ASC CD182 Headlong, Heartlong (£10)

Soon after Lockdown began on March 23 2020, Music stopped - at least, as it had traditionally been performed and / or recorded. Just as Zoom conferences and calls replaced meetings in person, musicians and composers devised new ways of creating.

Composer and producer Steve Plews sent his friend and colleague Daryl Runswick part of an existing composition and asked him to 'improvise over this'. He did, laying down three double bass tracks. What followed throughout lockdown was a musical dialogue that both composers found therapeutic and hopefully created a collection of music that communicates the desolation we all felt throughout lockdown. Both Daryl Runswick and Steve Plews are classical and jazz composers and the music reflects this. Contemporary Jazz, Jazz Fusion and Contemporary Classical influences are combined to paint a haunting musical picture of a 'different' time.

Daryl Runswick writes: "What’s the world coming to? Hell in a handcart, I say - somebody said it anyway: at the time of the Great Plague, apparently, barrowing bodies to the lime pit. Appropriate huh? Music from the lockdown. Shows you don’t have to be in the same room to make harmony: just in a supportive and compatible creative universe. Steve sent me some strings and asked me to improvise - I did - 'The Great Lie'. Thus began 'Headlong, Heartlong' - I sent him a track and he improvised and we continued to have a musical conversation throughout Lockdown - 100 miles apart."

Steve Plews - piano, synths | Daryl Runswick - electric double bass, voice, piccolo bass guitar, synths

Sound design and mixing - Daryl Runswick
Post production - Phil Hardman
Cover Photos - Neela Lal
Sleeve Design - Joel Plews
Produced by Steve Plews and Daryl Runswick