The piece opens freely with a quick 32nd note pattern to be repeated ad lib with written dead strokes to be interspersed throughout. Out of this section comes a more structured multi-meter section (4/4, 7/4, 5/4, 6/4) before settling in 10/8. Independent…
Style:
Solo Works
Composer:
J.B. Smith
Publisher:
C. Alan Publications
After a free, improvisatory opening, Choice moves into a rhythmically exciting dance-like section in 6/8. The performer is required to play polyrhythms between the hands as if the music can’t decide whether it is in 6/8 or 2/4. It then dies down into a final…
Style:
Solo Works
Composer:
J.B. Smith
Publisher:
C. Alan Publications
Traditional Latin rhythms comprise this ostinato-based piece. Player 1 acts as a soloist throughout, though the other players have improvisation opportunities as well. Includes CD accompaniment.Program NotesOne of the first pieces to notate conga technique.…
Style:
Percussion
Composer:
J.B. Smith
Publisher:
C. Alan Publications
Based on the multiple drum configurations employed by some North Indian table players, Conga Tarang takes advantage of the melodic potential of six congas.Program NotesThe use of tarang in the title is a distant reference to the multiple drum configurations…
Style:
Percussion
Composer:
J.B. Smith
Publisher:
C. Alan Publications
Each player uses three congas (quinto, tumba, and high or low conga) and ankle bells. The piece is set completely in 12/8 and provides opportunities for improvisation.Program NotesJ.B. Smith is one of the first to notate conga playing in this duet for two…
Style:
Percussion
Composer:
J.B. Smith
Publisher:
C. Alan Publications
After a lyrical opening exploring independent rolls, the piece quickly moves into a perpetual motion section of running sixteenth notes. Traveling through countless meter changes, the driving accents and rhythms end up owning the performer and the audience…
Style:
Solo Works
Composer:
J.B. Smith
Publisher:
C. Alan Publications
The first four etudes explore different sticking combinations (1423, 243, 321, and so on) in a musically and compositionally sound setting. Smith provides sticking indications for these four pieces. The fifth and final etude combines the techniques in the…
Style:
Solo Works
Composer:
J.B. Smith
Publisher:
C. Alan Publications
with Spoken Voice
The percussion lay down a groove for this work with solo voice that can also stand alone as a great ensemble work.Program NotesText by M.B. Hanrahan Invitation stands. Driven to a foreign land and dropped from the sky, through a hole in your…
Style:
Percussion
Composer:
J.B. Smith, Hanrahan
Publisher:
C. Alan Publications
The five movements are not programmatic in a literal sense but are suggestive of the tableaux and natural drama one might encounter in a mountain environment. Although the piece was written to be performed in its complete form without breaks between movements…
Style:
Percussion
Composer:
J.B. Smith
Publisher:
C. Alan Publications
Written for a trio of middle aged men, Prelude to Elaboration offers a means to alternative ends: the development of a deconstruction and/or the gradual reduction of a fabricated statement. From the opening perspective the work could be titled Elaboration on…
Style:
Woodwind
Composer:
J.B. Smith
Publisher:
C. Alan Publications