by Gary Carra
Two years ago, Tony Jillson was asked to contribute music for a short film about Cynthia Elbaum — a friend of his who was killed while covering the Chechen/Russian war in 1994 as a photojournalist.
"The music was well received, but it was recorded with many computer parts," he recalls. "Some things sound great coming from computer, but I realized some things need the human touch. There are so many nuances and details that are nearly impossible to get by programming."
While the process of re-recording all of the parts with live performers was more time- and money-consuming than he'd envisioned, Jillson has finally surfaced from his Ratite Studios with For Cynthia — the fully realized, eight-song version of his audio ode to a fallen friend.
"It's currently available online at my website [birdwaves.com] as well as Turn It Up! in Northampton and Elmer's Store in Ashfield," he says. "I'd like to play it live, and think it deserves to be heard that way, so we'll see. All the musicians involved are up for it, and I've applied for some grants to help make it happen, but it's definitely an uphill battle."
