The Four seasons of New York Jazz takes its overall form from Vivaldi:
Four concerti (seasons) of three movements each, fast-slow-fast.
Each instrument of the 17 piece orchestra solos in a different movement. Many instruments have multiple solos.
Four concerti (seasons) of three movements each, fast-slow-fast.
Each instrument of the 17 piece orchestra solos in a different movement. Many instruments have multiple solos.
Summer in Harlem takes as its main inspiration Duke Ellington and his monumental engagement at the Cotton Club 1927-1931.
1. Takin' the Train, Eh? Inspired by Strayhorn's A Train, it is a programmatic portrait of a jazz musician on the way home from a gig in the middle of the night. 2 A Jeep Drives Through the Jungle. Evocative of the great Johnny Hodges and his unparalleled lyricism. 3. This Mistress is High Maintenance A play-on-words of the title of Duke Ellington's autobiography, and also a play-on-music and love letter to the great man himself. |
Autumn on 52nd Street
4. Lightheaded Avifauna, Roosting Royally Bird and Diz, with a touch of modernity. 5. These Hard Bops Don’t Hurt I always thought the term "hard bop" basically meant bebop but with better recording technology. 6. Steam Heat Warms the Cool Even though cool jazz is often associated with the west coast, let's not forget the very famous practitioners who started it here. This piece starts out cool, travels back and forth in many different tempos, and gets hotter and hotter, ending with a song about the joys and travails of being a musician in New York. |
Winter in Greenwich Village
Mingus at the Five Spot, Dolphy, Monk, Don Cherry, Coltrane, et al. and a little bit of jazz rock at the end. Need I say more? 7. An Itchy Witch Ain’t Green. The title is multiple plays on words, but the music is a tune with a half step tonality, and a touch of free-improv. I always like free improv sandwiched between structure. 8. Twelve Tone, Shmelve Tone. A tune in 12 tones, but with a very clear tonality. Coltranesque tenor solo on top. 9. Thrice Out of Style. First, a trombone chorale, then some funky jazz rock, then something a bit less funky, but not less groovy. |
Spring All Around the Town
10. The Bronx Honks. The Latin music revival is almost as old as jazz itself, but New York has seen a particularly strong blending of the two over the years .
11. A Grimeless Hipsterville. This is a modernist take on an old song form. The brass tacit, and the saxes take turns leading the choir. Just before the end, a hint of a George Shearing type of ensemble.
12. Fantastic Lights. The most complex and longest number in the suite. Essentially a variation and theme on the Victorian song, "The Sidewalk of New York." A classically composed introduction, then a fast jazz waltz section, which leads into a celebration of the traditional jazz revival that is going strong today. Just when you think things are becoming modernist, the piece goes full ragtime, and the audience joins in for a singalong.
10. The Bronx Honks. The Latin music revival is almost as old as jazz itself, but New York has seen a particularly strong blending of the two over the years .
11. A Grimeless Hipsterville. This is a modernist take on an old song form. The brass tacit, and the saxes take turns leading the choir. Just before the end, a hint of a George Shearing type of ensemble.
12. Fantastic Lights. The most complex and longest number in the suite. Essentially a variation and theme on the Victorian song, "The Sidewalk of New York." A classically composed introduction, then a fast jazz waltz section, which leads into a celebration of the traditional jazz revival that is going strong today. Just when you think things are becoming modernist, the piece goes full ragtime, and the audience joins in for a singalong.
Total time: circa 75 minutes, depending on length of solos.
Not including Intermission.
Composed 2014, revised 2018.
Composer’s notes:
–In overall depth and breadth, the classical influence might be more from Mahler, in that there are architectural changes from the full tutti triple-forte, down to one or two instruments triple piano, but both extremes should be equally intense and focused for the listener. There are also two measures that are direct quotes of Wagner.
–– Conductor’s discretion: Additional solo choruses and/or additional instruments in open sections as long as none of the assigned solos are left out.
–– Generally speaking, counting off is to be discouraged, and conducting is to be encouraged.
––Movement 10: Extra Percussion is welcome. The idea is not for exact Latin authenticity, but lots of noise.
–– Regarding printing the lyrics in the program, I am of two minds. Without the printed lyrics, there will be an element of humorous surprise, however, for clarity, the printed lyrics could only help.
–– For the “singalong,” the conductor turns around to conduct the audience. Whether or not there are printed lyrics in the program, low-tech, white poster-board on an easel with the lyrics neatly printed so the audience can read them might be nice/ The conductor can turn the pages. Or another system may be devised.
Not including Intermission.
Composed 2014, revised 2018.
Composer’s notes:
–In overall depth and breadth, the classical influence might be more from Mahler, in that there are architectural changes from the full tutti triple-forte, down to one or two instruments triple piano, but both extremes should be equally intense and focused for the listener. There are also two measures that are direct quotes of Wagner.
–– Conductor’s discretion: Additional solo choruses and/or additional instruments in open sections as long as none of the assigned solos are left out.
–– Generally speaking, counting off is to be discouraged, and conducting is to be encouraged.
––Movement 10: Extra Percussion is welcome. The idea is not for exact Latin authenticity, but lots of noise.
–– Regarding printing the lyrics in the program, I am of two minds. Without the printed lyrics, there will be an element of humorous surprise, however, for clarity, the printed lyrics could only help.
–– For the “singalong,” the conductor turns around to conduct the audience. Whether or not there are printed lyrics in the program, low-tech, white poster-board on an easel with the lyrics neatly printed so the audience can read them might be nice/ The conductor can turn the pages. Or another system may be devised.