Scott Stroman Chanobop

‘Chanobop’ is the final piece of The Tradition, a suite of pieces written for the London Jazz Orchestra inspired by personal musical heroes Thelonius Monk, Duke Ellington, Charles Mingus, and Dizzy Gillespie.  ‘Chanobop’ honours Gillespie and Chano Pozo, the great Cuban percussionist who collaborated with him and George Russell in pieces including Manteca and Cubano Be, Cubano Bop.  It is recorded on the LJO album Dance for Human Folk.

 

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Pat Metheny/Emily Kent Always and Forever

The Guildhall Jazz Singers are a one-to-a part vocal group specializing in close harmony, from jazz classics by the Singers Unlimited and Swingle Singers, gospel and pop, to music created for and by the group's members.  Emily Kent has written lyrics for the Metheny classic Always and Forever and arranged it for the current group.

 

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Kenny Wheeler Little Suite

Little Suite was one of group of pieces offered to me by Kenny Wheeler when I approached him to be a guest artist with the Guildhall Jazz Band in 1985.  He handed me a pile of manuscripts, several, including Little Suite, which we later recorded with him on the Wave Records album Walk Softly. It is not a traditional suite, more a single tune which is taken through multiple permutations, starting as a rollicking 3/4 and passing through swing and freely improvised sections before settling into a rich ballad. It is inspired by the trumpet player Booker Little, hence the title.

 

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Scott Stroman From Earth to Sky (a suite for Mary)

From Earth to Sky is a newly composed suite of 5 connected pieces inspired by my daughter Mary; the musical material for all the pieces is derived from Mary's Song, written 25 years ago. It rather accidentally mirrors the form of a classical suite/symphony, with an introduction, a multi-themed first piece, a slow second piece, a 3/4 third piece, and a fast-moving finale.

 

‘Beginning’ is a short, rich hymn, leading to the ‘Ev'ry New Day’, with its pan-Caribbean dance groove (sometimes called the Miami Sound), featuring guitar and piano. ‘Mary's Song’, a warm ballad featuring trombone and bass, follows, adapted for the new suite. ‘Waltz of the Lambs’ is an intimate jazz waltz, featuring flugelhorn and alto saxophone, that opens into a rich tutti for the ensemble. It culminates in a free piano solo followed by a reprise of the delicate melody. ‘Among the Stars’ is an optimistic, dancing finale in an African bembe feel, featuring a quartet within the larger ensemble, and breaking into up-tempo swing on its way to its, and the suite's, conclusion.

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Programme notes by Scott Stroman