Jazzical #7 (Latin Vibes)

Jazzical #7 “Latin Vibes” is scored for string quartet, piano, double bass, and drum set. It received its world premiere on the Allentown Symphony Orchestra’s New Chamber Music Concert on March 25, 2025 in Allentown, Pennsylvania by Eliezer Gutman and Juan Yánez, violins; Pam Jacobson, viola; Hikaru Tamaki, cello; Terry Klinefelter, piano; Paul Klinefelter, bass; and Chris Hanning, drum set.

Often the technical and spiritual elements that determine a particular musical style overlap with the traits of other styles. I have always been interested in the fine line that can separate one style of music from another. Many of my compositions over the years explore and celebrate the similarities and differences among musical styles. For example, my Capriccio for clarinet, trombone and percussion includes and extended section of twelve-tone Dixieland; Mysterious Exit for flute and percussion ensemble combines elements of Hopi social dance songs with serialism; and, Traditions for violin, clarinet, guitar, and string bass is a synthesis of elements of Klezmer music with those from mainstream Western concert music.

In the case of Jazzical #7, elements of modern classical music and Latin jazz, particularly the bossa nova, are juxtaposed in a way to sometimes blur the lines between the styles. The “#7” in the title recognizes the kindred predecessors of this composition: Three Jazzicals, (published in versions for trumpet and tuba, clarinet and tuba, and soprano sax and tuba,) Jazzical #4 for horn, trombone, tuba, and piano, Jazzical #5 for euphonium, tuba and piano, and Jazzical #6 in versions for solo alto sax and sax quartet, and solo alto sax and piano.

Duration: 7’

Jazzical #7 “Latin Vibes” is scored for string quartet, piano, double bass, and drum set. It received its world premiere on the Allentown Symphony Orchestra’s New Chamber Music Concert on March 25, 2025 in Allentown, Pennsylvania by Eliezer Gutman and Juan Yánez, violins; Pam Jacobson, viola; Hikaru Tamaki, cello; Terry Klinefelter, piano; Paul Klinefelter, bass; and Chris Hanning, drum set

Often the technical and spiritual elements that determine a particular musical style overlap with the traits of other styles. I have always been interested in the fine line that can separate one style of music from another. Many of my compositions over the years explore and celebrate the similarities and differences among musical styles. For example, my Capriccio for clarinet, trombone and percussion includes and extended section of twelve-tone Dixieland; Mysterious Exit for flute and percussion ensemble combines elements of Hopi social dance songs with serialism; and, Traditions for violin, clarinet, guitar, and string bass is a synthesis of elements of Klezmer music with those from mainstream Western concert music.

In the case of Jazzical #7, elements of modern classical music and Latin jazz, particularly the bossa nova, are juxtaposed in a way to sometimes blur the lines between the styles. The “#7” in the title recognizes the kindred predecessors of this composition: Three Jazzicals, (published in versions for trumpet and tuba, clarinet and tuba, and soprano sax and tuba,) Jazzical #4 for horn, trombone, tuba, and piano, Jazzical #5 for euphonium, tuba and piano, and Jazzical #6 in versions for solo alto sax and sax quartet, and solo alto sax and piano.

Duration: 7’