BACKSTRETCH SUITE by GARRY MANUEL
Garry Manuel’s evocative new EP offers a collection of short, instrumental tone poems that beautifully capture the vibrant, hidden world of the racetrack backstretch at iconic venues like Saratoga Race Course, Keeneland, Churchill Downs, Santa Anita, and others. Through impressionistic musical brushstrokes, the tracks mirror the sharp contrasts of a backstretch morning—from the serene beauty of a painted sunrise, chirping birds, and steam rising off a freshly washed horse, to the gritty reality of workers muck-raking stalls, filling feed buckets, and a blacksmith forging new shoes in the pouring rain. Manuel’s compositions masterfully balance this daily tension between grueling, cold labor and breathtaking moments of grace, reminding the listener that every ounce of morning devotion is quietly building toward those fleeting, thundering one or two minutes of afternoon glory. This musical presentation is intended to transport you to those scenes through the atmosphere created by the music.
