Jazz Sonorities

SKU: SU.21000213

UPC: 820821003284.

Jazz Sonorities (2002) was composed for Esther Lamneck at her request and premiered by her and Barbara Allen on drums at the Loewe Theater of New York University on May 30, 2002. Ms. Lamneck asked me to compose a piece for either solo clarinet or clarinet and piano. I decided on the former to continue my Sonorities series of works for solo instruments which eventually resulted in Sonorities VII for solo b-flat clarinet (2003-04). However, shortly after getting started with my Sonorities VII I kept hearing the swinging sounds of a jazz clarinet backed up by a jazz drum set. Part of the reason I kept hearing these sounds is that I grew up listening to the big swing bands of such clarinet leaders as Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw, Woody Herman, and Jimmy Dorsey. These musicians were my first exposure to the clarinet. So I decided to first compose a piece for clarinet with a jazz quality and a swinging partly ad lib part for the drums and to put my solo clarinet piece for Esther on hold for a year. There was also a personal reason to use the drums in the piece. My first ambition in music was to be a jazz drummer and indeed I studied drums with a jazz drummer and played drums professionally in dance bands for several years. Ms. Lamneck's part in this piece is almost entiirely written out except for a few measures of improvisation around the middle of the piece. The jazz quality of her part comes mostly in the prasing and using bluesy like pitch bends, slides, and microtones. The jazz quality of the drum set part is in the swinging beat that is used throughout most of the piece. The influence of the famous recording of Sing Sing Sing, with a swing by Benny Goodman & his orchestra in 1937 featuring Gene Krupa on drums is heard in the middle section when the drummer switches to a beat on the floor tom and high tom for several measures. Also, the Afro Cuban section toward the end of the piece was influenced by the many recordings of Stan Kenton & his orchestra particularly the 1950 Pete Rugolo arrangement of Cole Porter's Love for Sale. In the drum solo of the Afro Cuban section which is near the end can use optional claves and/or maracas (1-2 additional players). At the premiere the composer joined in this section on maracas. The drum set calls for a bass drum, floor tom, snare drum, high tom, ride cymbal, sizzle cymbal, and hi-hat. --Patrick Hardish.