thinking of it being a refrain that comes in after this spoken word section: (I feel weird calling it a rap)
They tore me out of Africa
But Africa remained
Royal and Ashanti
And I’ll never be ashamed
The medicine that’s in me
Is the reason for my fame
Obeah is the power
That sees the sickness tamed
They trust me with their Sailors
And sought me for their Regent
I healed a young Horatio
When the boy was barely breathing
Your Prince went back to England
And got to make his sequel
His wife despatched a dress
A funny gift to give an equal
I took the name Cornwallis
Cause freedom was my mission
Cornwallis thought he gave it;
Didn’t know my true position
Chains can bind the hands
but they can never hold the heart
Cause kingdoms built on tyranny
Will always fall apart
And at that point I wanted to see if the eleven note refrain or some improvisation of it will play back to her. Maybe with a saxophone.
I explained all this to Alastair, and later sent him and Jonny the saxophonist this audio note:
We caught up again and talked about it more.
AR - Maybe it's more like a jazz thing? As much about rhythm and words as it is about music?
AW - Jazz Poetry?
That's when Alastair mentioned Gil Scott Heron.
AR -You should listen to this guy: he's a jazz musician and beat poet, and this is all about the rhythm. And that tension: tension and release.
He played Whitey on The Moon down the phone to me, and I was blown away. Talk about tension and release. Could we create something like that? No pressure...
POSTCRIPT: I got sent the details of an amazing singer who agreed to record a version of this song. Her name is Zola Marcelle, and she's a Jazz singer. It felt serendipitous.
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