Live In Soho

Hey, thanks for purchasing my album and for coming here to find out more about the tracks. I’d love to know what you think to the album…..please do let me know.
Thanks for your support, it really means a lot and I hope to play for you live soon.
Hannah x

1. Feed The Birds

I love the musical Mary Poppins, but this song always a made me feel sad. When we went into the first covid 19 lockdown I experimented with different vibes and grooves and came up with this, the band liked it, so we kept it! The track opens with a sax cadenza, inspired by birds flying up and down. I hope it makes you feel happy!

2. Surfing Thermals

Living in the country I love to lay on the grass looking skywards, watching birds of prey gliding in the air – surfing on their thermal winds. When I first moved to my thatched cottage over 10 years ago there were hardly any birds of prey in the air, now there are lots of buzzards and kites which is lovely to hear and see. This piece opened with the drums who are the wind, on which the birds (sax) surf.

3. Las Vegas Tango 

This piece is written by Gil Evans, who I first fell in love with for his arrangements for Miles Davis on Sketches of Spain. In fact I did my dissertation at Goldsmtihs College on ‘The arrangement of Gil Evans in the cool period’. I felt playing this piece on the baritone gave the melody passion and depth.

4. Keep Walking

This piece is about moving on, not looking back, and knowing it is the right move for your freedom, independence, soul and resilience. It was inspired by my divorce and learning to navigate a new path and trust my own judgement in my own skin. The track has a kind of strutting groove, a forward motion and a bit of fun too.

5. Escape

I wrote this piece about going on holiday. I love to go away somewhere warm! That feeling when you get off the plane of knowing it’s going to be a good time in the sun, taking it slowly, winding down and being warm through to your bones – that’s what this piece is all about. The opening of sax and bass playing the unison melody and then the drums and piano come in creating the feel good holiday vibe. 

6. Sea Journey

This piece by Chick Corea is one of my favourite standards. Whenever my quartet perform this piece we are always asked if we’ve recorded it – well now we have! Rob sets this piece up on bass with an opening cadenza beautifully.

7. Forget Me Not

I wrote this pieces in dedication to my gran after she died. She was an amazing lady and I loved going to stay with her when I was a child. She was very green-fingered and loved her greenhouse and garden. I always remember the smell of her greenhouse with tomatoes growing inside. But…tomatoes isn’t a great name for a tune! So her other love was forget me nots. I love to grow these in my garden in her memory. I’m not too sure would’ve liked to have been a funk tune, but I know she would’ve loved having a tune written for her.

8. Horn Dance

This is an arrangement of my favourite morris dance melody, danced by the Thaxted Morris Men. This dance is always the final dance of the Morris Men weekend in Thaxted where many troops from all round the UK come together and dance all weekend. The village is plunged into darkness and you can hear the melody played on the violin before you see the dancers. It is a very magical and eerie experience.