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I have to date written well over 100 songs in various styles, some arranged for a particular instrumentation, and some in lead sheet form for interpretation by LDG or other jazz ensembles. It came as a surprise to me that I could write music since I grew up with the notion that all composers were German, Russian or French, male, and dead for at least 100 years. One of my earlier attempts – a commission of sorts – was writing music for a friend’s walk down the wedding aisle. I wrote an optimistic little number….. in 7/4….. it remains unpublished…. My music tends towards melody and rich harmony. Among my works can be found several waltzes (vale Bill Evans), and numerous latin/straight 8 numbers due to my immersion in Afro-Cuban and Dominican music in my Montreal days. Grooves include salsa, boogaloo, cha-cha-cha, merengue, bachata, bolero, samba, bossa, tango, and of course swing and bop. Recent projects include writing both songs and lyrics in both English and Spanish for projects with Ingrid James and Hot Mambo. They also include expanding my writing practice to include works for non-jazz ensembles such as the Griffith Trio (Two or Three Boleros, 2007) and the Southern Cross Soloists (one of 23 composers involved in setting poems from Smoke Encrypted Whispers by Simon Wagan Watson, Nov. 2008). |
