Here are some examples of pieces I have written / arranged / transcribed.
Here's my arrangement of Cole Porter's "So in Love" for jazz orchestra. This chart features two competing unrelated key centers, a trumpet section split into three trumpets and two flugelhorns, and some counterpoint which reassembles the tune's themes in interesting ways. I am playing all of the trumpet / flugelhorn parts and all of the saxophone parts except the tenor solo. This chart is intended for a pro band, and is a good example of an arrangement that really mixes up the original - notice I've even adjusted the harmony a little, ending the phrases with deceptive instead of authentic cadences.
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This is Dodge City High School's 2016 marching show, combining music from The Polar Express and How the Grinch Stole Christmas. The director gave me the concept and running order and I wrote the horn parts. Some creative stuff in this show - combining the themes of "Believe" and "Christmas, Why Can't I Find You?" a few times, a nice train whistle effect, the final low brass blast altered to quote "The Polar Express", and another Christmas quote or two hidden away. I was specifically asked to make sure different sections got featured, since a common judges' complaint about their earlier shows was that everyone was playing all the time. As an example of how I might work with a client to polish a product, at his request I edited about 32 bars out of "The Polar Express" when the show seemed too long and also reworked the instrumentation in the first few bars of the slow tune when the original setting wasn't quite loud enough.
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This is my arrangement for jazz orchestra of Sonny Stitt's "Eternal Triangle", a bebop tune based on a version of rhythm changes. This was written to feature alto and tenor sax solos, and for a jazz orchestra augmented with two F horns. I did rearrange it later with a more standard instrumentation so it could be used by any big band, but decided to record the version with the huge brass section. The shout is mostly made up of quotes from the solos on the Sonny Side Up recording. I am performing all of the trumpet parts and the non-solo sax parts (alto 2, tenor 2, baritone). This is a college/professional level chart.
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This is an original piece I wrote on commission for a high school jazz band. The 1st trumpet and trombone parts are a little higher than I would normally write for a group at that level, but this is the advantage of knowing who you writing for! I was able to visit the band several times, and knew those players were strong and could handle the part. This is a quickly made home demo of only bass and horn section, intended to give the young players an idea of how to play the shuffle style. I tried to keep the piece technically within the reach of all the players, many of whom were in 9th grade, but without the usual weak, everyone-doubled-with-everyone-else voicings too many charts for young bands use.
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Here's a transcription I did on the horn parts, including the insane horn section feature, of the Cherry Poppin Daddies' "Drunk Daddy". The trills, half-valves, falls, growling, plunger work, and sax altissimo are all effects that are simple to transcribe and understand when you play the instruments... and not very comprehensible if you don't. I am performing all three horn parts - trumpet, alto sax, tenor sax. The trumpet part's not as difficult as it sounds as long as you can get up to high F a few times. But those sax parts... working those up took me some time!
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"Cooking at the Continental" is a bebop tune over 12-bar blues written by Horace Silver. This is my arrangement for jazz orchestra, in which I get a lot of mileage out of a short, simple tune! I am playing all five trumpet parts and baritone sax. This is another professional chart, and pretty tough. Check out the section around 3:23 where I turn fragments of the tune into a counterpoint exercise.
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This is a fight song I composed for a college with a western-themed mascot. My assignment was to compose a Western movie theme under 40 seconds long! This recording features me playing some parts and an assortment of my students helping out. Thanks especially to Victoria Connolly for some fine piccolo work! I know little about Western movies, so I sat down at the piano and played along with a dozen or so of the most famous Western movie themes, figuring out the characteristic melodies and harmonies for the genre. I think the chord progression of the second half is swiped directly from two different Western scores who happened to use the same harmony!
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A strange adaptation of Gentle Giant's "The Face" for winds alone. Features solos by clarinet and the rarely-heard alto trumpet.
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Here's an original for jazz orchestra titled "I-71 North". It's a calm, serene rock tune with an AAB form. For variety, the two A sections have the same melody but not the same harmony. This is meant to be a college level chart.
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