14 - Your Half of the Moon

Estelle puts together two halves...

Photo taken by Richard Kaby

Your Half Of The Moon Poem by Max Hillman - Music by Estelle Kokot

There are three
I have counted the seas
Between us
Days
Are a disease
You are gone
And when we're alone
Only half of the moon
Sees us
I will be waiting
I will be here
In your half of the moon

Me

I'm overseas
I'm coming home to be with you
Days
Are the climbing dunes
You wait
And while you're waiting
Only half of the moon
Lights me
I will be coming
I will come

To your half of the moon
                                    

Click here to listen to Your Half Of The Moon

My daytime moon with dove on roof in South Africa

In London my moon has a face, in South Africa, my moon seems upside down.

I met Max Hillman on Myspace. The English poet has inspired many musicians from a variety of genres to compose music for his poetry and he has been equally inspired to write words for many musicians. 

Our own mutual appreciation of each other's work sparked the inspiration that became Your Half Of The Moon. Max wrote the poem and I composed the music.
 
The magic of this poem had a profound effect on me. It reminded me of someone I once knew, twenty years ago. Twenty years later, soon after I composed the music for Your Half Of The Moon, that very same person reappeared in my life.

My night-time moon between trees in South Africa

Being nominated for a South African Musician's Award (SAMA) in the Best Vocal Jazz Category in 2007, saw me back in the Southern Hemisphere, connecting with my past and planning for the future.

Sometimes it doesn't work out the way you wanted it to, or expected it to. 
Sometimes it's better that it didn't! Sometimes we love and then we leave, kicking and screaming, or quietly with no tears.
 
My journey has been rough at times, but all those sharp edges have made the good times more fulfilling...and just like Max's poem, I still have many cycles to complete before the circle brings me home.

Chico Freeman and Jan Pulsford

I have been very busy working on the Pulsford/Freeman Songbook, and like Max Hillman's poems, the collaborations of these two talented musicians have inspired me to dig as deep as I can go.

Jan, Chico and I, with three seas between us before we met, are now working together as a team on The Sound Of You. After lots of planning, we are moving ever closer to launching our project on Pledge Music.
 
Our quest is not only to raise funds to record an album, there will be E-Books, Songbooks and more! Besides all the other packages on offer, there will be an opportunity for you to pledge a day in the studio with us. Or... maybe you would like to invite me and my band round to your place, so we can give you a private concert? Watch this space, Pledge is coming soon!

   

Chico remarks...

It's interesting that until you find whatever you might be looking for you feel a void, the feeling that something is missing is ever present. When you do find the right thing whether it be a person, place or thing, you can feel the void fill, that hole covered, that sense of completion that comes only with that feeling of satisfaction. Until then "you wait, and while you're waiting only half of the moon lights you"

It is this way with music. It is this way with any kind of team, in sports, music, couples, friends, any circumstance where people make a connection of mutual functionality. The great bands of the 20th century like the famous John Coltrane Quartet, The Modern Jazz Quartet, Herbie Hancock's Mwandishi Band, many of Miles Davis' Quintets, Earth, Wind and Fire, Queen; in sports like the championship Chicago Bulls with Michael Jordan, the Boston Celtics with Bill Russel, the San Francisco 49ers with Joe Montana, the New York Yankees with Reggie Jackson. They only won/win when that right mix of participants came/come together like a great recipe that titilates the palate. Sometimes it's only one missing ingredient that makes the difference as in the way the Chicago Bulls won six (6) championships when Scotty Pippen was added to the mix with Michael Jordan. This premise is infrangible and has been shown time after time to be the making of success and longevity.

They are great love stories of a huge variety but love stories nonetheless. Finding the one, the missing ingredient, the missing herb and spice is something we all want and we all wait for, we are fortunate for those times in our life when the stars align and all is right with the world. It is these times that we remember most and are most grateful for, these moments that light our life and show us where the tunnel may lead.

These photos are moments of reflection during some of those experiences:

Photos by Marcel Meier and Chico Freeman


Jan visits another side of the MooN ... 

"WeLCoMe To THe aMBieNT MuSiC WORLD of JaNa KYoMooN
Captured Moments of Time with keyboards, loops and computers
generated live from the computer studio in the UK
of electronic composer/producer JaN PuLSFoRD 
who performs as the virtual artist JaNa KYoMooN
in ViRTuaL WoRLDS and beyond.
simulcasting on Radio JaNa
http://janakyomoon.com/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/janakyomoon/
http://janakyomoon.bandcamp.com/"

... so says the website - You see I perform in virtual worlds using the avatar JaNa KYoMooN.
Why virtual worlds?
I am often asked this by people with their head cocked to one side in a quizzical mixture of fascination and confusion.
It's a space I found in 2006 whilst exploring ways and means of playing music in the brave new digital age that became open to all in 1993 when the world wide web became part of the public domain. Ah Berner's Lee what adventures you unleashed!
I travelled far and wide and one day discovered the virtual world of Second Life.

I now explore other virtual environments when my broadband allows. Some people wander through Facebook and TV whilst I explore the land that lies behind the monitors in search of art and inspiration. Performing in these alternate worlds is like playing to an attentive cafe on line. It's an intimate experience and allows me to share new music and try different ideas whilst mixing new technology in an immersive environment.

Why JaNa KYoMooN?
I had to choose from a list of surnames for my avatar ...
KyoMoon jumped out  - well anything to do with the moon is going to get my attention!
Kyo - thoughts of Kyoto and Japan
I could use any first name so decided on JaNa
My Dad uses to call me Jane when I was little so I thought JaNa - with  a long and short "a" would be a nice name to finally make my own.
Oh and as far as the Capitilization of nouns - that is just something I came up with as an interesting look and a way to keep my interest whilst typing.
You see I need to have my interest fed in all walks of life … I need a lot of stimulation!
The thought of a virtual musical life intrigued me and made me investigate the possibilities further … and so I became a virtual music artist with a way to play my music and reach people all over the world in ways I never dreamed of.

There are several really good interviews on line about my adventures and reasons for being part of this experience which is in no way anymore of a 'game' than real life!
So I won't bother repeating myself - I'll post the links
Enjoy reading and maybe I'll see you - all be it virtually - very soon!

http://www.creativeshed.com/2009/10/interview-jana-kyomoon-second-life-musician/

http://youtu.be/Q9WStYOa4dw

http://magasinmillimina.blogspot.co.uk/2011/08/millis-music-magazine-with-jana-kyomoon.html

"In the universe, there are things that are known, and things that are unknown, and in between, there are doors." - William Blake

... and I have been through quite a few in my search for 'The Sound of You' ...