In May, 2003, I was fortunate enough to play alongside top British mandolinist, Alison Stephens, who achieved international recognition by providing the soundtrack for the movie Captain Corelli’s Mandolin. Ali has recorded for Chandos, and other leading CD companies, and returned here to Plymouth in September, where she gave a solo recital in the City Museum Lunchtime Series. For the occasion, I wrote her a little number entitled Ali’s Jazzarello!.

Ali then asked me to write two companion pieces to Jazzarello, and these are all now published by Astute Music, both for solo mandolin, and mandolin duo. I have now also arranged all three for piano solo.

The second of the three, Beast & Baby!, refers to Ali’s nicknames for her Octave mandolin (beast), and her favourite Embergher mandolin (baby), shown in the picture. In the original mandolin piece, Ali swaps between the two instruments for each section. The impetuous first part represents the Beast, with the more gentle strains of Baby providing a contrasting middle section.

Sadly, Ali passed away prematurely in 2010, at the age of 40. She will be sorely missed by all who knew her, or had heard her play.