~ Portrait in Jazz ~
A new adventure for the Doctor, Clara, Madame Vastra, Jenny and Strax!
Hello all and thanks for your interest in this piece of fan-fiction!
This is my first story in this site and the first I try to write in English. I'm really sorry for all the mistakes you could find, and please send me a message if you locate one in order that I'm able to correct it.
I really hope you enjoy this story. Each chapter will be titled as if it were a CD track from a fictional jazz album the cover of which is shown in the image next to the title. Most of the tracks will be versions of jazz classics from Bill Evans discography. I highly recommend to listen to them while reading the chapters. The title of the story itself is a Bill Evans album. I'll try to add a new chapter regularly, probably one each week.
Track 1 -
Autumn Leaves
The falling leaves of red and gold drifted by the window as the raindrops fell on them. Clara was watching the beautiful scene from her living room, lying in her chaise longue while listening some jazz which was playing in the old record-player. She really enjoyed this. Just letting the music and the sound of the rain relax her. Was nice this kind of break after all the adventures Clara had lived since the Doctor first met her. But she had loved it. Every single minute. She found herself wondering how long she had to wait yet until the Doctor showed up...
The answer came immediately, as Clara heard the familiar buzzing sound of the TARDIS materializing. She smiled.
A few minutes later, the Doctor was in the doorway.
'Wow, cool jazz!' he said. 'Cool jazz is cool! I didn't know you liked jazz.'
'Hi, Doctor' replied Clara.
'Oh, yes, I'm sorry. Hi, Clara. You know, I haven't greeted you because I've just been with you... When was that? When did I left you here?'
'That was yesterday, Doctor' said Clara without standing up. 'You mean you have traveled directly from yesterday? Why?'
'Why wouldn't I?'
'I don't know. I just thought you would enjoy some time alone, without me disturbing around...'
'What are you saying, Clara? You're absolutely not a nuisance!'
Clara smiled pleased to hear that, but the Doctor didn't see her from where he was. Anyway, he was distracted, taking a look at the record-player.
'Look at this! A gramophone! What a nice gramophone! It reminds me of the one Emile Berliner gave me when we met... Where did you got it?'
'It was my granddad's.'
'Wait! That sounds familiar to me!' The Doctor stopped talking and listened carefully. Then, he began to hum the melody. 'Hey, that's Waltz for Debby! Bill Evans Trio! Good ol' Billy! A nice guy he was...'
Clara rose suddenly from where she was lying. 'You met Bill Evans?!'
'Of course I did. Who do you think is playing the double bass in this recording?' said the Doctor with a mischievous smile.
Clara stood gaped. Then she squinted and went to where the disc case was. He looked at the back of it and read the credits. Then she smiled and said 'If these credits are to be trusted, that's Scott LaFaro.' The Doctor was clearly joking.
'Well, of course there aren't to be trusted! That's a live album. Scottie was sick that evening so they asked me to replace him. It was me who asked not to appear in the credits. I didn't want to attract attention, you know...'
'REALLY?'
'Of course!'
Clara was astonished with the Doctor's revelation. That one had been her favorite album since she was a teenager... and the Doctor was playing in it!
'Hey, I've got an idea! Do you fancy going to one of Billy's concerts? I'll introduce you to him!' exclaimed the Doctor with a wide smile.
Clara opened her eyes wide and smiled from ear to ear. One of her dreams had always been going to a Bill Evans concert. That had been impossible until now... because now she had a time machine!
She hugged him tightly.
'Let's go!' she whispered in his ear.
