“When You Are Old” / Music for Brass & Percussion

Description

Jazz On 3 for BBC Radio 3 commissioned me to compose a suite of music “for brass and percussion” in late 2000. I set to work and came up with 11 pieces for brass (3 trumpets, 3 French horns, trombone, tuba), rhythm section, percussion plus one woodwind soloist. The premiere date was May 25, 2001, and the ensemble was conducted by Mike Gibbs. Soloists included Kenny Wheeler, John Taylor, Michael Formanek and Marty Ehrlich! The master multitrack tapes were discovered recently, and I had all of the music remixed and mastered to my total satisfaction by Aaron Walk!

The players are: John Barclay (1st Trpt.), Richard Iles (2nd Trpt.), Kenny Wheeler (solo trumpet & flugelhorn); Pip Eastop , Richard Berry & Martin Owen, French horns; Liam Kirkman, trb; Owen Slade, tuba; Colin Currie, percussion; John Taylor, piano; Michael Formanek, bass; Peter Erskine, drums; and Marty Ehrlich, reeds.

The great British brass band tradition of excellence shines, as does the improvisatory genius of Kenny, JT, Marty and Michael.

The music is available by individual song file, or as a suite. An added bonus is a trio improvisation of Marty, Michael & myself (“Relativity”). Download the entire concert for $7.99.

Also available are the scores and parts for each of the 11 movements of “Music for Brass & Percussion.”

Many thanks to all of the musicians, and the following:

Peter Erskine

“When You Are Old” is dedicated to The Hilliard Ensemble, for whom I first wrote the piece at a workshop in Germany. The piece gets its title from the poem by Yeats.