New Year Mixtape: Kiss of Fire

Here are some recordings I made recently, jamming with my teacher Marco Marconi, on the theme of getting it on, literally, suggestively or just in the sense of generally getting the life force flowing in a creative manner.

The first track is Petite Fleur -- a well-known tune by clarinet and soprano sax legend Sidney Bechet -- with a twist: it's played to a Latin rhythm rather than as swing. Unless you count the rhythm change Marco springs on me in the middle ... 😀

Two paths diverge in a wood, we take both!

The second is Ain't We Got Fun, which you may have noticed featured in #TwoTuneTuesday a couple of weeks ago.

The third is Lover Man (oh where can you be? pretty self-explanatory!), while the fourth is Kitchen Man, a rather saucy number sung by Bessie Smith about a white lady getting inconsolable about the loss of a member of her staff. I'll leave you to find that yourselves because the lyrics, while naughty, are best consumed with the particular brand of interracial satire that Ms Smith delivers on that track. Just let's say it's not just about the jelly roll...😜

The pièce de résistance (I like saying that because I once lived on Avenue de la Résistance in Le Havre, then also a haven of communism) is El Choclo, aka Kiss of Fire -- a sizzling tango that surprised even me because Marco got his accordion out specially to play it, despite protesting that he was terribly out of practice.

I hope you enjoy listening to these tunes as much as we enjoyed playing them!

Artwork by https://dream.ai/create

You can hear more from me and Marco via the @radioliquorice podcast, along with recordings by @steevc, @purplesinger, @todayslight and @anna-newkey.