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Good morning heartache...

Updated: 3 days ago


An immersive music heavy exhibition




Back in December, during our festivity event, we had the pleasure of welcoming two incredible women—Zamar and LizMNK—who performed live jazz from the beautiful setting of Exceline Restaurant. It was more than just a performance; they gave a history lesson on Jazz wrapped in rhythm. As a music lover, I thought I knew stuff!—but they broke down Jazz and its traditions in a way that had me saying, "Guess the young can teach the old!"

 

I’ve been listening back to that performance. Maybe it’s the simplicity of Zamar’s strumming on the double bass—no frills, no distractions—that made Liz’s lyrics stand out so clearly. One line, in particular, had me meditating:

 

Stop haunting me now

Can't shake you no how

Just leave me aloneI've got those Monday blues

Straight through Sunday blues

Good morning heartache, here we go again

 

They told me this was a cover—originally sung by Belle Baker, a Jewish American musician and actress born into extreme poverty, for context poverty stopped her being allowed to attend school and instead had to work the smog of factories at just six years old. Maybe it’s those beginnings that made her capable of writing lyrics to resonate even today…

But it was Ella Fitzgerald’s version that resonated deeply with the duo of Zamar and Liz, and, I’ll say, with me too. Not going to lie even as I write this I’m listening to Ella’s version, her tone pitch perfect, so I’m zoned in, it’s haunting, like listening to memories of a lover lost. 

 

Digging into Ella’s past, I found things I hear about even today. Early trauma through her mother dying in a car accident when she was just 15. Leading to her being looked after by her step father with rumours of abusing though never confirmed. But during this period her perfect grades dropped, started skipping school and ended up as a lookout for mafia associated number rings (allegedly), but she did end up being placed in an orphanage and a state reformatory school for girls… where some argued they were mirrors of prisons. 

 

I paused the words of good morning heartache and reflected. Because nearly a century later, the script hasn’t changed just different actors.

 

During research for our upcoming exhibition, I spoke with a woman who entered the UK prison system in the early 2000s. Without a doubt she’d been through early hardships, ending up in care, being fostered at points and ultimately ending up in the UK prison system as.a 16 year old, seeing all kinds of things children shouldn’t see. A detail she mentioned that stayed with me was her shock at seeing other girls, visibly pregnant, pacing the prison floors. For some, Monday blues aren’t just a feeling…

 

Our exhibition, Red Light Busking presents Kanda Vol.1 – Bedroom Shut, Music Up, is about understanding these cycles. We’re exploring what was happening in Waltham Forest during that time, and how those experiences shaped the music that emerged. Music that’s often been misunderstood, even criminalised—yet has become the soundtrack of generations.

When I say this exhibition is powerful, I’m not exaggerating. It’s special. It’s musical. It’s healing.



If you haven’t already, make sure to RSVP. And as a gift for now, I’ll leave you with Zamar and LizMNK’s cover of Good Morning Heartache. But I ask—really listen this time. Take in those lyrics, sit with your thoughts, and ask yourself the question this exhibition asks us all: Why?

 

Peace and blessings


David



 




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