Sleepy Creek Samba
Sleepy Creek Samba (inspired by Sleepy Creek Mountain in Morgan County, West Virginia) is a bright and happy piece for mid-size jazz ensemble. It is dedicated to the Morgan Arts Council. For those who visit Berkeley Springs, to fully experience the spirit of this music view Sleepy Creek Mountain from Cacapon Outlook at the Cacapon State Park. Score demo by David Arivett. The instrumentation used in the demo is violin, alto flute, oboe, clarinet, French horn, bassoon, piano, guitar, bass, and drums.
This samba has an unusual structure. The theme is 18 bars. Importantly, the last 2 bars are intended to sound unresolved, with the ascending major 7th chords, and be a springboard for the soloist. Solos are based on this 18-bar form. After the solos and an ensemble soli (note its use of space), a second theme emerges. This theme has a 12-bar form, with two 6-bar phrases. It merges with 16 bars of the first theme. Finally, a short tag takes the tune out with a surprise ending.
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.
See the Morgan County, WV page for more about the area.
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.
See the Morgan County, WV page for more about the area.