Major Minor Buzz

Major Minor Buzz
for solo cello and unspecified jazz ensemble
(2015)
C. 6 mins with the possibility of extending the piece for soloing and improvisation.
Commissioned by Club Inégales and Sound and Music
First performed in July 2015 by cellist Matthew Barely and Notes Inégales.    

Description: Written for cellist Matthew Barley and the house band at Club Inégales, Major Minor Buzz is a ‘one-page score’ – a Club Inégales format which encourages composers to create snippets of thematic material that the house band then expands upon in improvisation, and which has drawn musical responses from a range of composers, including James MacMillan, John Woolrich, and Peter Wiegold. However, Major Minor Buzz functions both as a basis for free improvisation and as a through-composed piece. Notated for solo cello with additional chord symbols and instructions for accompanying band or ensemble, it develops material through a series of twelve sections, taking listeners on a journey through a changeable landscape of lyrical cello lines, jazz-infused harmonies, and scorching rhythms.

Premiere performance of Major Minor Buzz