Yeah, I'm still here. I just realized that I haven't posted anything since last year, so I wanted to let any visitors know that I'm still here and that there's more to come. In fact, earlier this week I thought there'd be a new piece for string quartet here by now, but after having written it in less than a day, I decided that it might not be done yet. I also have a nearly finished piano piece (that almost ended up being two) and another one (or two) for string quartet that's pretty far along, plus the usual backlog of bigger pieces that are at various stages of completion, and more ideas that still haven't made it from head to paper.
So, just be patient, and hopefully by early September -- possibly sooner -- there will be another bit of noise here, either for string quartet or piano. That's as long as I don't start working on any of the new ideas that are trying to force their ways out of my head.
In the meantime, if you want to have some fun, listen to the songs (plural) "Last Train Home" by Pat Metheny and by Flying Colors, back to back. Two completely different songs sharing only a common title.
Probably best to start with Metheny's, which is a mostly instrumental jazz piece (some vocals do wander in somewhere along the way, but they're not the main focus, and I'm not sure they're singing actual words); the drumming especially is evocative of an actual train ride, pretty neat stuff ; there are several versions around on YouTube, the actual album version coming in at a little over 5 1/2 minutes. This one's from 1987, and is (to me) the highlight of the album on which it appeared, Still Life (Talking).
The Flying Colors song is more of an actual song, albeit an extended, prog rock epic ballad of sorts -- 10 1/2 minutes, three different lead singers over the course of the song, several tempo and mood changes. Despite its length, you really can't get bored; I think they could've gone on even longer. It's also more recent, coming out in 2019 on the album Third Degree.
You'll have to look these up yourself, because I don't want to clutter my site with the videos of others. This is for my own benefit, for when I periodically go through my posts to count how many actual pieces I've posted; I don't want to accidentally count stuff that isn't mine. They're easy enough to find, though, and I own both albums on which these appear.
As a matter of completeness, there are at least two other "Last Trains Home", one by John Mayer released this year, a pleasant enough pop song with some nice analog synth sounds, and another by Lostprophet, from 2004, a sort of metal/grunge thing that has its moments. But neither of these is in the same category as the ones above. If you want to go whole hog and listen to all four in a row, I'd still start with Metheny's and end with Flying Colors, with Mayer second and Lostprophet third.
