Here is my annual rundown of things I managed to give more than a cursory listen to in this year of electronic etudes, Creole celebrations, and conspirator campaigning.
Read More2023, In Times New Roman
NEW BANDCAMP RELEASE ANNOUNCEMENT: MOOD SWINGS!, A NEW 2-TRACK SINGLE
Mood SWINGS! is now available on Bandcamp for $1.99. It contains the tracks Mood SWINGS! and Noir (Amperage Mix).
Read MoreNew Bandcamp release announcement: Twilightime, a new 2-track single
Twilightime is now available on Bandcamp for $1.99.
Read MoreNew POS Option for Pecan Valley Music Digital Sheet Music
I am happy to announce that there is a new point of sale option for purchasing PDF downloads of my compositions.
Read More2022, Closure/Continuation
Here is my annual rundown of things I managed to give more than a cursory listen to in this year of legal disasters, tentative traveling, and economic tensions.
Read MoreNew Bandcamp release announcement: Thermals (Collected Demos 2020-2022)
Thermals collects remastered composition demos from just before the pandemic, leading into the 2020 American Presidential election, through the summer of 2022 and the US Supreme Court's Dobbs v. Jackson decision. This group of pieces represents an attempt on my part to make sense of the world, nothing else. Following the completion of my brass quintet in the fall of 2022, my focus began to shift away from writing about current events. Please share. Thanks…more to come.
Clean Blue Sky, Revised Version
The revised version of Clean Blue Sky is now available. I have rescored the brass so that there are now two Horn parts instead of four and I have removed the 3rd Trombone part. I have added a 2nd Flute part and adjusted some of the ranges throughout the ensemble. There are also new percussion parts, including a four drum timpani part and a bell and crash cymbal part.
Discover The Night: The Backbone of Night Remastered
It’s International Dark Sky Week and to celebrate I’m looking back at my 2017 chamber symphony, The Backbone of Night. It is a piece about astrophilia and the loss of the night sky in our urban centers. The title is taken from a painting by Jon Lomberg. The work is in three sections. The first imagines a cityscape with its flashing neon lights and all of the hustle and bustle of modern life, but with a night sky devoid of stars due to ever-present skyglow. The second section imagines a trip to the outskirts of the city where skyglow is no longer a factor and the wonders of the night sky are clearly visible. The final section imagines a modern city that has figured out how to manage its light pollution without diminishing its sense of security or all of the activities that a modern society currently enjoys.
Earth Day 2022: Blue Remembered Earth Remastered
To celebrate Earth Day, I’m looking back at my 2018 symphony for wind ensemble, Blue Remembered Earth. Early drafts were floating around as far back as 2011. It was the need to bring closure to this work that prompted my going back to school for more education. I am grateful for the guidance provided by James Syler at UTSA. The insights he provided helped me organize this material into a much more cohesive package. I’ve written many things since then, but this remains the piece I am most proud of. I hope to get the chance to hear it performed someday.
Clean Blue Sky, First Listen
Clean Blue Sky is a three minute work for concert band. It is a modern take on classic ballads for winds such as Balladair by Frank Erickson. I wanted to write a piece for students that would represent musically the build up and removal of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. I settled on using additive chord tones (7ths, 9ths, 11ths, and 13ths) to create tension and to build up the thicker textures needed to represent the build up of atmospheric pollutants. The piece begins with a standard 3-pitch major chord in Bb Major and ends with the open, clean interval of a Perfect 5th (Bb/F). Another pedagogical goal of the piece was to develop rhythmic understanding of the dotted-quarter note. It is used in multiple ways throughout the piece by every instrument. Ranges are all within beginner to intermediate level with doubling throughout.
This audio is of the original orchestration. An updated version will be available May 2022.
2021, sketchy.
Here is my annual rundown of things I managed to give more than a cursory listen to in this year of inspiration, disillusionment, and improvisation. As always, this is NOT meant as my “Best of” list or anything other than an experiment in exhibitionism and voyeurism. I do it because I enjoy reading about what others are listening to and so I’d like to reciprocate. One thing I’ve noticed about my list this year is that is more detached from current pop music than in previous years. Part of that is a result of not feeling like attending any new festivals this year, some of it is seeking comfort in old friends, and some of it is a natural tendency to age out. I usually try very hard to avoid this, but I just didn’t have the heart this year for some reason. Maybe next year. As always, YMMV.
Here’s to realized campaign promises and renewed global cooperation.
In alphabetical order.
Aimee Mann, Queens of the Summer Hotel
Anna Thorvaldsdottir, Enigma
Asleep at the Wheel, Half a Hundred Years
Billy F Gibbons, Hardware
Ceramic Dog, Hope
ChVrches, Screen Violence: Director’s Cut
Dave Gahan & Soulsavers, Imposter
Deap Vally, Marriage
Deep Purple, Turning to Crime
Dennis DeYoung, 26 East, Vol. 2
Dropkick Murphys, Turn Up That Dial
Edie Brickell & New Bohemians, Hunter and the Dog Star
Explosions in the Sky, Big Bend
Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band, The Reset
Hammock, Elsewhere
Mogwai, As The Love Continues
Jean-Michel Jarre, Amazônia
José González, Local Valley
Olga Neuwirth, Solo
Pat Metheny, Side-Eye NYC (V1.IV)
Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, Raise the Roof
St. Vincent, The Nowhere Inn
Steve Cropper, Fire It Up
Styx, Crash of the Crown
Tangerine Dream, Probe 6-8 (2021)
Terence Blanchard, Absence
Terri Hendrix, Pilgrim’s Progress Project 5.5
The Joy Formidable, Into The Blue
Tune-Yards, sketchy.
Tyshawn Sorey, For George Lewis
Vikingur Ólafsson, Mozart & Contemporaries
Willie Nelson, That’s Life
Wynton Marsalis & JLCO, The Democracy! Suite
Yes, The Quest
Willow, Final Version
These are the completed lyrics to Willow, a soon to be released work for male voice choir (TTBB) and low brass quartet (tenor trombones, bass trombone, tuba)
I will bend to your will
and you will bend to mine
when the time comes
We will cherish the tapestry
that was woven on bended knees
when the water comes
There will be money to buy
all the food in the world
when the famine comes
We'll have seeds a-plenty
to plant all we need
when the drought comes
Clamorings for freedom
will prevent the cure
when the plague comes
Feeling your strength
mindlessly
bullying
chuckling
you fell by
the bit of the axe
thrust into me
with past's clarion call
Roots dug deep
wounded on bended needs
when the time came
Those in orbit around us
will sing hosannas eternal
when the darkness comes
2020, Open Exercises in Group Form
Here is my annual rundown of things I managed to give more than a cursory listen to in this year of distractions, experimentation, and performance art.
Read MoreIndigenous Peoples' Day: Eric Ewazen's Shadowcatcher: III. The Vanishing Race
For Indigenous Peoples’ Day 2020, a lookback at a performance from 2004 by our group of Dallas-area freelance performers/private instructors, Pistons, Rotors & Slides.
Read MoreDead Day
I released a new song on Bandcamp today.
Read More