BRANDFORD MARSALIS / Andy Scott - 'Laissez Les Bon Temps Rouller!
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from USA |
Laissez Les Bon Temps Roullez! - Andy ScottOur daily lives are informed and influenced by any number of experiences, the expected and unexpected. Our good relationships with people are shaped by appreciation, understanding, listening, collaboration and respect. “Laissez les bons temps rouler!” comprises four movements, drawing deliberately upon a melting pot of personal life and musical experiences that are to different degrees associated with the musicians for whom the piece was written.My great friend Jim Muirhead (clarinet/sax Halle Orchestra) introduced me to Branford Marsalis in 2004. Jim invited Branford to sit in on a jazz quintet gig that I was playing, which he duly did, and we played a two tenor second set. I was immediately struck not only (of course) with his musicianship, but his attitude, humility, views and presence. A few more meetings led to brief discussions about me writing Branford a work with chamber orchestra. Following the World Saxophone Congress in Thailand in 2009, the idea began to take shape and eventually became reality. Conductor Clark Rundell is an old friend from the Royal Northern College of Music. From the early days of sitting in the RNCM Big Band directed by Clark, we have continued to cross musical paths, most recently when Clark conducted the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra with the Wayne Shorter Quartet. (Rob Buckland, Carl Raven, Mike Hall and I were booked as the orchestral sax section – what an experience!) In 1989 the Apollo Saxophone Quartet (in which I play tenor) became the inaugural winners of the Tunnell Trust chamber music scheme. The Trust is a wonderful organisation based in Scotland that promotes young musicians, and which celebrated its 500th concert in May 2012 with a gala performance featuring the ASQ. The ASQ became great friends with Wendy Tunnell, who sadly and suddenly passed away in 1998, and remain friends with her son Jonathan Tunnell. Wendy’s daughter Philippa Tunnell and I were in the same year as students at the RNCM, and John Tunnell OBE was the original leader of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. This commission with its Scottish connections is dedicated to the Tunnell family, who work tirelessly to promote music and young musicians in Scotland, with Philippa featured on harp alongside Branford in the third movement, ‘Far Beyond the Stars’. From a Distance… New Orleans is a city like no other, with a multicultural society - Afro-American, Latino, European Creole, Cajun, and then add in the sounds of Mardi Gras Indian music. I haven’t been to New Orleans, yet have been hugely influenced by its music for decades. Pictures of the devastating effects of Hurricane Katrina and subsequent rebuilding of the city that continue to be broadcast worldwide connect with everyone. You can only imagine what these people have been through. Arcturus lights the World Fair Influenced by the great Wayne Shorter, whose writing and playing sound like no other. The title refers to Shorter’s love of astronomy and science fiction, in this case an event that took place in the year of his birth, 1933. Far Beyond the Stars ‘They are all gone into the world of light! And I alone sit ling’ring here’ wrote the metaphysical poet Henry Vaughan (1621-1695). These poignant words form the focus of the emotional intensity of the piece, remembering all the people that we knew who left this world too soon. Laissez les bons temps rouler! ‘Let the good times roll!’, a remark that embodies a spirit of positivity. As we meet in Scotland for a week of music, friendship and collaboration, let us hope that this is the theme of the week! “Laissez les bons temps rouler” was commissioned by the World Saxophone Congress, and sponsored by UniStage and Creative Scotland. Duration 18 minutes. Published by Astute Music www.astute-music.com |
The VIDEOSVIDEO NON AUTHORIZATED BY THE ORCHESTRA |
