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Jazz

Return to Mahavishnu Weather

Inspired by (but not especially similar to) the three ground-breaking Fusion groups of the 1970s after whom the piece is named.

Pocket Change

Many years ago, a three-movement trio for flute, piano, and cello was born. It had square "Classical" rhythms, harmony that was derivative of Hindemith, a bit of jazz inflection, and (I’ve since decided) about 10% good ideas with 90% filler. In sum, it was more like a suggestion of a piece than a fully-realized one. (That version had a bit of backstory to it...involving the composer George Rochberg.) Now, it has morphed into a two-movement (100% all beef!) work for jazz trio, vibes, and woodwind quartet. The shackles are off - it was really jazz that I was feeling all along - but it’s not garden-variety bebop by a long shot. I’ve retained the original harmonic character, and kept the "Classical vs. Jazz" dialectic alive in the instrumentation. The final result seems best described as a kind of Third Stream music. The title? Certain jazz genres (especially those practiced by we Caucasian males) have a long and inglorious history of titles based upon lame puns...in-jokes for insiders. In this case, I just couldn’t resist. Sorry...