We have a winner!
This competition has been an absolutely beautiful experience! I wasn't sure what to expect as I have never done anything like this before but I was thrilled when SA Recordings, my honestly dreamlike label, loved the idea which I had while thinking about how to release the free sheet music and we consequently called first ever RECOMPOSE competition into life!
A website was created, the news prepped for weeks, copy written and re-written, T&Cs meticulously arranged. Artwork was created and then one day, it went into the world.
OH and the love and appreciation of my work that came back simply BLEW ME AWAY!
And I hadn't listened to many of the over a hundred submissions yet but I knew right away I want to comment on all tracks. I want to personally connect with all of you. Because through every note written I could hear how connected we all are through music, how we are fellow loving humans. How we need one another and how we all are only what we are because of one another.
So THANK YOU again from the bottom of my heart for sharing your work with me. We will all forever share this work together and I am thrilled to start commenting on all your Soundcloud tracks - please leave them up and I will also create a playlist on my Soundcloud and collect them all. So I hope you will levae it online and we can all share the music with the rest of the world (if you like ;)).
And also a massive THANK YOU to my friend and collegeague and incredible composer Martin Phipps, who spent hours with me listening to your music and all my thoughts that swirled around it.
Amongst over one hundred incredible submissions the following three pieces stood out for their sophisticated, distinct and confident reimagining of the original song.
Each piece is a coherent world within which the composers' creative thought was fully realised and composed from start to finish.
Each composer has clearly stated their style and a point of view. The song was understood and the composers found an authentic answer to it.
Many zooms and phone calls later we came together for these results!
(Listen to the Winner and Runner-ups on the dedicated SA page: sarecordings.com/recompose
WINNER: Nyokabi Kariuki - Song: Fishermen
Nyokabi’s work is unforgettable. It is cold and wet. It represents water. Maybe the threat of the fishermen or the knowledge of the ocean creatures?
It is not safe, it is a unique voice and sets the stage for a new interpretation of the music; a new medium it could live in, through Nyokabi, a new room she has opened and welcomes us all into. Dive in at the deep end, learn to swim again.
RUNNER-UP: Amy Langley - Song: Cigarettes & Blow
Amy’s cello goes straight to the heart, it throws me into the depths of her sensuality. It is so hard to essentially re-play a song and still make it your own. Where she adds notes, harmonises, adds piano and where she doesn't, where it swells and where it goes silent is desperately delicate - supported by her incredible playing and profound respect towards the original song. I am in awe and truly touched.
RUNNER-UP: Jordan Summers - Song: It’s Been a While
I absolutely loved this! Effortlessly Jordan weaves in new instrumental elements into his recomposition, he imagines and builds worlds within a song that was originally just a vocal melody. The sonic world he has created keep replaying in my head and I just want to listen to the track over and over again. It is enchanting and enveloping.