New charts!
Summer is always a good time for me to catch up on things. Here are some new, (as yet*) unpublished charts you might want to check out for the 26-27 school year.
WE/US/OURS
I was fortunate to have the opportunity to do two charts for outstanding high school jazz ensembles. Mark Capalbo from Upland High School asked me to write something featuring a couple of their strong soloists (and gave me a TON of freedom otherwise… thanks, Mark!) It’s an excellent band, and I had a great time creating We/Us/Ours for them. It was the closer for their festival set this past spring. Here a link to that performance (We/Us/Ours starts at 13:30.)
NATURE BOY
And, a shout-out to Clovis High School, directed by Evan Hamada, on your wonderful premiere performance of my new chart on Nature Boy. CHS always has great vocalists participating in the jazz program. And, I love the song Nature Boy. And, I love both the Kurt Elling and Gail Pettis versions. AND, I always wanted to crank up the harmonic tension in this somehow. You can check out a sample of Nature Boy below.
TEA FOR TWO
I have new music for developing bands, too. Check out my latest chart from Alfred Music, “Tea For Two.” It’s NOT your grandparents’ version of this classic. My version is a driving cha-cha, with great groove and some unexpected harmonic twists. This one’s a winner, but don’t take my word for it. It’s a JW Pepper Editors’ Choice selection! Here’s a link where you can hear a demo and see the score. And yes, purchase it too. 🙂 Grade 2.5, easy brass ranges, notated rhythm section parts, written solos. You’ll be a hero with this one!
IS SO! IS NOT!!
As part of the long-running San Joaquin Jazz Festival, festival director Barb Shinaver commissions a chart from me that is given to all participating directors as a perk (perc? perq?) for being a part of the festival. Fantastic idea, IMHO. 🙂 This time around I created “Is so! IS NOT!” )If you have 2 our more young kids, you’ll know.) Demo recording will be up in the fall, but let me know if you need more info before then. Grade 2.3 – 3ish. BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE! I also did a flex version, for rhythm section plus four of darned near any other instruments. You have flute, 2 clarinets, bassoon, one trumpet, and a baritone? Maybe a horn player or violist? A mime?Juggler? This chart WILL WORK! “)
PS: Congrats, Barb, on your new position as Director of Bands at Modesto Junior College!
*The charts above will be available soon. Please reach out if you are interested, and I can give you more details.
CARVIN’ THE PUNKIN’ (the perfect Halloween chart!)
Lastly, I want to plug a chart I did quite a while ago. Carvin’ The Punkin’ is THE ABSOLUTE PERFECT chart for your band’s fall (pre-Halloween) concert. If Gene Krupa and Benny Goodman were in a metal band, they’d play this. And if you have a guitar player who’s a rocker at heart, and if said guitar player has a distortion pedal (they always do), you can let that guitarist go nuts in the middle part of this one (at about 3:08 in the clip here is the spot.) This chart is widely available, from your favorite retailers.
(I even did this one with my college band once, for fun. Students in masks and costumes, the whole bit. We had a blast, and the audience lost their minds!)
Thanks for checking out this page!