Big Ugly Blues

Outstanding!!!!!

Hot tempo. Love the ugly writing as far as the harmony goes. The recording is really cool too. Love the stop time tenor solo. The quarter notes are great. I appreciate the variety in the solo sections. Ooops got to go. More comments later.

Love the stop time tenor solo. The quarter notes are great. I appreciate the variety in the solo sections....

...I like changing the solo sections up, keeps the listener invested. Especially with a blues, where there's little harmonic material to work with, repeating the same backgrounds gets tiresome and focuses more responsibility on the soloist...

Thanks for checking it out!

Hey Robin, do you still have an mp3 of that? Maybe it's just the link got outdated..eep, I should have listened earlier!

lol, I'm having bad luck with your links over the last day :ermm: bad coincidence, hehe.

edit: actually I just noticed that it was file lodge hosting it, I use them sometimes too and they're erratic. I'll try again tomorrow to see if they've got their service up and running again. then I shall make useful commentary :laugh:

Hey Robin, do you still have an mp3 of that? Maybe it's just the link got outdated..eep, I should have listened earlier!

lol, I'm having bad luck with your links over the last day :huh: bad coincidence, hehe.

edit: actually I just noticed that it was file lodge hosting it, I use them sometimes too and they're erratic. I'll try again tomorrow to see if they've got their service up and running again. then I shall make useful commentary :ermm:

Filelodge....yeah - I probably followed you there. :laugh:

Anyway...it's also available here.

*double checks that the link actually works...*

Eek, thanks! I figured that out right before I read your reply by following the link in your signature from the previous reply of yours that I was reading, to your web site..! ha. Then I figured you probably mentioned that here. So here I am again.

I have zero training in jazz other than hearing it and liking it a lot, so. I know nothing as far as terminology, I'll just give my impressions.

so anyway..

It was fast, it was dirty, it was ugly, I LOVED it!!

Written over two days? wow. And the recording is excellent! Man, that must have been fun to perform!

A bit of performance sketchyness, but what can you so with 1hour rehearsal. Anyway, this'll give you some idea of what I do...hope you enjoy.

one hour rehearsal. :laugh: I don't know how jazz people do it, hehe...that's wild. Mad.

Heh, if this is what you do, I hope you do it a lot and post it all here.

I tried to follow the score, hahaha...that was a learning experience for me. I haven't seen these types of scores a lot so it was pretty neat to see how one would write out something like that to give to the performers. I've never really had much experience with it before. I should try to learn more about writing for jazz ensembles...it seems pretty fun.

So that's all.

It was fast, it was dirty, it was ugly, I LOVED it!![/b]

:P Thank-you! I'm really glad you liked it.

Written over two days? wow. And the recording is excellent! [/b]

Yeah - two days. I was amazed, mostly because it was the first thing I'd written in over a year. :D

Major case of writer's block...I was so stuck in a particular piece that I totally bogged down everything. SO, I abandoned the troublesome chart, totally recalibrated my musical manifesto, and here we are. Also, being in the environment of the Banff Centre for the Arts with some stellar young musicians didn't hurt either...

Thanks again for checking it out!

It was fast, it was dirty, it was ugly, I LOVED it!!

I totally agree with giselle!

Loved the theme, simple and functional blues chord progression. The performance could be better, indeed - it sounds like some improvisations could work better!

Yikes, I can't stop humming the theme! :laugh:

Rock on!

Wow...this is a blast from the past.

Thanks! I'm glad you liked it.

...

I've since re-worked the score into half-time - for ease of reading, and so each chorus doesn't take 4 pages.

...

Wow...this is a blast from the past.

I was just late to join the forums. :huh: Listened to some other stuff from your webpage! Very-very nice! Good work! :laugh:

i too am late to join these forums, but i also thought this was really great.

i too am late to join these forums, but i also thought this was really great.

You betcha. I found myself humming the tune, this morning, while I was walking to work. Too catchy! :thumbsup:

I love your composition; it's amazing and the tempo and rhythm is awesome! I play the tenor sax and the tenor sax solo was phenomenal! Nice piece! :)

Wow, I was blown away man kudos.

I love your composition; it's amazing and the tempo and rhythm is awesome! I play the tenor sax and the tenor sax solo was phenomenal! Nice piece! :)

Thanks - Bunny is a great player, but I wanted a bit more fury and rage (as notated in the score :D ).

Wow, I was blown away man kudos.

Thanks guys, glad you liked it!

...

Oh my god! This is... This is Mingus reincarnated! :D

It's just the spirit of him! Do you still have the score (finale file)?

I'd love to introduce this to my band :blink:

You sir have gained a new fan! :thumbsup:

Oh my god! This is... This is Mingus reincarnated! :w00t:

It's just the spirit of him! Do you still have the score (finale file)?

I'd love to introduce this to my band :toothygrin:

You sir have gained a new fan! :thumbsup:

Franzy, Thank-you for the kind words - glad you dig it!

Currently, the score is being re-worked; score/parts should be available soon...if you want to play it, I'd have to sell it to ya ;) though I'm planning on having excerpts available to view online...

...

Wow, this really really good. The name is absolutely perfect. Well done, It's catchy, it's bluesy, and ity's ugly (in a good way!). Great Job.

Wow, this really really good. The name is absolutely perfect. Well done, It's catchy, it's bluesy, and ity's ugly (in a good way!). Great Job.

:P

Thanks a lot! Glad you liked it.

You asked me a question in another thread so I had to do a background check on you. I am impressed. Those who can not use the logical half of their brain would never understand this. The structure is readily apparent to me (after all, I am a Math major) and I enjoyed this quite a bit, as did my neice listening beside me. Gotta love the blues...

Keep it up.

You asked me a question in another thread so I had to do a background check on you. I am impressed. Those who can not use the logical half of their brain would never understand this. The structure is readily apparent to me (after all, I am a Math major) and I enjoyed this quite a bit, as did my neice listening beside me. Gotta love the blues...

Keep it up.

:) Glad the background check came back clean!

Also, glad you dig the tune! I know I certainly didn't approach it with a logical mindset, but (subconsciously) form and structure are HUGELY important to me.

Thanks for the kind words!

:D

Hey Robin!

WHERE IS THE SCORE, HUH? :ermm:

Ok!

I see the first part is rather free... with "loops" playing (not real loops, but lots of repeatitions). Rhythm and orcehstration rock seriously! Solo changes tonality! YAYAY! you're my man now!

Impressed I am

So much I that need write to this like!

Me not yoda. Yoda is an arse! Me is better! This music altered my state of mind!

And NO! it's not ugly!

And NO! it's not ugly!

Of course it is, that is the very essence of the tune and what makes it good. :cool:

WHERE IS THE SCORE, HUH? :cool:

Ok!

I see the first part is rather free... with "loops" playing (not real loops, but lots of repeatitions). Rhythm and orcehstration rock seriously! Solo changes tonality! YAYAY! you're my man now!

Impressed I am

...

And NO! it's not ugly!

Glad you liked it! Score is currently being reworked for readability: for some reason I wrote it in 4/4, very up-tempo - each page of the score was, like 4 seconds worth of music, and had people tapping their toes like crazy - too fast. So, I've cut it all in half with double-time feel...much better now! May post the score eventually...

...I practically stole all the arranging concepts from Mingus: the simple melody, ad-lib cacophony underneath, stop time solo, cut time stuff, backgrounds...was going for that dirty, urban feel Mingus captures so well...

(not sure where you hear the solos changing tonality...it stays in C the whole time :P)

Aaaaand, if you didn't think it ugly, we didn't try hard enough! Will be much uglier for you, next time!

Great head, man! I love how everything emerges from it when it enters and reenters at the end. I can sense some satire, perhaps against the redundancies of teaching blues scales in jazz - the instruments come in and sort of noodle around with them (I hear a clear bebop scale descending in a sax part). Nice job!

Great head, man! I love how everything emerges from it when it enters and reenters at the end. I can sense some satire, perhaps against the redundancies of teaching blues scales in jazz - the instruments come in and sort of noodle around with them (I hear a clear bebop scale descending in a sax part). Nice job!

Thanks for listening... Most of the stuff at the beginning was improvised, working with a Mingus-ish approach to collective improv working with composed parts...as part of the arrangement. ;)

:thumbsup: