One of my son Jesse’s gamer friends, Alex, recently asked him to write a blues piece. And Jesse, always up for a musical challenge, did so–hence, the aptly named Alex Blues, courtesy of JB Proof music.
Jesse has been experimenting with jazz and blues: chord structures, improv, syncopation, and all that beautifully blurry stuff. I appreciate watching the creative and educational process, particularly in seeing a kid self-propel through the endless sea of music that has not yet been written, finding his own hither-to undiscovered gems and yet-unnamed seahorses as he sails along.
Unrelated side note: have we reached the time in human history when the proverbial pig is flying? I think so. More on that later, but not during this post.
If you have a moment, check out his collection so far at Youtube, written under the name of JB Proof (not the proverbial flying pig, but Jesse). Subscribe and leave a comment–creatives always appreciate the encouragement. I’m not entirely clear on his songwriting name. JB for his initials, obviously, but proof… perhaps proof that he’s alive, creative, has keyboard and will travel? Dunno.
The proof is out there, to borrow from Mulder and Scully.
These songs are just Jesse, a Mac, a midi keyboard, an audio interface, some JBL speakers, and Logic Pro. I probably need to invest some money at Spitfire and buy him some new collections of samples to harness to that keyboard (particularly brass), but good samples are expensive…
In other creative news, I’m just about done with a new book, clocking in at about 200,000 words. Epic fantasy, of course, but reasonably light-hearted. In comparison to my other epic fantasy books, this one is in between the serious Hawk and His Boy series and the comedic Fury Clock, but somewhat closer to Fury Clock.
The new book has a definite plot ending, but the overall story is positioned perfectly for endless sequels. That said, I might publish the initial 200,000 words in five episodes of around 40,000 words apiece (and make them as cheap as possible at 99 cents each, as well as enrolled in Kindle Unlimited); this would be in order to set up an ongoing approach of adding additional episodes. Writing a 40,000 word episode or novella is a lot easier than writing a 200,000 gravestone.
Anyway, still pondering that approach.
In other news, I have come to the almost spiritual realization that bacon is a sublime food. It is the perfect combination of salt, sweet, texture, aroma and seductive visual appeal. Why didn’t I realize this when I was young? I have wasted so many years.
I recently noticed in one of those fleeting, drive-by-news clips that there’s a (sorely misguided) movement in England to ban bacon. Perhaps due to an odd love of pigs and wanting to see them frolicking in fields as opposed to frolicking on your plate? At any rate, this worries me for the future of England. The little rainy island with cramped roads has given the world so much: Lewis, Tolkien, Chesterton, Shakespeare, Monty Python, the Magna Carta, Drake and other assorted explorers, William Wilberforce, a wider appreciation for tea (which I don’t appreciate myself, but my wife does, so I’ll honor England on her behalf), clotted cream, and Stonehenge.
To sum up the current situation: celebrate England’s past, look with grave concern on her current bacon perspective, tell your Aunt Edna about my books, and listen to some more JB Proof music.
And if anyone has a new comedic fiction book they can honestly recommend to me, I would love that. Nothing with millionaire or billionaire in the title, please. In my modest and incredibly humble opinion, the vast majority of the titles in Amazon’s humor bestseller list do not seem to be humor. Does humor even exist anymore?