Teitur & Aarhus Jazz Orchestra | Songs from a Social Distance

On a sunny, early summer's day in 2020 - the first summer season of the pandemic - author Roy Freirich drove from his home in Malibu, California, to his local post office to mail a book to his Faroese musician friend Teitur. But when he arrived and a postal worker informed him of the astronomical cost of shipping the book halfway around the world, he decided against it and drove home again - book-in-hand.

The writing process for SONGS FROM A SOCIAL DISTANCE began in the tumultuous year of 2020, reflecting the then-current state of things - the first summer of the corona pandemic raging along with all of its frustrations, fears, insecurities, rules, and insistence to keep a social distance. And of course, this was accompanied by Donald Trump's campaign forre-election and an extended period marked by political uprisings and protests on behalf of racial justice and equality.

SONGS FROM A SOCIAL DISTANCE was recorded in the Aarhus Cathedral - a decision made deliberately in order to include the spatial sound of the location as a participant in the production. The aim is not to lift the listener up into the highest pitch.