As recorded by the Valley Jazz Orchestra on the album Vicious Fishes
approx. 8:30. An adaptation of a piece originally written for trumpet soloist Ron Miles and later recorded on the album Justin Morell Dectet. This instrumentation existed in an earlier draft and was revised in 2024 for the Lebanon Valley College Valley Jazz Orchestra. This slow, melodic piece features shifting meters throughout the theme. It remains quiet for long stretches, culminating in a full shout chorus the follows the open solo section. The feel is relaxed and swung, and the ensemble should stay far behind the beat throughout. The solo section can be extended, and can feature either a single soloist or both the alto and trumpet in trading or conversation.
For much of the piece, the main foreground material is broken up and passed across multiple players/parts in quick succession, and it is important that those melodies are always most prominent. At the same time, those melodies should never be too loud in the overall texture. Therefore, I’ve used a dynamic system in which dynamics marked with a “+” (ex. “mf+”) indicate the main melodic line, and these parts should always be heard just above the overall texture. Likewise, those dynamics marked with a “–“ indicate supportive material and should be voiced underneath the main melodic line.
Instrumentation: [5, 4, 4, 4] soprano/alto 1, alto 2 (doubles flute), 2 tenor, baritone (doubles bass clarinet) saxophones; trumpets 2, 3 & 4 double flugelhorn.
The full score is available free of charge here. Purchase will include the complete set of parts.
