Date of Submission

Spring 2015

Academic Programs and Concentrations

Music

Project Advisor 1

John Esposito

Project Advisor 2

Erica Lindsay

Abstract/Artist's Statement

The themes explored in the eight original pieces which compromise my senior project range in inspiration from the classic piano work of Bill Evans to the contemporary genius of Flying Lotus. Building off the model form of the jazz trio and quartet, this traditional medium is used as the catalyst to explore some of the more spastic and hard-cut sequences featured in the west coast electronic music scene. The slow development of a groove, followed by quick jumps, either to a separate, distinct harmonic rhythm, or an asserted key change in an unlikely place are such examples. Though, as far one piece may reach out in contemporary influence, others are definitively more placed within the ‘jazz standard’ paradigm and its nostalgia. While such pieces were written with appreciation to the template, they were not intended to mimic completely, as some of the previously mentioned tendencies have organically been expressed in a subtle and fitting way.

I can not say that there is a definitive goal, or intent to the overarching project, but it definitely works to source the accumulation of influence Bard, its music department, and its musicians have endowed me with. Indirectly, the sheer volume of musical ideas has, through osmosis, pushed the way I listen and create music to a place I would have never expected. More directly, the musicians playing alongside me in this concert have pushed the original concepts to heights I couldn’t have imagined, and placed within the overall work a sense of character that I couldn’t have accomplished without them.

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On-Campus only

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons License
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