SKU: A0.1047904

Two Songs for Solo Trumpet by Alan Matheson are tributes to great jazz artists who are inspirations to him; Bix Beiderbecke and Woody Shaw. Here is a summary of the composer's own words about these two outstanding movements: The first song For Bix Beiderbecke is a blues-based, elegiac salute to one of the first lyrical jazz brass players who also created a unique musical language in his short life by combining his love of jazz (especially that of Louis Armstrong) with his interest in the music of the Impressionists such as Debussy and Ravel. The second song For Woody Shaw pays a tribute to one of the masters of modern-jazz playing. In his compositions and improvisations, Shaw was very fond of using large intervals (such as minor and major 7ths) along with melodic lines based on the perfect 4th. I have included this sound in the melodic lines of this movement along with some hybrid scales to reflect Woody Shaw's harmonic adventurousness. These two songs total about 5 minutes in length and are appropriate for advanced performers.

SKU: A0.862528

The IImin7-V7-IMaj7 chord progression is the first and most basic set of chords in tonal jazz. So, let's see how far they can be layered, stretched, and interwoven to create some nicely contrasting harmonic and melodic colors. OK, it Might take a BIT more work that the title suggests. Irony is IN right now... The saxes state the theme in octave unison, while the brass comment and accompany. Then the saxes take over for a full chorus of soli. None of the phrases is more than three measures in length, so the players can blow through without blowing themselves out. The soloists are the trumpet, accompanied by a trombone background, and the piano, with saxophones behind it. SampleSolos are provided. The trumpet shows how Woody Shaw might have played this piece with pentatonic scales, a bit of a contrast to the tonal nature of the changes. The piano has a rapid, multi-noted solo with lots of chromatics, with fingerings, to show what the Tatum-style of pianistic technique is all about. Running time is just over 4 mins at suggested tempo. The rhythm section Uni-Part is included with every GateWay Edition Jazz Ensemble Series chart. Drum part is notated as heard on the audio clip. MBB.