1. for having about the coolest name for a saxophone quartet
2. for their fantastic, spirited performance of my Wade in the Water arrangement.  

Dig it:

Thanks, Charles Schulz! (and Linus)

After 8 years of asking, Hal Leonard has granted me license to publish my jazz ensemble arrangement of Bohemian Rhapsody.

This calls for a major woo-hoo!

LISTEN TO PREVIEW RECORDING

A timeline

2002:  thought it'd be cool to arrange Bo Rhap for jazz ensemble.  But I couldn't figure out how to do it without having it sound like musak.

2004:  I figured it out.

2005: started performing said arr. with my local big band, the Valley Jazz Orchestra.  Bo Rhap soon became a staple of our repertoire.  I shared the chart with a couple of friends—not realizing at the time that this was unlawful.  One of them actually used this chart with a couple of All-State Jazz bands he directed!  (thanks, M.O.!)

2005 or 2006:  I contacted Hal Leonard seeking permission to self-publish.  Request denied.

2007:  I sent Brian May (Queen's guitarist!) a bootleg recording of the chart.  He listened, and wrote me back.

2006-present:  I've received loads of requests for this music from people I don't know, but who found the bootleg recording buried in my website.  I've denied every request, because I did not have permission to distribute.

2012:  Doggone it, already!  I decided to contact Hal Leonard again, after redoing my web store.

2013:  Asked permission once again.  Was denied.  I responded with, in a nutshell, "Pretty Please, with sugar on top?".  THEY SAID YES!

So now what?

I have to tweak the parts and score, prepare them for printing, get the proper © notice, etc.  Then, start selling these charts.

I figure, even if I simply break even on the licensing and printing costs, I'm thrilled to be finally getting this chart out there!  (Of course, I'd be even thrilled-er if I were to make a little profit...).

I'll keep you posted. :-)

You can check out the scores here:

WADE IN THE WATER
LET MY PEOPLE GO

In the meantime, though, I'd like to encourage you to check out my existing combo charts, most of which are scored for 3 Horns and Rhythm.  The cool thing is that there are loads of alternate horn parts for each chart, so you can mix-and–match instrumentation as it best suits your band.

For the rest of the month, you can save $5 per chart on your Jazz Combo downloads.  At checkout, use the coupon code COMBO-SAVE-5.

Remember, there is never a shipping/handling charge on digital downloads.  There's no sales tax.  You'll get your charts instantly.  And you'll be able to make easy back-up copies any time you need them.

Nice!

You can preview the score & purchase the chart here.

About a decade ago I composed Mirage for my trio.  I resurrected and updated it recently for a sextet I play with called Hexagon.

The melody, harmony, and vibe of Mirage come from what I refer to as the "Jewish Mode."  (Some theory-savvy folk will think of this as the 5th mode of Harmonic Minor).  Anyhow, the result is this Middle-Eastern-sounding thing that won't leave you alone, kind of like getting sand in your eye.

LISTEN TO THE SEXTET VERSION

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CLICK HERE to preview the score and see some parts.  And, if you want to play it with your band, you can purchase and download the chart there, too.

Arizona All-State Jazz Band will play Fantasia on an Ellington Theme next week.

Kentucky All-State Jazz Band will also play Fantasia, next month.

Both All-State bands will be conducted by woodwind wiz and jazz educator extraordinaire Chris Vadala.

The Nebraska Jazz Orchestra will play Teach Me a Song. This is a great minor-key jazz waltz by the organist Melvin Rhyne.  I arranged this several years ago for vocalist Jackie Allen, who will be the featured performer in Lincoln.  Tonight!

Pennsylvania All-State Jazz Band will be performing my Calypso Free Food?, directed by Richard Victor, cofounder of PDSME.

Penn State University's Centre Dimensions will be performing Fantasia on an Ellington Theme.  (this tune gets around!).  Conducted by long-time maestro Dan Yoder.

The Pleasant Hill Adventist Academy (CA) Saxophone Ensemble will be performing Wade in the Water and Let My People Go for an African-American History Month program.

You can read it HERE.