Deja Vu - Feature for Jazz Rhythm Section with Wind Ensemble (PDF) - Forbes
Déjà vu is the phenomenon that has to with current lines of thought passing through the area of the brain associated with memory. Hence, new thoughts and current events that one is experiencing at present feels like something that one has experienced before. As a composer, I tried to emulate this kind of feeling in my music through various uses of dramatic color and orchestrational effects to represent cognitive “fog” and dream-like states. Just as thoughts come into focus and fleetingly escape, musical motives in this work do the same. Larger sections of the work are meant to be very memorable so that when they are transformed later, those episodes should sound familiar. Yet, they are just varied enough that there is something oddly different about them.
The idea of writing from wind ensemble with rhythm section came to me when the commissioner of the work, Maestro Kenneth Ozzello had requested a work that included a part for guitar. As I set out to incorporate this request, it become more and more evident to include the rest of a traditional jazz rhythm section (piano, bass and drums) to serve as a backbone to this very colorful, yet complex work for band. While the work is not necessarily a “jazz piece,” there are sections strongly influenced by jazz and even involve small areas for improvisation in the rhythm section parts.
This work might also sound eerily familiar to some listeners who might know the music from the great guitar virtuosos Pat Metheny and Al Di Meola. Allowing the strong influence of these masters on my composition was purposeful, and might give some listeners a strong sense of déjà vu.