New Tango No. 1: Movement
Inspired by the tango, New Tango No. 1 is an abstract piece invoking dance movement as well as exploring movement in and out of time. Recorded by Jason Shapiro, alto saxophone; Jeff Knoettner, keyboards; E. Shawn Qaissaunee, guitar; Peter McCarthy, bass; and Skip Rohrich, drums.
The soloist's part is entirely improvised. The rhythm section goes between time and free-time. The soloist cues the rhythm section on when to make time and harmonic changes. The background ensemble is in free-time with each note conducted. During solos the background ensemble can improvise interactions with the soloist. This piece is highly dependent upon the soloist and ensemble to bring the music to life and take the audience on a journey.
Space and understatement are important features of this music. The open, floating free-time melody and the space between its phrases enable the rhythm section to have a prominent role in playing layers of lines, textures, and colors. Using accordion and guitar (along with piano, bass, and drums) is highly recommended. A string instrument(s) such as violin, viola, or cello can improvise additional layers with the rhythm section. One of my essential concepts in this piece is for the ensemble to have the sound of a tango band (as closely as possible); however, the music has a great amount of freedom.
The mid-size ensemble score is for jazz soloist, 5 wind instruments, and rhythm section. Flexible instrumentation is used to enable the music to be played by many combinations of instruments. Mid-Size Ensemble describes the concepts that I used in this piece.
The soloist's part is entirely improvised. The rhythm section goes between time and free-time. The soloist cues the rhythm section on when to make time and harmonic changes. The background ensemble is in free-time with each note conducted. During solos the background ensemble can improvise interactions with the soloist. This piece is highly dependent upon the soloist and ensemble to bring the music to life and take the audience on a journey.
Space and understatement are important features of this music. The open, floating free-time melody and the space between its phrases enable the rhythm section to have a prominent role in playing layers of lines, textures, and colors. Using accordion and guitar (along with piano, bass, and drums) is highly recommended. A string instrument(s) such as violin, viola, or cello can improvise additional layers with the rhythm section. One of my essential concepts in this piece is for the ensemble to have the sound of a tango band (as closely as possible); however, the music has a great amount of freedom.
The mid-size ensemble score is for jazz soloist, 5 wind instruments, and rhythm section. Flexible instrumentation is used to enable the music to be played by many combinations of instruments. Mid-Size Ensemble describes the concepts that I used in this piece.