Please check this out -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZaMcYJbqA6s&feature=g-upl&context=G283ab06AUAAAAAAAEAA It's Keith Calmes (classical & jazz guitarist in NJ) performing my piece Cloud Dance at a concert in NYC.
Cloud Dance was composed in 1993, along with several other pieces, for a concert to benefit the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. After that performance, the music gathered dust for 18 years (I completely forgot about it) until it was discovered in August, 2011 by George Spicka, a composer friend in Baltimore. After George's discovery, I found my original copy of the music and made some minor revisions. Keith Calmes used the new version of the music in a performance at the Nicholas Roerich Museum in New York City on December 18, 2011.
The piece was inspired by a day in which thick, low clouds driven by high winds seemed to perform a ballet. The music unfolds through shifting moods, textures, and movement. Except for a brief restatement toward the end of the opening phrases, the piece is largely through-composed and does not use conventional compositional forms.
This piece is fairly short. I think of it as like cloud patterns that come into our vision and then are quickly gone. However, when it's performed with a jazz group it will be extended with solos.
A performer has a considerable amount of freedom to adapt this music to his own vision and personal style. Ideally, each performance will be a unique creation.
Sheet music for this piece is available at the American Music Center. http://www.amc.net/library/composition.aspx?CompositionID=349815
At the AMC page, click on the PDF icon.
Cloud Dance was composed in 1993, along with several other pieces, for a concert to benefit the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. After that performance, the music gathered dust for 18 years (I completely forgot about it) until it was discovered in August, 2011 by George Spicka, a composer friend in Baltimore. After George's discovery, I found my original copy of the music and made some minor revisions. Keith Calmes used the new version of the music in a performance at the Nicholas Roerich Museum in New York City on December 18, 2011.
The piece was inspired by a day in which thick, low clouds driven by high winds seemed to perform a ballet. The music unfolds through shifting moods, textures, and movement. Except for a brief restatement toward the end of the opening phrases, the piece is largely through-composed and does not use conventional compositional forms.
This piece is fairly short. I think of it as like cloud patterns that come into our vision and then are quickly gone. However, when it's performed with a jazz group it will be extended with solos.
A performer has a considerable amount of freedom to adapt this music to his own vision and personal style. Ideally, each performance will be a unique creation.
Sheet music for this piece is available at the American Music Center. http://www.amc.net/library/composition.aspx?CompositionID=349815
At the AMC page, click on the PDF icon.