Concertino for Clarinet [2005] I. Ring tone II. Ballad III. Closer For clarinet solo with flute (doubling piccolo), bass clarinet, horn, trumpet (doubling flugelhorn), piano, violin, viola, cello and bass. Approximately 17 minutes. Commissioned by the New York Chamber Ensemble, Alan R. Kay, Music Director. World Premiere performance by Alan R. Kay and the New York Chamber Ensemble, June 14, 2005 at the Cape May Music Festival, Cape May, NJ. Though jazz was my first musical love, I experienced a mounting frustration with its boundaries and preconceptions, especially while I completed a particularly rigid performance degree in Jazz Guitar. Now, after about five years of ignoring my fakebooks and 500 or so jazz albums, and at the prompting of clarinetist Alan R. Kay, I am re-examining the pivotal role jazz played in shaping my melodic, harmonic and rhythmic vocabularies. Each movement of this work investigates a different sector of jazz. The first, Ring tone, is the most “classical” movement in the piece. Certain elements were inspired by saxophonist Wayne Shorter, especially his Brazilian-themed album Native Dancer, which I always found to be one of the most beautiful and boundary-defying in all of jazz. The “Ring tone” theme is an exact transcription of Alan’s cell phone ring. The second movement, Ballad, is a reflection on the classic show tunes of George Gershwin, Cole Porter and Jerome Kern. The last movement, Closer, revisits the brand of jazz I used to write and perform with my band. This work is available for rental. Please contact Aaron for details.