BB 14: Trombone Sonata Single

"Hymn (for Roswell Rudd)"

There is now a scrolling-score video for the slow movement of the Trombone Sonata, “Hymn (for Roswell Rudd).” Mike Lormand plays trombone. This single is also on all platforms.

Playfair Sonatas (Urlicht Records), out on November 15, is a set of six sonatas for violin, clarinet, marimba, alto saxophone, trumpet and trombone commissioned by Piers Playfair and 23Arts Initiative. The sonatas intertwine 21st-century jazz gestures with the formal structures of Beethoven, Mozart, and Haydn.

(If you want to support this project, pre-ordering the 2-CD set is the best thing to do. Apparently Amazon has already placed a second order of physical product with Urlicht. That’s hard for me to believe, and is probably due to the cover art by Roz Chast.)

I love all the jazz trombonists but have a special affection for Roswell Rudd. In addition to being a wonderful player, Rudd practiced ethnomusicology, assisted Alan Lomax, and wrote the definitive essay on his friend Herbie Nichols, the pianist who may have done the most of anyone in the 1950s to combine classical and jazz tropes.

This "Hymn" is microtonal. Quarter tones are notated, but exact quarter tones are less fun than the spaces in between. The trombonist gets to tune the melodies however they think best.

(The previous single is “Music Hall (for Carla Bley)” and also has a scrolling score video.)

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Tonight I start at Birdland Theater with Peter Washington and Peter Erskine. Two sets a night, 7:00 and 9:30. The early sets are basically sold out but there is room in the 9:30 sets. We play through Sunday.

I “wrote” a song about the gig for my socials, “Peter and Peter.”

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Next week I’m playing trio in the Midwest with Simón Willson and Vinnie Sperrazza.

10/30 Constellation, Chicago
10/31 Caffè Vivace, Cincinnati (we will play the theme from Halloween)
11/1 Bop Stop, Cleveland
11/8 Noce Jazz & Cabaret, Des Moines

On 11/2 and 11/3, Simón, Vinnie, and I are part of Mark Morris’s epic celebration of Burt Bacharach, The Look of Love, in Detroit at the Detroit Opera Theater.

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Enjoyed Awadagin Pratt and Simone Dinnerstein in duo (Mozart and Beethoven) last night at Miller Theater. Mr. Pratt wore an Ornette Coleman T-shirt.