Alyn Cosker - Lyn's Une (2009) SACD

Oh Dear: When Ross and Davie were confronted with this untitled piece, the 9/8 B section had an apologetic 'Oh Dear' written above it. Davie suggested that it would be an apt title. I can honestly say that these words have rung through my head everytime we've played this piece ever since.
Logan's Slogans is dedicated to a fantastic music teacher in Ayr called Jack Logan, a man who always wears his heart on his sleeve and is never scared to speak his mind. He became well known amongst my peers for having certain phrases to express his feelings... some of them are repeatable! Jack has helped many young musicians that have gone on to perform professionally in many areas of music and I am personally eternally grateful for his help. Stylistically, I had been trying to emulate two of the cheekiest drummers from different generations in the funk genre - Chris 'Daddy' Dave (Meshell Ndegeocello) and Joseph 'Zigaboo' Modeliste (The Meters). I wonder if I'll ever have a cool drummer middle name... answers on a postcard please!

Don't Forget Me was written for the many wonderful musicians and people that have helped shape me thus far... thank you!

Smiling Down Introduction

Smiling Down is a song I wrote for my nephew Ethan. He's forever in our hearts.

That's the Ticket: As I travelled to the first rehearsal for my trio, I remember having the distinct feeling that I didn't have enough material to challenge Davie and Ross for a full 3 hours. What kind of melody or groove would these monster musicians 'approve' of? Arriving unusually early, I sat in my car waiting for the guys to show. During that time, I set my phone to record and began to sing (yes, sing') potential melodies in the hope that something spontaneous and creative would come to mind that could come in handy during the rehearsal. It turned out that we didn't need them that day as we just talked so much, but I did use them eventually... a year later!

Lyn's Une: My Dad first helped me score this tune in the music program Sibelius. In his haste, he managed to omit the A' and T' from the song title Alyn's Tune'. I like his version of the title much more! Thanks Dad.

Twitter and Bisted:. When I found out that this would be the wonderful line up for at least one track of the album, I set about writing a tune that represented the tremendous humour that each individual musician has... they're ALL crazy... in a good way... honestly.

Bheki is dedicated to the memory of the wonderful South African pianist Bheki Mseleku - an inspirational musician with true musical honesty. I only knew Bheki for a short period of time, but he became a true friend and I miss him dearly.

Unannounced is a ballad written for all those wonderful little surprises in life that come from nowhere.

Straight Through Boogaloo was inspired by the band Table 18'. We would play songs then always go into a drum solo, which moved between odd meters, and think nothing of it. It was always fantastic to play with those great musicians and friends.

When Autumn Comes is a song mainly written by the wonderful Maureen McMullan. The only contribution I had was the time signatures. Maureen wrote the melody and lyrics in one evening - the evening before we recorded the song - just incredible!

Alyn Cosker