In the guise of Gort Braggern I mashed together this cluster of melodies. Mosltly in 5/4 time, it closes out in 9/4...I tried to make it danceable, or at least head-bobbable.  
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This is a song that causes me to wonder... I wonder why François Couperin would name this tune "The Gnat?" (or "The Midge" if you prefer) Could it me that gnats had a significance in 1717 that I am as yet unaware? Perhaps it was a popular dance of the time.
I'm trying to picture the scene... A courtesan in a powdered wig hitting on a woman in a wig of even greater stature... "Hey baby... Lets do the Gnat, Whatcha say?"
 
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Here we go again... another of Couperin's harpsichord pieces. Imagine yourself strolling down the corridors of Versailles wearing a gigantic powdered wig. Lovely huh? if it were 1717 This tune might be playing in the background. (but on a harpsichord).  
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The Mysterious Barricades... What might François Couperin have been referring to when he titled this one? Somehow I don't think he was referring to those metal things that appear along the sidewalk the night before there is a parade. It is a rather addictive little tune...  
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Next up is a piece written by written by François Couperin... It was originally written for the Harpsichord & published in 1717. Yes, this is not quite Modern. but is is a lively interpretation of it. I sometimes feel that these old harpsichord tunes have an over-abundance of trills, flourishes and whatnot, but... there wasn't amplification in those days, and harpsichords really don't have the same presence & sustain that a piano does, and they didn't have pianos yet either. But they did have trills & flourishes and lots of silence to fill.
 
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This is a lively little tune in 12/8... except for the bridge... it jumps around a bit there... almost latin sounding. I named it after a favorite chili pepper. the Chiltepin, also known as a bird's eye pepper. That's how I was first introduced to them. A friend gave me a tiny bottle of them, calling them birdeye... yes this was before the internet, & I had my eyes out or them for decades, because they were so good. Finally I saw some that looked right in a store but they were called "Chiltepin" so I wasn't sure sure until I tested them..  
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Once again I found myself at the ocean with nothing better to do than subject my microphones to hostile conditions. I had been driving up and down along the coast south of Monterey looking for the right spot. I was looking for a protected cove-type location. One without a mile-long expanse of sand and giant waves from the deep ocean to come crashing in.
 
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I was out on a late night walk. Late June in Fort Bragg has some nearly summer nights and this was one of them. Shirt sleeve weather – if your sleeves happen to be long and you bring along a covering for later. Rambling through town in my random fashion, I came across a logging road that came up along the Noyo River... A mile in, the road crossed the river. Standing in the middle of the bridge on that silent night I could hear the Nightbirds. Down where the river meets the sea there is a horn that blows caution to approaching vessels and I could hear how it echoed up along the river as it passed me by.  
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Do you ever have projects like that? They are sitting over on a shelf and you're thinking: "Oh, I gotta finish that one day..." Then one day arrives and you go over & look at it and realize it has been finished the whole time. It just needs a little dusting and some paint touchup.

This is one of those. I think I may have been conflicted with the tempo, I thought it might be too slow... But speeding it up would mess with the second statement... it's short, to be sure but now I have space on my shelf.  
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