“Aestrid Byrne” (Used 13 times)

by Aestrid Byrne

In those days, when Heim was still well,
walking three miles every morning,
silver hair under a broad-brimmed hat,
hands in the pockets of his linen jacket…
In those … halcyon days,
when I walked miles every morning, too,
sometimes with Heim, sometimes with his daughter,
speaking in little but German,
your name on the tip of my tongue –
three abreast, we, a living parable –
Heim, in his eighties, heels clicking,
a smart crease in his pants,
sometimes an arm around his daughter’s shoulder,
names on his tongue, too: the boys: Dieter, Horst, my father…

Someday soon, love,
you will be without these allies, all so old,
or grown old too soon, like I have,
and I wonder if you will know this joy once more,
or if you will pretend,
or will you follow me?
Were I the sort, I’d beg you come along,
beg you not shake down witch doctors in their homes,
beg you simply slip away, then slip away some more;
you know where I’ll be.

I asked you once…
If you choose to love me,
they will destroy you, I said.
You will evermore be as a wraith among men.
If you choose to love me,
mine will be your only rewards, I said.
There is no weapon but private counsel;
no weapon against their whispering gallery…;
they do not feel shame.
You pointed through slatternly sun at Serrano,
legs crossed in a chair on the crest of the hill,
holding his head in his hands,
preparing to recite, between puffs,
a memorized stanza from the Cantos…
I pulled you out of the sun,
into a nearby alley, said,
If you choose to love me,
my enemies, my father’s enemies, my grandfather’s…
will be yours, also.
You drew me out of the alley, into that light
for which I was no match, held fast my arm,
you no wraith yet…

Heim, an arm about his daughter’s shoulder,
called, waving his hat from the top of a stair.
I could not breathe. I was not breathing. Any longer.
You carried all 101 pounds to the brim of Cerro,
put me in Serrano’s lap.

You chose to love me.

"Human Sacrifice for Beginners" and "Dexedrine Dreams Redux" are among the highlights taped from this full-moon'd evening of cross-continental jazz collaboration at Cerro Concepción in Valparaíso, Chile. Players include Emer Mulholland on guitar; Zhang Li on upright bass; Alvaro Macaya on Saxophone; Jiang Dan on drums; and Tom Fahy on piano/keys. 

Emer Mulholland, the group's namesake, is a classically-trained musician who runs Bookmakers Studio East in Gaillimh, Galway Ireland.

As for pianist Tom Fahy, well...

'Tom Fahy' (pseudonym: Quinn McCarthy) is an assemblage of musicians headed by multi-instrumentalist, composer, and author Tom Fahy. Core members include Jiang Dan, Rachael Eisley, Zhang Li, Liu Kaige and Emer Mulholland, while other players, including Alvaro Macaya, Thomas Byrne, Vicente Labarca, and Marco Falabella, are drafted for the requirements of particular pieces. (Read the full bio at tomfahy.org)

The incredible universe of Tom Fahy encompasses the independent publisher Orchard Park Press, as well as the record/net-label Stag Records. Active since 1991, Stag Records now shares over seventy-five releases via their website, all under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike license.

This album is a tribute to Aestrid Byrne, whose fantastic Music for Toy Pianos was previously featured by Oddio Overplay in a spotlight on "The Underappreciated Kinderklavier."

The toy piano is historically more than just a plaything. Quality toy pianos stay in tune, because they do not employ strings. Toy pianos offer a unique timbre unlike a piano and more like a celesta or a member of the harpsichord family. It is this unusual sound has been the key appeal to a small number of composers and performers through the centuries.