Music
Grand Union has been recording music for the last 25 years. Our recordings are available on CD direct from our office.
If Paradise...to be released in Autumn 2008
If Paradise... is deeply rooted in very recent history, and central to it is the story of an Asian couple caught up in events in the volatile world around them. Seeking a common humanity among Muslims, Jews and Christians, it dramatises – through musicians and musical ideas from East and West – stark contrasts of culture and religious belief. Intense and passionate music and songs combine the spiritual calm of Indian classical music and the rhythmic energy of bhangra with the exhilarating flow of jazz improvisation and heart-stopping big band blues.
Listen/download MP3s :
- Song of the Song of Songs
- Paradise Awaits
- Chaeridike Aj
- Collateral Damage
- The Perfumes of Paradise Blues
Our recordings
Now Comes the Dragon's Hour
Grand Union Orchestra
RGR309D | CD £10 |
The singer in the bar of an airport hotel somewhere (it could be Singapore or Bangkok) is expecting a baby. Contemplating the world the baby will be born into, and what the future holds for her child, she conjures up a series of songs about life along the Great Silk Road past and present - of migration, wars and political upheaval, the seductive sounds of the desert and fantastical visions of Chinese dragons - stories told with the aid of some remarkable musicians passing through the hotel that night...
Performed live by the Grand Union Orchestra, compiled from recordings made by BBC Radio 3 at the Queen Elizabeth Hall and Sadler's Wells Theatre in London for broadcasting nationally. Music by Tony Haynes, lyrics by Masud Ahamed, David Bradford, Vladimir Vega and Li Yan, and featuring seven great singers worldwide, Indian and Chinese virtuosos and all Grand Union's renowned international jazz soloists.
Listen/download MP3s:
Rimjhimamim
The Flame of Love
Nodir Srote Ektaratir
When We Left (ballad section)
When We Left (jazz section)
The Bird of Heavenly Bells
Around the World in 80 Minutes
Grand Union Orchestra
RGR307D | CD £10
20 tracks, recorded in live performance by various formations of the Grand Union Band in different parts of the world over the last seven years. Most of the music is dance-based, and features a wide range of rhythms from calypso, reggae and soca, through salsa and samba, West African drumming and South African township music to bhangra and Bollywood, with a touch of the Andes, Turkey and China along the way. But don't expect stylistic purity - these are free-wheeling, exuberant collaborations with some of the world's finest and most creative musicians!
Listen/download MP3s:
Kwela
New Day
Mexe Mexe
Ciao Baby Samba
Feelin’ Nice
The Rhythm of Tides/Por Mares do Imaginário
Grand Union Orchestra
RGR 306D | CD £10
Featuring seven leading Portuguese and Portuguese African performers based in Lisbon, alongside the Grand Union Orchestra's regular singers, jazz soloists and Asian musicians. Music by Tony Haynes, lyrics by Manuel Alegre and David Bradford. A series of songs and dramatic instrumentals, loosely tracing the history and legacy of empire from the voyages of Vasco da Gama, through the exile of Camões and establishment of colonial rule, to the wars of independence in Angola, Guiné and Mozambique.
Listen/download MP3s:
Cano
Meu Amor é Marinheiro
The Song of Reconciliation
Music at Last
Freedom Calls
Grand Union Orchestra
RGR 303D | CD £10
Built around the Orchestra's Caribbean, African and South American musicians, with a wide range of singers and soloists. Music by Tony Haynes, lyrics by Valerie Bloom, John Matshikiza and Vladimir Vega. Reflections on oppression and liberty in Africa and the Americas from slavery to apartheid - intensely moving and personal, but ultimately joyous and uplifting.
Listen/download MP3s:
Ça Ira
Can’t Chain up Me Mind
Freedom Calls
No More Apartheid
