Vintage

I was asked to compose music for a couple TV commercials for the Gibsons Zombie Walk. Since I retain the rights to these compositions I am putting them up here for everyone to enjoy.

Jazz you can sink your teeth into.

The first piece is just a general theme I am calling "Zombie Jazz." It's intended to sound like what Belgian Gypsy Zombies might enjoy back in the 1930s. This song also features Johnny Bongo on saxophone and clarinet.

Zombie Jazz Theme - Blue Morris

The second piece was composed for a Zombie Public Service Announcement. The Zombie PSA will inform all zombie walkers of the appropriate Zombie etiquette. I went for classic 1950s PSA lounge music. Something you might hear in one of those short films they showed in school. It features Andrea Superstein on vocals.

Zombie Do's and Zombie Don'ts - Blue Morris

Leonard and the Lab Rats - Lonely Avenue MP3

All that we say and do has impact on the world and the people around us.

There is so much selfishness in our culture, and the true tragedy of it is that many people take pride in this selfishness.

Here's the argument I hear them make:

"I have to be myself and if it hurts other people or causes damage to the world around me, I'm not going to feel guilty about that."

It's not the swing band, but I thought I'd give you a taste of another band I've been playing in, Leonard and the Lab Rats. It's a blues band run by Andrew "Huggy Bear" Leonard on vocals, harmonica, and amplified ukulele (yes you read that correctly).

We played a gig at the Purple Crab the other night to a packed house. Here is a track I recorded that night:

Chicken Shack - Leonard and the Lab Rats
Live at the Purple Crab

Keep in mind this is a one-microphone recording to mini-disc so the mix is not exactly the best. But it's not bad considering.

The wrap party for the short film Not Quite Hitchcock gave us the opportunity to play different music than the classic swing we are used to. If you're looking for samples of how we normally sound, these are not the files to download. If you want to hear a different side of the Blue Morris 6, check these out.

The last track is a medley of improvised music. The first section started as a blues in Bb. Carly then jumped back on stage and started singing a song she wrote--a song which was originally written for different chord changes, but seems to work wonderfully on the blues. The second part steals some ideas from the sountrack to the film "Not Quite Hitchcock." And the third part is another improvisation, which I am calling "Who Dat?" because that's what Nick is shouting behind Ian's solo. Preview or download the MP3s below.