Tyler Hornby, a drummer based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, hired me to write a big band arrangement of his composition, “Dig In Buddy.” When it was completed, I decided to adapt it to perform and record with my own 10-piece band. Here is the final version, as it was recorded on…
Although recorded previously with my Creative Opportunity Workshop quartet, the 10tet version of this piece came first. It was composed in 2012, as part of a collaborative venture with visual artists Deborah Dancy and Ted Efremoff. I wanted to write something suggestive of Aaron Copeland – big and open sounding,…
Sordid Sort of Fellow is the second track on Earl MacDonald’s “Open Borders” album. The song includes solos by Josh Evans (trumpet), Sara Jacovino (trombone), Henry Lugo (string bass) and Earl (piano). Here is a live version to whet your whistle: When commissioned to write a piece for the 2009 Central…
I continue giving my son occasional jazz exercises as an add-on to his regular trumpet lesson material. Building upon our previous exercise of arpeggiating the chords of a 12-bar blues, we are currently jumbling the order of the chord tones, to create a variety of patterns to play through the blues progression.…
I keep thinking, if I wait a bit longer, Sean Drabbit will post a follow-up Facebook status saying “Sorry for the distasteful joke, Terry is alive and well. Ha, Ha. We gotcha!” But then I remind myself we aren’t kids any more, we know the pain of death all too…