D. Lee Jackson

Words and Music

New Song – “Pavane” – On Bandcamp

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Lee Jackson - "Pavane" CoverFor the first time in nearly a year, I’ve got a brand new song finished and up on Bandcamp! The song, “Pavane,” is a slow, melancholy, electronic dance, although many have described it more as “spooky” than anything else. In any case, it’s been getting really good reviews, so I hope you’ll take the time to grab a copy for yourself at this Bandcamp link.

The version that’s on Bandcamp is actually the second revision of the song. I posted the first version up on SoundCloud as a test to get feedback. Like I said, I hadn’t written a new song in almost a year, mainly due to the number of illnesses and hospitalizations I’ve had to deal with, and I wanted to make sure my composition chops were in shape. Sure enough, I’d made a few errors that required a new mix and a remaster, which I got done along with the cover art just in time for April’s Bandcamp Friday post by Cherry Audio (they’d promised to include me in their social post and their Feature post for the week). The reason they included me was that I composed the song using nothing but Cherry Audio’s Mercury-6 synth – ten instances of it, mind you, but still. 🙂 

(If you haven’t figured it out by now, I like Cherry Audio synths. And you should too.)

In any case, “Pavane” is still up for sale on Bandcamp, and I encourage you to buy a copy. Proceeds will go toward getting more music written. 🙂

An Audio Silver Lining

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SoundCloud 300x300 CloudmarkFor the first time in quite some while, things have started getting musically busy around here. Since my last entry, I’ve finally started taking advantage of my long-neglected user account over on SoundCloud and have been busy posting some of my albums and other music over there. Three albums are up, although one (Derivations) is missing an Album Commentary track (the free SoundCloud account I have limits how much you can post by total time, and I hit the limit before I could get all of Derivations’ tracks up.).

Here are the links to the albums that are on SoundCloud:

I’ve also posted a couple of single pieces of music, although one of them is technically one track with four pieces of music in it. More on that later. The first single is a piece I did in 2002 for “Duke Nukem Forever,” and it’s called the Lenoman Theme. The piece is an intro to an in-game late-night talk show. If you play it, try playing it on loop a few times. I think you’ll like the results.

The other track isn’t an album or game track at all. Instead, it’s something from my history – 1984, to be precise. Back in that summer, I was a member of a Drum and Bugle Corps out of Houston, Texas called the Nighthawks. During a rehearsal stop at Hixon High School in Chattanooga, Tennessee, the mallet percussion section (bells (me), xylophone, marimba, vibraphone) recorded our repertoire for that year’s show. We played four pieces: “The Sinfonians” by Clifton Williams, “From Mighty Oaks,” a drum feature called “Classical Drag” by Vincent Paredes, and music from the motion picture “Somewhere in Time.” I wrote the mallet parts for the first piece and co-wrote the mallet parts for the second piece. You’ll also hear a couple of voices on the recording: mine is the first voice you’ll hear (the other is our xylophone player, Steve McDonald, speaking for his own tape recorder).

I invite you to listen to all of the pieces I’ve put online. If I can ever scrape together the money for their “Next Pro” annual subscription, which comes with more storage time, I’ll upload more works. If you want to contribute to that cause, either buy some of my music from my Bandcamp page or make a donation via my Paypal.me page. I would greatly appreciate either one. Thank you!

“Lady Tygress’ Suite and Other Commissions” Album Released!

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Lady Tygress' Suite and Other Commissions cover artIt’s out! My fourth album, “Lady Tygress’ Suite and Other Commissions,” has been released today. You’ll be able to find it in physical CD, downloadable digital, and streaming formats on all the usual outlets, which are linkable from my HearNow page.

For quick reference, here are some of the more popular links to sites where you’ll be able to find the album at this time. Not all of them may be up right off the bat, but they will be eventually. Here they are:

The album is available as both a physical CD and as a digital download on Amazon. It’s also available as a digital download on Bandcamp, but with several bonus items, such as liner notes, album art (by Kittyhawk!), and art that was released with several of the singles that are included on the album.

I may not be able to update this post with more details immediately, since I’ll be heading to the hospital at noon Central time for an operation to fix Carpal Tunnel and Cubital Tunnel Syndrome in my left hand and elbow. This will put my left hand out of commission for a couple of weeks (I think), so typing will be difficult at best. I’d really appreciate it if you’d show your support for me by buying a copy of my album! 🙂 

Thank you for your support. Please check out my new album today, especially on Bandcamp, since as of midnight Pacific time, it’ll be Bandcamp Friday!

New Album Coming Out November 4th

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LoudspeakerHere’s a long overdue announcement for you today. I’ve got a new album coming out in a couple of months! The details are as follows:

Album Title: “Lady Tygress’ Suite and Other Commissions”

Release Date: November 4th, 2022

Release Formats: Physical CD, Digital (w/bonus material), and Streaming

It’ll be a jacketed CD release this time – times are tough, and money is tight. CDs will be distributed via CD Baby to Amazon and all the other usual suspects. I might do another eBay auction of the first ten numbered/signed CDs, like I did with the first ten Calibrations and Derivations CDs.

Of course, it’ll be available for streaming on all the major outlets to which CD Baby distributes (Spotify, YouTube, etc.). I’ll also have it up on Bandcamp for Digital download, with some bonus material like liner notes, album art, and maybe something else.

Along with the new tracks, the album will include some previously released singles, including the soundtrack I wrote for Dan Douglas’s Duke Smoochem 3D demo. Now will be your chance to get this and more if you missed them previously.

This will be my fourth album, so what better date to release it on than the 4th of November. Look for it then!