Bebop for Brass

This work was written to illustrate some of the main features of a classic jazz style created by the likes of Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie.
The music was fast in tempo and in harmonic rhythm with irregular phrases built from developing motifs. Often the first chorus presented a melodic figure that sounded improvised yet was often played in octaves by the trumpet and saxes. Subsequent choruses were built on the harmony and improvised in a technically stunning fashion by the players one by one. The music would finish with a rework of the original melody and come to a sudden end.
This work does add a couple of ensemble interventions from the big band era but they are there to make the piece inclusive and fun to play.

Keiron Anderson studied at the Royal Northern College of Music with Philip Jones OBE at a time when the Philip Jones Brass Ensemble was established as a real force in brass chamber music. He was fascinated by the methods used by Philip Jones to achieve the unique and sophisticated blend of the instruments and players and how to apply the techniques to other same-family instrumental groups. At the RNCM, Keiron experienced a wide range of musical styles including founding the college Big Band and Light Orchestra which involved arranging film music and jazz classics. After graduating, Keiron worked as a freelance trumpet player with many orchestras around the UK including the soon to be disbanded BBC Northern Radio Orchestra. He then spent several years with his own group as a Musical Director for Cunard Line before returning to the UK to compose, conduct and teach music. He now conducts the acclaimed Harlequin Brass Ensemble, Yorkshire Wind Orchestra, Nottingham Symphonic Winds, Phoenix Concert Band and works with many ensembles around the country. He has written music in a vast array of styles for Wind Orchestra, Brass Band, Clarinet Choir, Flute Ensemble, Brass dectet, Saxophone Groups and String Orchestra as well as several musicals and vocal works.