Singled Out: Judge Smith's Orfeas

'Orfeas' is a Songstory, that's to say it's intended to tell a coherent story with music, in this case the a retelling of the ancient myth of Orpheus, the magical musician who travels to the Land of the Dead in search of the lost Eurydice. In my version, he is a guitar hero instrumentalist, and this track is an extract from one of his stage shows. John Ellis (Vibrators, Stranglers, Peter Hammill's 'K' Group) is the star guitarist, and his band features, among others, David Jackson (Van der Graaf Generator) Saxophone, and Gigi Cavalli Cocchi (Ligabue, C.S.I.) Drums. The music I wrote for them features guitar and sax playing harmony melody lines, and their numbers showcase Orfeas' killer solos.

My 'Orfeas' Songstory also features 70's New Wave pop-star Lene Lovich as Eurydice, and uses several entirely different types of music to carry the narrative. Death Metal, Modern Classical music for string quartet, classic Trance and Flamenco guitar all feature, as well as the instrumental Guitar Rock of the 'George Orfeas Band', and almost every one of the seventeen musicians involved is a long-time friend and collaborator of mine. As far as I know, no one else is making work quite like this.