NEW extended EP!!!
BITTERSWEET
For chamber trio ensemble
“The ground is soft beneath my feet… the world moves on and it’s bittersweet.":
This music takes it’s inspiration from the above lines from an unpublished poem by Bob Brown. The 6 ensemble pieces explore unrequited love, loss, hope, beauty and flights of imagination, including the pilot musical theme for an animated film of a story by Balang (Tom E Lewis) that never made it to the screen (about loss of country, and a loss in itself). The performances are world class and I’m extremely grateful to the fine, warm-hearted musicians who made this happen, and to Jabra Latham and Caleb Miller who made it sound so good.
Now streaming on all major platforms!
1. Bittersweet
2. Goodnight My Friend
3. Oddity
4. Broken Walls
5. Blue For You #2
6. River Boy Themes
PIANO Amanda Hodder
VIOLIN Ji Won Kim
VIOLA Caleb Wright
CELLO Ivan James
FLUTE Lloyd Hudson
Composed by Steve Crump
Orchestrated by Jabra Latham
Recorded at the Ian Potter Recital Hall, UTAS Hedberg Centre, Hobart, November 2023
Coffee art by Elrick, Wide Awake, Hobart.
Quote from “Bittersweet” a poem by Bob Brown, written 3rd December 2011
A Night Train Recording © 2024
Photos by Caleb Miller
August 2023
2023 has been a year of consolidation and development with live performances for the Friends of Melaleuca (SW Tasmanian wilderness area) concert and detailed preparation for a new recording session on Sunday 30 July for 6 new orchestral works (arranged by Jabra Latham) with the working title “Navigating Hope”, seen as a companion piece to the 2022 ”Considering Life” EP. This year’s project will be offered initially on a postcard-size download card, available from September. The pieces were recorded live at the TSO Studio with Caleb Miller as sound engineer, assisted by Finn Clarke.
Still to be recorded, hopefully this year, is a suite of 6 original chamber pieces, also orchestrated by Jabra and ideally suited to a cosy setting either for performance or listening.
Finally, preparations have already begun for our 2024 project, with 10 new piano pieces written as the starting point for a new approach that will, hopefully, present them as an holistic musical statement.
October 8th: Somewhere Coffee Bar, Hobart
This was an unusual but splendid location for the launch of our new CD/DVD called “Considering Life”. This project involved taking 3 of the pieces already done by Bob and myself but this time arranged for orchestra by Jabra Latham. As noted elsewhere in NEWS, we gathered a stellar cast of performers back in July and on 09 October went public with the products, hosted by Brian and Domin in their specialty coffee-house. Bob, Jabra and myself gave little anecdotes about the background and/or recording process for each piece, taking it in turns to play the videos on the art space walls, then taking questions from the audience - all as we sipped Somewhere’s world class coffee options.
October 15: Tamar Valley Writers’ Festival Earth Celebration.
This was a fabulous weekend in Launceston, kicking off on Saturday morning with a line up invited by Bob Brown to present music and film about how precious our planet is, and how precarious its future. Shane Howard headed the bill, with sweet, acoustic performances of “Let The Franklin Flow” and his new ‘takayna’. In a packed house - that is, a packed church with magic acoustics - I played a solo piano version of “Unbroken (Lake Pedder)”; then, Bob premiered our video of “Winter Night At Liffey” as recorded and filmed in the TSO Studio, Hobart, in July which starts with Bob reading his poem of the same title. This is a profoundly moving musical performance by many of the best musicians in Tasmania and there was an audible gasp of surprise and delight from the audience when the video ended; triggering a welcome rush on our merchandise! Check it out on my video webpage.
October 28: Adelaide Film Festival - world premiere of “The Giants” full-length movie.
This was a major event that I had very limited and minuscule part in; yet, it was the very first time my music has been included in a commercial movie soundtrack, especially one of this significance and import. The film is about the unique forested landscape of Tasmania and the role Bob Brown plays (for 5 decades now) in fighting to protect it, as a representative of how others connect with and fight to save trees. The soundtrack for the film re-mixes the audio for the orchestrated “Winter Night At Liffey”, focusing on the first section and re-imagining it so that it captures and encompasses the physical beauty of a giant tree (eucalyptus regnans - the tallest flowering plant in the world) while a voice-over explains some secrets of the life of trees. I am so grateful to Laurence Billiet and Rachael Antony for having faith in how my music could support (in a very small way) the visuals and themes of their first major cinema release.
October 29: Hobart Wind Symphony, St David’s Cathedral Hobart.
This was also a world premiere, this time of “Bamurrungu” which can be found as a solo piano piece on my CD, “Unbroken” and my Soundcloud “Listen” webpage. For this performance, Jabra Latham arranged it for a brass quintet. That surprised me at first but once I sat and listened to the way the music moves so calmly and gracefully through the four movements I was convinced. Hearing it played live was even more convincing. Coming in at over 10 minutes, this is my longest piece and yet it seems to end all to soon (for me, anyway). I am very grateful to Simon Reade for organising this performance and the players who gave it a go - best thanked by watching the video!
November 2022
August 2022
On Saturday 2nd July, more than 20 of Tasmania’s finest musicians and audio/video technicians gathered at the TSO Studio in central Hobart for a productive, engaged and convivial day of recording, filming and collegial contributions to my next project, in collaboration with Bob Brown, Jabra Latham and Caleb Miller. The task was to record 4 orchestrations / arrangements by Jabra of 3 of my solo piano pieces written for Bob’s poems and performed on our 2020 CD “Hidden Vale” (see below); plus, a new collaboration with emerging singing and acting sensation, Naarah. Jabra has been performed by the TSO amongst a host of other concerts and his recordings are regularly played on, for example, ABC Classic FM.
Jabra brought great sensitivity and years of experience to re-expressing my piano pieces, capturing the essence whilst expanding the texture and melodic force. He commented that “Getting amongst Steve’s writing and recordings and finding the hints of bigger ideas was fascinating and quite enjoyable”. Caleb brought to the project exceptional sound engineer skills, equipment and technology, attuned perfectly to what Jabra and myself were hoping to achieve; as did Simon Reade who conducted with flair and panache.
Bob (and his partner Paul) were present all day and Bob shared with the musicians the events that triggered the writing of one of his poems “Considering Life”, an unbosoming that drove the musicians to even greater heights of comprehension and rendering of the music for that poem, The outcome will be a CD/DVD package, three exciting music videos and lots of streaming and social media options to experience as we did - something very special happened that day. The final piece, a co-composition with Naarah, began as an improvisation with Naarah selecting at random a poem from Pablo Neruda’s “twenty love poems and a song of despair” (1969 / 1974) and singing lines in harmony with my piano chords that synchronised lyrical and musical emotions. The recording and video we made on 2nd July will be taken further over the next few months - stayed tuned!
That we were privileged to have some of the best musicians in Tasmania performing these works was something we will remember for a long time - they lifted our work into a much higher level of performance, wondrously all the instruments in complete harmonic unity so that it sounds like they rehearsed for hours to get it so wholistic but actually they just went for it on the day! Bob, soon after, commented “It was a day of musical wonder!”.
Breaking News - August 2021
Steve has been accepted by the Australian Music Centre as an Associate / Represented Artist. This is a huge compliment and graciously accepted step forward for his career, providing a highly respected national outlet (accessed internationally) for his music (audio and folio). Steve acknowledges his collaborations with much-admired-in-the-USA Heath Cullen, legendary environmentalist Bob Brown, and double-ARIA award winner Monique Brumby, in bringing his music to this level of performance and recognition.
The AMC houses and curates the most comprehensive catalogue of Australian music, a living collection of scores, recordings, research papers, teaching kits, classroom materials and aggregated media. The collection includes more than 30,000 items by approximately 750 Australian artists. For full details on what the AMC does, see: https://www.australianmusiccentre.com.au/about
Festival of Voices, Tasmania 2021
Tasmanian Music Project Appearance backing Monique Brumby on new collaboration.
The 2021 Festival of Voices in Tasmanian will premiere a new collaboration between Monique Brumby (vocals and guitar) and Steve on piano. Thursday 8th July, at Princes Wharf, will be the venue for some moving expressions of what Tasmania means to each performer in the showcase event titled the Tasmanian Music Project. For example, Shane Howard’s “Let the Franklin Flow” will be a highlight and sure to have the audience singing along. The TMP, which will be ongoing, aims to explore songs that define Tasmania and the stories those songs tell. The intention is to amplify the legacy of Tasmanian songs and songwriters that are part of the Tassie cultural soundscape and history. Steve and Monique will be performing a special new arrangement of the title track from Steve’s most recent CD “Unbroken”. On the new version of the opening track “Unbroken (Lake Pedder)” Monique has added lyrics, re-creating Steve’s piece with a more explicit poetical focus and images that prod at one’s conscience about how we are losing what Nature has given us all, and how we need to take responsibility to fix things before it’s too late.
Lake Pedder (now an impoundment) is in the heart of the World Heritage area and in many peoples’ hearts as, in this UN Decade of Ecosystem Restoration, there’s a campaign for the original lake to be restored. In 1971 Steve had the opportunity to travel to Tasmania and walk on the original pink quartz beach during the last summer before it was flooded, as over 1,000 people did, but never made it, generating a sense of loss almost as deep as if he had trod those shores. Now Hobart is his home, Steve happened to hear Christine Milne talk about how restoring the lake is definitely possible, with the beach and dunes still intact, so he asked if she was interested in some music he felt inspired to create for the campaign. A warm ‘Yes’ led to the piece “Unbroken (Lake Pedder)” being put to a video of historic moving images and stills, played at the opening of an Art exhibition in Salamanca in late 2019. And now, to be performed live, with evocative lyrics and a stage band. Tasmania is an amazing place for musicians, artists, actors and all the things people make happen around any type of performance - Steve and Monique are grateful to the Festival, friends and supporters for another chance to perform for them.
