Blue Night Notes
Weaving Dreams is inspired by the Japanese koto music classic, Music of Weaving, and features plucked string sounds, percussion, flutes and mallets. It begins with interwoven patterns of melody building to a joyful climax, which is followed by a darkly rhythmic and meditative coda.
River Flow is a piece for flute and keyboard, a lyric solo which evokes the beauty of a gently flowing river. This piece is drawn from the original version for string orchestra and flute, and carries a strong Classical influence.
When Lilacs Last Bloomed is performed using a harpsichord lute stop sound; it is in two sections. The first is a series of variations separated by a repeated motif, the second a development of figures on a drone bass. The name is taken from Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass; the music is for remembrance in Springtime
Sycorax features electronic guitars, percussion, mallets and bass. It is ritual-like music which is based on a rapid shifting eighth note pattern with mallet and guitar overlays, underscored by a deep bass drone. The name is taken from Shakespeare's The Tempest......(Sycorax, the witch of Algiers, was the mother of Caliban.)
Rainshadows is a three movement piece for solo piano; the first is a gentle series of reflections, the second a gradually intensifying tier of patterns, and the third, a waltz in freetime. This is music for Autumn.
Blue Night, the title piece, was composed for harpsichord and oboe. It is in three movements; the first alternates between motion and rest, and gradually develops into the second movement, which is slow and dream-like. The third movement is a short energetic coda to the piece. This is night music.
Come Down Angels concludes the album, with its blending of space and melody. It is an invocation, with a slow, sweeping, mysterious introduction which moves into an uptempo pattern for electronic guitars, strings, flutes, percussion, mallets and bass, and builds to an explosive ending.
Heartsong Review wrote:
Patrick's musicianship is outstanding and his tone colors are subtle. This is mood music and each piece has its own distinct character which forms a unique web of sound color. The album is reminiscent of a group of tone poems. This is electronic music at its best! Weaving Dreams is characterized by a rhythm which pervades like a ground while flute and guitar like sounds thread their way throughout the piece. When Lilacs Last Bloomed is a picturesque story-piece. A liquid melody is presented in the keyboard which mimics a harpsichord sound and is then passed on to a flute sound as the keyboard moves into an accompanying position. Airy celestial tones characterize the entrance of Come Down Angels and are followed by an accompaniment of sustained low tones which fade in and out. This piece captures an etheric mood in its contrast between windy high tones and low bass. A very effective piece which held my interest from start to finish. This would be a nice album to take on a long drive or to have as a background when at home. Captivating.
Patrick Godfrey Bio
Born in Toronto, Patrick began playing piano for church dances in 1960 at age 12. Early influences were Fats Domino,Henry Mancini, Leonard Bernstein and JS Bach. He played and sang in a number of Toronto rock bands, including the Omegas, The Diplomats, and RCA recording artists Simon Caine. His performances led to session work with many well known Canadian musicians including Bruce Cockburn, Murray McLaughlan, Raffi, Marc Jordan, Shirley Eikhard, Ben Mink, Daniel Lanois, Ken Whiteley, David Essig, Fraser and Debolt and Mendelson Joe.
His work with singer Len Udow took him to Winnipeg one Summer around 1970, where he met Richard Condie and wrote the music for Richard's first animation, "Oh Sure". So began a friendship which continues today; Patrick has scored all of Richard's animations including the Academy Award nominated classics The Big Snit and La Salla and most recently, Etudes and Impromptus.
Patrick has worked on numerous other animations, including the Academy award nominated short George and Rosemary, and the Oscar winning animation Bob's Birthday. He also scored all 52 episodes of Canada's most successful animated TV series, Nelvana's acclaimed Bob and Margaret, seen around the world. There are links to many of these animations from www.apparitionmusic.com/animations.html
Patrick has been in demand as a producer; he created the evocative soundscapes and was associate producer on the million-selling Classical Kids productions Mr. Bach Comes To Call, Mozart's Magic Fantasy, and Beethoven Lives Upstairs, and he has produced albums featuring artists such as Holly Cole, The Flying Bulgar Klezmer Band, The Lafayette String Quartet, and Michael Jones.
Patrick's personal recording career to date includes his most recent release Still Life Still, 8 improvisations recorded on his new Yamaha S6 grand piano.
Blue Night, described by Heartsong Review as ..."electronic music at it's best...captivating! " and Strange Rain were first released in 1995 and 1996.
Critics greeted his first album, ANCIENT SHIPS...as "the surfacing of a major talent", possessing "an enormous sense of calm and joy". Keyboard noted the music's "clarity and grace". Released on vinyl in 1980, Ancient Ships is now available on CD and by download.
Released in 1982, Downbeat gave BELLS OF EARTH four stars, Cadence called it "the most distinctive solo piano LP of the previous two years" and The Montreal Gazette described it as..." a refuge in troubled times".
Of 1985's SMALL CIRCUS, The Globe and Mail said "The harpsichord pieces team with ideas and roll along with a wonderful kinetic sort of energy; the instrument has never been as funky....".
Of his solo piano concert at The Montreal International Jazz Festival, The Montreal Gazette wrote..."positively spiritual...the stunning material he played to an awe-struck crowd ranged freely from Bach to boogie, with flat-out jazz, romance and the hypnotic music of the East filling in the spaces in between...he kept the audience in mute wonder with the delicate beauty of his melodies, superhuman left hand patterns, and a right that moved with the delicacy of a butterfly in flight."
Patrick continues to perform in concert and teaches improvisation, composition and song writing at the Victoria Conservatory of Music, Victoria BC.
In concert he plays a mix of piano music both composed and improvised, and songs, mostly originals, with some favorites ranging from George Gershwin and Harold Arlen to Bruce Cockburn and the Beatles.
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