Jazz

by Samuel Loft

October, 1978. Oldham, Manchester. Following the success of their first eponymously named album UFO and the commercial flop of their second album Ghost Dance, the jazz-funk-fusion band UFO begin to make their third album with pressure to make it another success. As secrets are kept and creative ideas differ, the stress of the album threatens to ruin the band, and their success, for good.

I had the opportunity to write original jazz music for the fictional band to ‘play’. The opening piece is a conventional jazz funk song, albeit a little too typical to reflect the band’s stale image. The song returns for the end of the first act however the drummer is suffering from an overdose. It was an interesting process programming the drum part with jarring offbeat hits and sudden velocity spikes to reflect the performance issues onstage.

 Back to Life

There is also a solo piano piece that is gradually written throughout the play. Dedicated to the late brother of one of the characters, it is a poignant and bittersweet song that closes the play. I produced multiple versions of the song that were intentionally imperfect in order to reflect how the song evolved overtime.

 For Ian

Photos by Ree Jordan