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WHEN THE SAX MAN PLAYS: PART 1 – MAKING IT
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Kipper rushed through the corridors backstage, avoiding the hazardous cables and wires, searching. Jason beckoned to him, the frown creasing his face telling Kipper he had cut it fine, timing wise. The band were announced and cheering went up: Sophie, Anna and Leanne were in the front row, wolf-whistling as they took up their positions.
Georgie allowed herself a little grin at them before her face set into a more serious expression. She was perfectly comfortable wearing her soft black leather trousers, and the funky emerald satin blouse her friends had chosen for her. Their shopping trip had seemed so many months ago, but in reality only two months had elapsed since.
She took a few calming breaths, smiling when she heard them chanting her name, catching Jason’s eye and smiling at him. She looked too at Kipper, who blew her a kiss, and Dave, who winked at her. They were all on an adrenaline high, she was thankful the adrenaline overtook the nerves swamping her stomach. Jason had rigged the auto cue screen at the bottom of the stage with her words, just in case. It was such a sweet gesture. She was determined to not need them, but the reassurance alone was enough.
Jason began the rhythm quietly, building up speed and volume; Kipper’s piano and Dave’s guitar producing the perfect harmony: Georgie began on cue.
Silence filled the room, but soon, Georgie could see that the crowd were really getting into the music, all swaying and clapping their hands with the rhythm, no doubt down to her girlfriends in the front, who had started it all off, the gesture adding such an atmosphere. Georgie relaxed as they reached the chorus, swinging her hips and shoulders with the beat.
As the end of the song approached, Georgie took a few steps backwards, finishing the song and gesturing to Jason, then left to Kipper, then right to Dave. Dave came towards her, taking her hand with his, and leading her to the front of the stage as the crowd roared, making her take a bow in front of them, much to her embarrassment and everyone else’s amusement.
Cheering and clapping echoed in their ears as the four walked off stage. Each grinning at each other, congratulating each other.
“We did it!” Georgie was breathless with exhilaration, her face bright, her eyes shining.
“We’ve definitely done it!” Kipper boasted. “Definitely.” He pointed at Jason, who was looking rather pleased with himself. “You play a mean set of drums, for a jazz man.”
Jason laughed. “You’ve got to be multi-talented in the music world.”
“About that.” Kipper began, sure that he had everyone’s attention. “I know how we’re gonna beat the others, if it comes to it. I’ve been experimenting, c’mon, come down to the set.”
The set was actually Music Room 1 when practice was in session. Kipper slipped into his usual seat at the piano, indicating for the flushed trio to sit and listen while he played.
Jason’s laughter was infectious, though Dave and Georgie didn’t know why he was laughing. Kipper’s adaptation of the music was wonderful. It had taken the song up a tempo, or two, Georgie wasn’t exactly sure.
“How about me?” Dave said. “Now my guitar doesn’t fit!”
“Yes it does.” Kipper spoke patiently. “Just play a little quicker.”
“Quicker?” Dave gulped.
“I’ll show you.” Jason got up from the chair, picking up an electric guitar and plugging it into the nearest amp.
He nodded at Kipper, who gave him the biggest grin they ever seen and began to play the adapted version. Dave nodded, relieved. It was so much easier when he was shown something, instead of leaving him to try to imagine, or worse still, make his own adaptation. Georgie’s grin disappeared when Kipper suggested that she could fit in some sexy dance moves between verses.
He grinned at her. “Can’t you dance?” He mocked, knowing that she couldn’t refuse a challenge.
“Of course I can dance! I just don’t know….” she trailed off.
“What don’t you know?” Jason gently probed, not sure what her expression portrayed.
“I just don’t know if I can dance in public.” She allowed herself a small smile as Dave and Kipper laughed. “Okay, laugh all you want, but I don’t think I can do it.”
“Of course you can.” Dave encouraged her, smiling at her.
That instant Jason realised Dave fancied her….good God he might even love her, the way he was looking at her. Did he do that? The second thought was soon drowned out by the first one. Did she like Dave? Jason was sure that her attentions were pointing in his direction not Dave’s, but what if he’d misinterpreted the signals?
Feeling foolish, he suggested they go home and recover for the weekend, regrouping again on Monday evening. He walked away from them, his long strides quickly taking him from the building, audition music from the main hall following him home, leaving the trio behind him confused as to his sudden departure.
WHEN THE SAX MAN PLAYS PART 2 PROVING IT
CHAPTER ONE
Jason rolled his eyes. Now he’d made it, he had to prove himself to the industry: proving it would be a lot harder than making it, he felt sure! Their journey so far had ‘dubious’ written all over it. However, there was nothing dubious about the group’s collective talent, and by merging the two groups, surely his work was halved? That answer was negative he felt sure.
Looking up as the studio door opened, Rae ushered in the five he knew so well – Kipper, Dave, Vince, Michael and Georgie. Jason’s sombre expression brightened, seeing the five looked as nervous as he felt. Rae was a demanding personality, launching straight into the schedule. They would record the two songs that each group had performed, and the rest would be collaborations.
Dave shot Jason a nervous look, wondering how his new found confidence would hold up under the strain. As usual, Jason gave him an encouraging smile, silently telling himself that some things – no matter what happened to the group – wouldn’t change. Kipper looked the same self-assured young man, nodding eagerly at Rae’s words. The other three looked on, sharing the same excited-yet-worried mixed expression. Jason laughed to himself.
They would live the dream, albeit only for a little while, unless their efforts took the music world by storm (which was a possibility). And yet— Yet, he didn’t feel the same sense of excitement. The dreadful sense of anticlimax that had filled him on the night of the Final was impossible to shift.
“Get used to your new surroundings.” Rae let them loose on the instruments in the studio, beckoning Jason outside and closing the door behind him.
“Look.” Rae crossed his arms over his broad chest, fixing Jason with his most serious look. “I know what’s going on inside your head. You need to snap out of it. You’re ruining the experience for everyone else.”
“Me?” Jason spluttered, indignant.
“So what if the contest was rigged? We achieved the right outcome. The two groups are quite a talent, for unknowns, and they deserved a shot at fame – and they got it. What do you find about that so wrong? I cannot see what your problem is.”
“You wouldn’t, it was your idea.” Jason too crossed his arms. “And if you don’t know, then there’s no point me telling you, because you’d never understand.” He spoke calmly, despite his inner boiling rage.
“Fine!” Rae snapped, pointing at the five on the other side of the glass. “Just make sure you bloody lead them, and lead them right. The sooner we get this done, the better.”
“I will.” Jason responded, letting Rae seethe as he strode back into the studio.
“Let’s have a run-through. I want it, exactly as you performed in competition. Exactly.” He stressed the importance of the word. “We’ll do it until we get it perfect. Okay?”
He received five nods, watching as the five looked at Jason.
“No problem.” Jason grinned at them, holding a deliberate pause. “Give it hell, guys!”
Indeed, his career was better off. Already he’d been dreaming up the selection for his next album: there was no time for rest in this cut-throat business! He looked around, seeing Carmella and Georgie were asleep. Electra was only happy when she was cradled in his arms, not that he minded, but this did rather tie him down! As it was, she was staring intently up at him.
An idea struck him, and he got up, walking through the house with her, talking sensibly to her. Pulling in her reclining chair from the next door nursery, he slipped her into it so that she was comfortable, and picked up his saxophone. Playing gently to her was magic. First, her eyes opened wide, then her eyelids drooped…further and further, until she was lulled to sleep. Quietly, Jason laughed to himself.
It was strange to think that the two were identical, and yet so much about them was completely different. Georgie scowled at him for using their nicknames – Ella and Lexy – but he’d caught her this morning using the same sweet abbreviations. In total, he was getting a straight three-hours sleep a night, and after the first week and a week of badgering, he sometimes allowed Georgie to get up to go to their cries.
Apparently, it was the first year that was the hardest, and after that, because there were two children, they basically amused themselves. Strange that when one woke up screaming, in the neighbouring cot the other slept on oblivious…which was a devious plot, he felt sure, because as one calmed and fell asleep, just as he’d tiptoed back to bed and settled under the duvet, the other woke up screaming!
“Jas?” Her voice broke his thoughts, and it wasn’t long before she’d traced him to their Music Room. “What are you doing?” She asked, a tease hidden in her voice. Her eye fell on Electra, sleeping peacefully, and Jason sitting with his saxophone, looking thoughtful.
“I’ve discovered a secret weapon.” He patted his saxophone. “She went out like a light.” His smile widened as Georgie skirted Electra’s chair and she hugged him.
“Okay, you two are going on 3 am duty from now onwards.” She teased, kissing him.
The small shudder rippling through him triggered the pain from his chest. Alone in this small, darkened room, he wondered what time it was. The drugs, he reasoned, were playing tricks with his mind. The V Festival had been years ago; his children were grown-up now – the girls were four months from their eighteenth birthdays – and their heads already full of their plans for university. Andrew had already earned himself a place in Norfolk on a scholarship, and was due to head off for his new life in a few days.
They would have had their hands full again, but Georgie’s late pregnancy hadn’t gone to plan. The shock had caused considerable friction between the pair; he’d wondered more than a few times how long their relationship would survive without the children around.
Georgie worked a part-time consultancy for a London law firm, run by an older colleague of her father’s. It was something that she seemed to enjoy; he could only guess because she didn’t talk about it. In fact, they didn’t talk about much, once the children had drifted in for their dinner, mostly not at the same time, due to club commitments, prior plans with friends and part-time jobs.
Yesterday Georgie had increased her hours from part-time to full-time, another indication that she was enjoying it – and wanted to spend less time with him.
Jason blamed himself. Lewis tried to convince him that some time away from home on tour would make her realise how much she missed him, but he’d merely shaken his head.
She had acted as if his pending operation – a mere battery replacement for the tiny regulator inside his chest – was a nuisance, so he’d checked himself in this morning.
Was that the real reason he wondered if the whole process was necessary?
Nobody needed him anymore.
Lewis had taken A1 Jive under his wing, devoting more time to them as Jason had wound down his own schedule. It was all a hopeless mess, and no matter what he did, it just seemed to get worse.
Black holes of despair. Dark, dank depression. All of those blues songs that he’d heard with those phrases, he knew now what they meant. He’d cast off his less-than-perfect childhood, made a real go of his career when he was presented with the opportunity which had meant that he could provide properly for his family – and where had that got him?
Back to square one.
Jason couldn’t hide his shock. The warning had been issued from the young man sitting beside him. It was only his first half hour at the course, yet everyone in attendance seemed to know who he was – and how he got his place.
Most of the class were younger than him by one or two years: this he had expected. But he hadn’t expected hostility— Taking a deep breath, he plunged in.
“I’m not. I’m here to make the best of my career.”
His reply was a snort. Several students around them had heard the exchange and were shaking their heads; none would catch his eye.
So this was how it was going to be, was it?
Fine, Jason thought to himself, two can play that game.
Since they had opened Fats widely, Glenn had been giving Jason basic piano lessons in-between jobs.
Here and now, Jason was confident in his music reading, writing and playing abilities – and not just on one instrument. He knew this stood him in good stead for success in his course.
Ignoring those around him, he focused on their first task – an introduction to ‘their music’, a live performance. Jason’s smile widened, thinking it was a perfect opportunity to put his doubters in their places from the off.
“This will be a highly competitive environment.” Seb’s words from years ago rang in his ears. “Set the bar high.”
Nodding to himself, Jason volunteered to go first.
***
“You worked in a bar?” The young lady sitting opposite him at the lunch table was amazed. “With those hands?”
Jason laughed. “Fats is a jazz club; and yes, my duties were varied.”
“You’re incredible.” She shook her head. “When did you learn to play?”
“I’m quite a newcomer, compared to everyone else.”
For the last twenty minutes, Jason had been listening to the answers everyone else had been giving, amazed by what he had heard so far. The men who had doubted him this morning were nowhere to be seen.
Jason was sitting amongst four fellow musicians, he tried to recall their names and instruments – a male guitarist (Steve), a female violinist (Patsy), a female vocalist (Cleo) and a male Cello player (Kelvin). It was the vocalist who was asking all the questions.
“How do you mean?”
“My interest was only sparked recently – I was thirteen.”
Four jaws dropped open.
“No way!” Kelvin gasped.
“You were….how old are you?” Patsy pried.
“Nineteen.”
Cleo and Patsy mouthed ‘wow’ together.
“You’re gifted.” Steve pronounced the word as if he was unsure of it.
“So it seems.” Jason spoke carefully. “I didn’t believe it myself. I thought my tutor was biased.” He paused, finding they were nodding and waiting for him to continue. “You think that perhaps the examiner just liked what he heard.” He shrugged. “The real tests have been the live performances.”
“Where have you played?” Kelvin asked.
“Covent Garden.”
The girls gasped.
“And I have a schedule on some of the Underground stations.”
“No regular slots?” Steve sounded disappointed.
“I’m there every weekend. Plus my Wednesday evening sessions at Fats.”
“We should orchestrate.” Kelvin nodded, pleased with how the word sounded. The group were looking at him, puzzled. “You know, play together as a group.” He received a few nods. “For fun; to let off steam.”
“Yeah, I’m in.” Steve nodded.
The girls too nodded.
Four sets of eyes fell on Jason.
“Why not?” He smiled.
_____________________________________________________
READER COMMENTS ON “WHEN THE SAX MAN PLAYS PART 1 MAKING IT” from Amazon’s website:
An excellant book that I read in 2 days and was unable to put down. Full of twists in plot and characters with quality writing throughout. I recomend this book whether you have an interest in music or not.”
A comment from the site, Authonomy: ”Your brilliant opening chapter. got me hooked right away. There is a smooth, flow to your writing. Also it is witty and humorous and I laughed my way to the second chapter. The descriptions are vivid, the setting wide and varied and you have a good sense of things and knowledge of this planet and the solar system. Overall, this is a well-written and curiously insightful story,that deserved a stay on my shelf. All the best. Janvier”
My first comment via the WTSMP email address:
“Just to say I read the book last weekend and it was truly excellent!! ..really enjoyed it, great read. Can’t wait for the next one!” – Laura Burns, Inverness
READER COMMENTS ON “WHEN THE SAX MAN PLAYS PART 2 PROVING IT” from Amazon’s website:
Read this Book in 2 days: unputdownable!
I was even reading whilst cooking!! This book should come with a warning: Caution it will be damn near impossible to get anything done once you start it!
As with part one clear fluent narrative. Really hope Yvonne continues to write after the end of the trilogy!
Found myself willing Georgie and Jason to be happy and Prove it!
Thank you Yvonne for a joyous read!
I wait with baited breath for part three!”
read this book in three days could not put it down! It is an fitting sequel to the first book, great to find out what has happened to all the characters. Well written page turner dont expect to get anything done if you start it!”
READER COMMENTS ON “WHEN THE SAX MAN PLAYS PART 3 MANAGING IT” from Amazon’s website:
Laura B”
