The St. Malo Suite. John and Julia, together with family and friends spent much of each summer on their yacht 'Bright Dawn', berthed on the river Rance, near St. Malo. It was from such sailing holidays that John derived much of the inspiration for composition. Ray Simmons has arranged six of John's pieces in a sequence suggesting perhaps a journey planned late in the year, perhaps merely of flights of imagination, always with the joy of sailing in mind.
Ray Simmons is well known as an orchestral musician. He was principal trumpeter with the Royal Philharmonic for nearly two decades, and has performed in that capacity with some of the world's leading musicians. He was also a prominent instrumental professor, notably at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and still teaches at the University of East Anglia.
(Left to Right) Ivars Galenieks (double bass), Ray Simmons (trumpet, flugelhorn, keyboard), Martin Eaton (tenor sax),
Phil Brooke (electric and acoustic guitars) and Rob Masters (percussion)
"When Julia asked me to compile and arrange compositions for John's memorial concert, the idea of a permanent record was very much in mind. I have used the same form as the live performance, but with the sequence seperated into tracks that can be played individually, without losing the shape of the whole suite." Ray.
