New recordings of my tunes

Roger Aldridge

Roger Aldridge

Composer in Residence
Distinguished Member
WW Forum Buddies,

Seven new recordings have been added to my online music sites. They can be heard at Fiddle Hangout, American Music Center, or Facebook. I've also starting using Soundcloud. A quartet is used with violin, keyboard, guitar, and bass. Sorry, no sax this time!

The tunes are:

Carla Sings Us a Lullaby -- Bossa Nova dedicated to Carla Bley.

Rainy Afternoon -- Ballad with some Ellington-Strayhorn touches. This recording has the tune at a slightly faster tempo. With the violin playing the lead, it has kind of a Hot Club of France vibe going.

New Tango No 2: Mystery, New Tango No 3: Attraction, New Tango No. 4: Longing, and Uxmal at Midnight -- a series of tangos.

Farmhouse at Sunset \ Evening Rain -- A really unusual piece. It starts as a gentle waltz and turns into a jazz slip jig (Celtic fiddle music in 9/8).
 
Hey Jim, It's on my radar. But, here's what I'm thinking about..... Personally, I see no point in writing something for big band that sounds like it's already been done. If I take the time & effort to write a big band chart, I need to follow my intuition and see where it leads me. Chances are good that it's not going to be the kind of big band music that local bands would want to play. Most of them only play old music. So, in large measure, that's kept me from doing big band writing. Instead, I've focused on writing small group things in different kinds of configurations: some with drums, some without drums, sax, no sax, etc.

Any thoughts about that?

Roger
 
There is some new ideas out there and that said by a fellow who mainlines Basie. :cool:

My comtempory Big Band chart arranger and hero is Gordon Goodwin. He has complex and wickedly hard stuff that sounds crazy good to me. Take "Huntin' Wabbits II, a bad hare day" for the sax quartet in a big band sound. Or "Too Close For Comfort" for a vocal with some astoundingly difficult soli's that rock the house.
 
I'm a big fan of Gordon's work too. Very creative guy and a great band.

Here's a thought....

As you have some time, please listen to all of my tunes and see if you can find one that you'd like to have arranged for a conventional big band. This is something that can be done over time and it's not necessary to listen to complete recordings...just to the tune itself. If you find something, I'll start to think about what I might do with it in a big band setting. That sound okay?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom