Fish for music, not chips

I’m not obsessed with fish. Really!

Of course it’s a favorite dish of mine – I grew up in “Fish & Chip” land (and to be perfectly honest, still have not yet found anything that comes close to it in the USA). On overnight camping trips to Hastings we’d walk the promenade, play on the beach and watch the boats land on the pebbles before unloading their stock, indulge in crazy golf or the indoor amusement center (I once won £130 in pennies!) and then head to the local chippie. You really can’t get fresher fish than that! And, at that time, it was all cod with the occasional haddock or flounder. Yummy stuff.

So white fish has played a big part throughout my consuming life. No surprise, then, that moving to Florida opened up plenty more opportunity for immediate (i.e. fresh) and inexpensive fish dinners.

But what was this thing called Grouper? Eventually I tried it. And really liked it! Big, meaty, fleshy, moist, almost impossible to overcook white fish. It is great in a sandwich, or just plain. Don’t spoil it by deep frying it in less-than-perfect batter, either. I began eating Grouper almost everywhere I could, and eventually came across this video:

Can you believe the size of this fish? Not all species of Grouper are this large. Some are bigger:

No hoax: check here http://www.hoax-slayer.com/giant-warsaw-grouper.shtml

So, how could I do anything but write a piece of music about this giant in a piece about the place where I discovered it? So, movement three of “Tapestry Tampa Bay” is, in fact, called Grouper!

The movement starts out deep underwater, with some bubbles floating up from a rock-like bulge – actually a fish. The rock slowly turns sideways as more bubbles escape from underneath it. As it opens its mouth to impersonate a yawn, a few more bubbles interrupt and the fish gets annoyed. “Do you mind!” he exclaims. “I’m yawning.”

Again, an attempt at a yawn. More bubbles. Eventually, the fed-up fish doesn’t care and if it could growl, it did so. No more bubbles.

So off he heads, into the warm swirling waters. Being such a large fish means very little disturbs its direction or wake. Smooth and flowing, the gentle giant surveys his domain. Occasionally little spurts of bubbles emerge from his mouth, but all-in-all he is a happy fish. It takes a lot of energy to move such a large body, so eventually King Grouper settles down for a nap.

Is that really a piece of music?

Yes.

You wait ’till you hear it! And now, we are preparing to have the concert broadcast live online, too! Look out for details soon.