MUSICS

SUBCRIPTION
SUB. BY: MICHAELA LYNETTE
RUAZA.
SUB. TO: SIR. JANIWARD
ESPORMA.
The Crossing
A slow ballad with descending lines falling from different melody notes. Each
line’s initial note has a captivating lift, followed by a gentle fall onto a
syncopation. The bridge does not contrast with the opening section but rather
continues the same idea underpinned by a long descending bass line and rich
harmonies. This atmospheric composition’s title is based on a possibly
autobiographical poem by Langston Hughes of the same name. “The Crossing”
is probably my deepest tune emotionally.
Clear Sailing
A strong tune perfect for tenor saxophone with a call-and-response opening
featuring the piano, bass, and drums playing ascending chords answering the
saxophone’s sturdy melodic fragments that neither rise nor fall. The entirety of
these call-and-response sections alternate with swing sections with walking
bass lines under modern, progressive jazz harmonies; each swing section
begins with a surprise first chord. The ending has the saxophone finally playing
a line with more direction, rising in a long phrase starting from the lowest
region of the instrument to its topmost notes.
Floating
Floating is a bossa nova tune in the rich key of F-sharp major, with
accompanimental chords of stacked fourths. The middle section is somewhat
reminiscent of the style of Stevie Wonder. This tune has been well-received by
audiences. I suppose you could say it’s “comfort food.”
Pirouette
A medium-slow 3/4 tune for flute, with an interesting bass line that begins each
phrase on a high C and gradually descends stepwise almost to, but not quite, to
a low C—at the last possible moment, it suddenly bends back upwards to the
high C and starts another descent. The middle section features smooth
modulations to other keys and then back to the home key. The descending bass
line finally resolves to the low C only at the final phrase of the final chorus.
At Sea
A stylish swinging tune in C minor (the title is a pun), somewhat in the style of
Benny Golson tunes such as “Whisper Not.” The middle section voyages
harmonically away from the home key a little, but the waves never get very
high. The final section has some nice syncopated hits and quiet surprises in the
harmonic rhythm.
Burana Bop
Balkan rhythms are featured in this tune based partially on several phrases from
Carl Orff’s “Carmina Burana.” This is a good tune for soloists to “stretch out”
on with extended, climactic choruses. To enrich the arrangement, I wrote an
episode with some modern harmonic changes and unison hits for the band.
Samba Switch
An intriguing tune in which succeeding sections switch from a walking bass
line in 3/4 time to a samba in 4/4 time. The charm of the song is in the
moments where each new bass groove is established—the switches of the title
are interesting sensations.
Street Strut
A jazz-funk number based on a twenty-year old memory of African-American
life on the sidewalks of Washington, D.C. The melody sounds good with either
tenor saxophone or trombone. It’s in the dark key of E-flat minor (six flats),
which helps give the tune its stylish attitude.
Sky And Earth
A recent tune with a lyrical melody (perhaps my finest) with a lot of stepwise
motion, which contrasts with a middle section in bossa nova style with
interesting melodic leaps and bittersweet, expressive notes. The melody could
be done by chromatic harmonica or could be turned into a vocal number with a
singer with a large range.
Bela’s Bounce
An uptempo tune influenced by Hungarian and folk musics from that region of
the world, with a first section in 5/8 and 6/8 time signatures and a second
section in 2/4 time. I hear a string sound, with fast plucking string instruments
such as mandolin, guitar, and bass.
Bumpy Road
This tune depicts the experience of a country bicycle ride. Unusual, changing
time signatures and jazzy syncopated accents represent both the unevenness of
the road itself and the gently jerky feeling as the cyclist shifts gears up or down.
The music develops in a story-telling fashion, with interesting episodes here
and there indicating novel sights that appear suddenly after a bend in the road.
Somewhere in the middle of the journey the road gets decidedly rougher, the
pavement a bit iffier, as the rider gets further out into the country. The return of
the opening musical material at the close of the tune is meant to portray the end
of the trip, the sensation of the cyclist gradually returning to familiar roads and
eventually back home; in the final measures the bicycle gracefully decelerates
and the rider dismounts.
Medium Message
The main section of this tune has a relaxed, contemporary jazz sound featuring
a loping bass line and a cyclic pattern that adds up to 11 beats. The middle
section picks up the tempo slightly and has more harmonic motion and flow to
contrast with the suspended feel of the opening. The word “medium” in the title
was intended to convey both the meaning of a mystical séance event as well as
a neutrality that is beyond good or bad.
Migratory Mood
There is an element of bird flight here; the melody aims to have a soaring,
weightless feeling and the gentle syncopated bass riff becomes at the end of the
tune a likeness of the birds settling down back on the earth. Naturally, the title
can also be thought of figuratively, that is, of an urge to migrate or make a
change in your life.

jazz arrangements by Michael Arnowitt of classical compositions and folk

songs
Beauty and the Beast
Based on Waltz from Mother Goose Suite by Maurice Ravel, the “beauty”
opening section is a graceful jazz waltz, contrasting with a spikier, more
piquant middle section with a low solo for the “beast.” Ravel’s conception
features a pleasing melody in Lydian mode, a scale favored by jazz musicians
(a major scale with a sharpened fourth degree).
Boppi’n’ With Brahms
A multi-section arrangement based on the passacaglia theme from the finale to
Symphony no. 4 by Johannes Brahms. The arrangement features several key
sections of the symphony movement, including a flute solo transformed into a
Bach-like fugue, played in the style of the Modern Jazz Quartet.
Call It Macaroni
A modernistic hip take on the old song “Yankee Doodle.” The different phrases
of the melody are given a bebop home by being separated into 2-bar fragments,
treated with light syncopations, and separated by bass fills of unusual lengths.
The final phrase “and called it macaroni” is shifted to the bass and provides the
launching point for some 3 and 4-bar vamps.
No More Songs
A slow ballad based on a song by the famous folksinger Phil Ochs, who
committed suicide in the 1970’s. One feature of the arrangement are vamps
consisting of alternations of two advanced and unusual jazz chords; these
vamps enter on the next-to-last measure of the form and add exotic, other-
worldly colors to the feel of the tune. A different vamp was written by me for
each solo chorus, creating a sense of journey as a performance of the tune
progresses.
Rhapsody in Blues
A three-part suite: Blues on a Train, Romance, and Calypso, based on melodies
from George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue. For rhythm section plus saxophone
and trombone.
Birthday Samba
A humorous take on the Happy Birthday song, with the “happy birthday” and
“to you” parts of the main line separated into two instruments doing a call-and-
response. The principal section creates humor through chopping off the final
bars of the standard eight-bar phrases. The bridge is a jubilant interlude of pure
samba leading up to the high note of the happy birthday theme reprised in the
final section.

tunes by John McKenna

(a tenor saxophonist who frequently appears with Michael Arnowitt in concert)
The Solar Side
A propulsive, energetic tune with a spiraling, twisting melodic idea. The main
interval of the opening melody, a fourth, is imaginatively transformed in the
bridge section to create a quieter moment of calm before the whirlwind begins
again.
Motionville
A swinging tune with a wonderful driving bass feel and flowing harmonies that
move effortlessly from key to key, gently pushing the music forward.
Lake Morey Roundabout
A tune with two very original sections that alternate. The first is in 4/4 (but in
3-bar phrases rather than the usual 4-bar ones), while the second section is in a
3/4 jazz waltz style. The two halves of the tune perfectly complement each
other; they are completely different yet fit well together. The origin of the title
is a place in Vermont where children play.
Northern Portrait
A medium-slow Latin tune in minor, with a gently rocking, caressing beat and
a well-crafted, Coltrane-like ending.