About my pieces for Saxophone and other Woodwinds with Piano
Sheet music available from www.reedmusic.com and sheet music retailers.
MP3s soon to be available from iTunes. Listen to MP3 samples below.
- Lokked in (click here)
- Pieces published individually (click here)
- About the recordings of these pieces (click here)
Lokked In
A book of eight pieces for Alto Sax, Tenor Sax or clarinet, with Piano accompaniment.
Swing Thing
AMEB Grade 1 Clarinet
This piece began life as an easy saxophone quartet but translates well to sax and piano. Be sure to play the longs and shorts accurately as it really helps it swing. Accent beat 2 and 4 for the same reason. When there is a quaver on the second half of a beat followed by a rest, it should always be short (staccato as marked) it is good to imagine that there is a note on the following beat to help place the last quaver.
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Jewel in a Stone
Written for Julia, this is the most recently written of the tunes in Lokked in. Julia decided that she didn't feel like playing the C naturals that I had written so she played C sharps instead. I liked them so much that I changed the tune. There is much potential for some rubato and a very emotional performance of this piece. Some music turns out that way. Don't play it too slowly but don't hurry from one phrase to the next.
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Cathy's Dream
AMEB Grade 2. Alto and Tenor. List C AMEB saxophone book
Cathy had Chronic Fatigue syndrome at school and bravely fought through it. Her dream was to be healthy. I played this at her wedding recently where she seemed extremely well. The feel is Latin American influenced and the syncopations can be tricky. Very slow practice with the metronome, thinking in quavers and leaving the ties out can help gain an understanding of the rhythms. This is a good one to practise with the piano part slowly from the early stages of its preparation.
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A Lane in Wales
AMEB Grade 3. Alto and tenor. List C
In 1993, on a “round the world walkabout,” I visited my relatives in Wales and went on some long, solitary walks. This tune seems to capture the spirit of some of the lanes I walked along. I enjoy playing this tune and love the more classical feel of it. It suits a more classical sound and a softer dynamic. I love the sound of this piece at a slower tempo too. Be gentle but firm with it. Be aware of when the phrases are one, two or four bars long and be careful not to break it up too much.
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One Step at a Time
Named for Steph, to motivate her to practise. Well it didn't work for her but it is a really fun piece to play with elements of rock in the eighties and a touch of David Sanborn. Thanks Dave.
Dig hard into the groove, the accents and the staccatos to really make it rock. A brighter sound and a generally stronger dynamic will suit this piece. The metronome is your best friend on this one.
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A Good Time was Had by All
After a tour to Queensland with the school Stage Band, Yuki, a trombonist, asked me to write a piece for her VCE. I was honoured to do so and this was named as a celebration of the good time everyone had on the trip. It suits the saxophone just as well as the trombone and should be approached with a simple, not over-jazzy (or too cool) swing feel, emphasising the off-beat quavers and enjoying the fun in the music. The piano part really adds to the party so check it out as soon as you can.
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Duddles Chuckles
AMEB Grade 3. Alto and tenor. List C
I conceived this tune on the way home from a gig, named it after the unique laugh of one of my students, “Duddles” and arranged it for sax quartet before converting it to sax and piano. Play it with a bouncy swing feel in two, but emphasise (accent) the off-beats where quavers are slurred across the beat. There are some unusual staccatos which add to the character of the tune and make it less groovy or jazzy but more fun.
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Heritage
AMEB Grade 5. Alto and tenor. List C
I first took this tune (then un-named) to a gig at Bennetts Lane with unLokked (my jazz quartet) and subsequently recorded it on “A hot night in Burwood” released through Newmarket music. I consider it one of my best tunes. It has an obvious celtic influence but I know that Jan Garbarek and the Disney song, “Colours of the wind” were in the mix here too. This version is a simplified version of the original with far fewer ornaments than I would normally play but it still maintains its integrity and emotion. Play it with strength, commitment and honesty.
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Published individually
Mediterranean Blue
AMEB Grade 5. Tenor. List C Grade 7 Clarinet List C
I originally wrote this for Lisa to play as a solo flute piece, then gave it to some Tenor Sax students before adding the piano part, which I now really like the sound of and it does add considerably to the piece. It is named Mediterranean Blue because it seems to have Southern European influences but a touch of the Blues too. Therefore you can approach playing it, leaning in either direction, either a little jazzy or quite Classical, (vaguely Spanish). The rhythmic feel is challenging to pin down, being almost felt in one beat to the bar, but only once you reach a certain tempo. Finding places to breathe can also be a little challenging. Sorry. You may find yourself humming this one in your sleep as I have.
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Helter Skelter
AMEB Grade 6. Tenor. List D
Also available for Tenor sax solo with Big-band I wanted to write a difficult, complex tune (as I always seemed to end up writing simple melodies) and this is what resulted. Meredith was my first student to try it and she articulated it to suit how she played. I have adopted many of her articulations in this version. In certain circumstances I highly recommend improvising in the optional section. The biggest challenge, other than the technical difficulty, is to swap between the fusion feel with the appropriate intense sound and the jazz feel with a lighter sound, and then lead gradually back towards the fusion feel and sound towards the end. The accompanist should be sure not to slow down in the swing section. Even push ahead a little.
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Hoe Down
AMEB Grade 6. Alto. List D. Clarinet. List C
Also available for Alto sax solo with Big-band A jazz band with a violin solo, a sax quartet featuring Soprano Sax, a big band featuring violin or marimba have all performed “Hoe Down”. It does have a strong Funk element and is built around the pentatonic scale but also contains jazz and blues licks around primary triads (I, IV and V). My recorded tempo is at the upper limit but it does work very nicely at slower tempos, but not too slow. The jazz articulations at various times in the piece are hard not to swing but try to keep the even semi-quavers going and the energy up.
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Perdy Perdy
VCE Baritone
I wrote this for Perdita, during her lessons, 12 bars per week, to give her an idea on how the blues works. She played the tenor but it sounds fine on all saxes. My bari (Horace) likes playing it, but not too slowly as it can drag. The articulations add to the rhythmic interest and putting a little accent on tongued notes adds to this effect. Otherwise you should lean on the the beat to keep the Boogie Woogie idea going. The piano part is mostly a bass part and gives you strong fundamental pitch to tune to and make the thirds hum.
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Strange Times
AMEB Certificate of performance
Yes, these are strange times we live in (aren't they always), and this piece has some strange twists and turns in addition to the 7/8 time signature at the beginning and end. The simplest way to approach the piece is to play it as written and allow your natural style to guide you. It has jazz influences but they need not shine through in your interpretation. Pay attention to detail and use plenty of rubato where appropriate. There are a few playful spots which I hope you recognise and some other places for you to surprise the audience. Exaggerate them if you can.
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One for Mum
AMEB Grade 5 Alto and Tenor Saxophone. List C Saxophone for Leisure Grade 5. Alto and Tenor VCE any sax
I wrote this in 1995 (at a time when my Mum was sick) and I'm delighted that so many people have enjoyed playing it since, hopefully to their Mums too. I've heard many renditions and have enjoyed the diversity of interpretations people have brought to it. It is best to practise it slowly with the metronome, learning the tricky bits separately at first. Don't make too much of the semi-quavers as they are ornaments to the main melody but do try to be accurate with them and don't swallow them. Latch on to the accents as they really bring out the Latin-Jazz feel of the piece. The dynamics help create more emotional ebb and flow in the music.
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The Listener
AMEB Grade 6. Alto and Tenor. List D VCE Tenor
As I was warming up my sax while Kath was getting hers out for a lesson, I played a few random notes which caught my ear. They were the first six notes of this piece. Later that day, after some exploration, I recorded a semi-improvised piano part and then semi-improvised the sax part. What you see on the page is a cleaned up version of what I did that day. This is the only time I've ever composed this way. Kath is a great Listener and reminded me of it's importance. You should allow your performance to build gradually through the first page and then really soar through the second page before settling down fairly quickly at the end. See if you can make it sound like you improvised it. Get together with the pianist early or play with the midi version of it from the website. It will help you understand the pace and intensity. If you add any jazz inflections, make sure they sound good and that you stay in tune. The beginning is very difficult in that regard so don't try to play any softer than you are able but do work on dropping your dynamic as far as possible and bringing it up as high as you can at the climax.
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The Autumn Cannonball
AMEB Grade 7 Alto and Tenor Saxophone. Clarinet. List C Saxophone for Leisure Grade 5. Alto and Tenor VCE any sax
This structured improvisation over the chords of “Autumn Leaves” served as an explorative exercise for me to find some new ideas and approaches expanding on the style of Cannonball Adderley. If you're not careful you will over-swing parts of this. Accent the off-beat quavers and be sure not to clip the quavers on the beat. Do play crotchets short as a rule. Enjoy the shape that the dynamics add and exaggerate the softs and louds. Work with the metronome until the rhythm is internalised then try and be as light with the feel as you can.
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About the recordings of these pieces
The music was recorded in 2006 with Erica Taylor at the Piano and Chris Hallam on sound, and 2009 with Jane Hammond at the piano and Allan Neuendorf (Baker Street Studios) on sound. Some editing was done but no tuning.
These recordings are not intended to be definitive versions of the pieces but merely a reference and my interpretation on a given day so please feel more than free to interpret them in your original way with your sound and spirit as well as at a tempo which feels appropriate for you. I would be dismayed to hear a direct copy of my performance from you. Take from it what you choose.