Commissioned by Sandbach School Big Band, and premiered by the joint forces of both the Sandbach School Big Band & the Royal Northern College of Music Big Band in November 2007 at Sandbach School, Cheshire, UK.
After a brief opening statement from trumpet 2 and the trombone section, the piece kicks in with a samba groove. Soprano sax, tenor sax and guitar take the lead (bar 21) after which the trumpet section states the melody second time round (bar 57), with intricate saxophone lines around it. The open solo section (bar 93) is based around two key centres, encouraging soloists to play by ear rather than reading changes. Backing figures behind solos are to be played on cue from the band director. A bridge section follows, leading into an open drum/perc solo (bar 143). The band enters on cue (bar 147) as the drum solo continues. Pay careful attention to the dynamics as the bridge returns (bar 166), leading us to the return of the original theme. The Coda sees an exubilant release of tension (bar 187) before a careful grading down of dynamics and instrumentation that leads to a final big band statement to finish. Throughout La Conchita the piano and guitar both play written rhythmic figures in addition to chord symbols, helping to reinforce the feel in an almost percussive way.
La Conchita (Big Band) is only available as a PDF download
After a brief opening statement from trumpet 2 and the trombone section, the piece kicks in with a samba groove. Soprano sax, tenor sax and guitar take the lead (bar 21) after which the trumpet section states the melody second time round (bar 57), with intricate saxophone lines around it. The open solo section (bar 93) is based around two key centres, encouraging soloists to play by ear rather than reading changes. Backing figures behind solos are to be played on cue from the band director. A bridge section follows, leading into an open drum/perc solo (bar 143). The band enters on cue (bar 147) as the drum solo continues. Pay careful attention to the dynamics as the bridge returns (bar 166), leading us to the return of the original theme. The Coda sees an exubilant release of tension (bar 187) before a careful grading down of dynamics and instrumentation that leads to a final big band statement to finish. Throughout La Conchita the piano and guitar both play written rhythmic figures in addition to chord symbols, helping to reinforce the feel in an almost percussive way.
La Conchita (Big Band) is only available as a PDF download