Cheeks

Cheeks is in dedication to John Birks “Dizzy” Gillespie, arranged in 1993, the year of his passing. This large jazz ensemble arrangement was commissioned by Hamilton High School Academy of Music in Los Angeles, CA. The bop-ish melody is in reference to Gillespie’s Groovin’ High and the melody of the bridge is a reference to the introduction of Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie’s Shaw “Nuff. The formal structure is an extended blues with a bridge, (AABA). The groove of the “A” section is 60’s swing/funk and the bridge is straight-ahead. The extended alto solo is “open ‘til cue” over an F7 vamp, and cues out to the straight-ahead bridge. The alto solo continues into a drums/alto duo moment before dissolving into a Neo-Soul slowed tempo ostinato. The development section is a winding unison line within the saxes and trumpets that gradually gains density, momentum and tempo before returning to the bridge a tempo and abridged head out. Cheeks is recorded on Junk Wagon: The Big Band Album.

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