Swagger - New Piece for Jazz Ensemble

Here's a rough draft of a new piece, called "Swagger," that I wrote for the local high school jazz ensemble. The students are still timid about improvising, so I wrote in parts for the solos and accompaniment that they can use as launches. The cues "As written, optional" and "As written, or similar" seem a little cumbersome, so if anyone has suggestions of ways to word them better I'd like to hear them.

This is my third piece for jazz ensemble. The first, "Division Street Shuffle" had a 30s or 40s big band feel. "Bittersuite," my 2nd piece, had more of a 50s or 60s West Coast style. To my ear, this new piece has a mid-to-late 70s feel. At this rate, I'll be entering the 21st century sometime within the next 4-5 songs.

I've attached the PDF. Here's a link to the MP3:

http://www2.potsdam.edu/simonega/Library/Swagger_6-9-09.mp3

I appreciate your comments and suggestions.

Swagger_8-10-09_print.pdf

this is a really nice piece. You're right, it does have a 70's-ish feel. I think some of that has to do with your crazy piano part (in a good way). Much of the piece seems like a piano feature. The only thing (and maybe I'm not listening hard enough) that I couldn't really find was a distinctive "melody." The music is good, but I seem to struggle when trying to find the direction of the song.

The only part I really dont like is the very very very very end. I think that the end should be the last held (dissonant) chord, instead of the nice clean ending. That way,your timid little trumpets can take some notes up if they please. That always impresses the audience. even if it's not that high, just the fact that they come in a beat late with something on top of everyone else always surprises the listener and usually impresses them. :-)

Thanks for writing. I think you're right; except for the coda, there is not a single coherent melodic line, just different brief phrases. This is unusual for me, and I'm not sure how I feel about it--it's just what came out once I started writing--but I think it's might be a result of trying to establish a deliberate funk groove, wanting to focus attention on the rhythm section over the horns.

I may play around with the ending a bit, try your suggestion, and see what I can come up with.

I love jazz for it's subtle complexity.

I love your piece for it's jazzy feel.

5/5 stars.

Keep it up!

Thank you, fortissimo.