SKETCHES OF PIHA

 

In 2022 my family and I moved to a small beach town on the wild west coast of Auckland, called Piha. It is a place of amazing extremes. One day it will be calm and beautiful with incredible peeling waves and blue skies, and the next day will be a howling gale ripping through the ominous dark cliffs. It can be pretty and picturesque, sinister and broody, or wild and frightening.

After being there for a few months I felt inspired to write a series of pieces about the Piha landscape with my friend Mike Booth.

Mike is a jazz legend in New Zealand as both a trumpet player and arranger, and has been a friend of mine for almost 10 years. We have played together in a variety of groups over the years and he has become an intricate part of the whole ETC thing.

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The Caves

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'The Caves' is the first of these pieces and is an instrumental song written about the northern end of Piha where there are several amazing rock caves set into the surrounding cliff face. 'Caves' is also one of the best spots for surfing in the area, and my particular favorite.

I wrote the chord sequence and sketched out a melody for the tune and then Mike improvised over it. It was recorded at Mikes studio in Arch Hill.

I created the video with footage taken by myself and my wife Sandra. The surf footage was taken by Phil Wallace on a beautiful winters day in Piha.

I hope you enjoy

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