Whenever I get in a rut and the pencil stops flowing, I just ask myself this one question

Performed by the Frost Concert Jazz Band

WWTD (What Would Thad Do?)

The saddest version of the saddest Christmas song. Trying to capture the vibe of somber old classic orchestral Christmas joints with a piecemeal recorded chamber ensemble

Featured on the album _Sounds of the Season_

Christmas Time is Here

(Very loosely, the sixth movement from Olivier Messiaen's Quartet for the End of Time, "Danse de la fureur, pour les sept trompettes", deconstructed, for big band. This was originally closer a transcription, but limited rehearsal time necessitated looser interpretation)

An _extremely_ indulgent arrangement by a brave 22-year-old that was thrown together in a couple of weeks for a recording date

(And in hindsight, something I'd love to re-visit from scratch, if this lifetime allows)

Performed by the Frost Concert Jazz Band

Dance of Fury (for Olivier Messiaen)

Once my Thad Kool-aid got spiked with Jim McNeely, the whole world changed. I don't even like Chicago, so I'm not sure how I landed not his tune apart from "hey, it has horns!"

Performed by the University of Southern Mississippi Jazz Lab Band I

Saturday in the Park

The first big band chart I ever wrote - an original composition that reflects my concurrent obsessions with Gil Evans and Thad Jones at the time (see more shameless homage to the two of these elsewhere on here)

Performed by the University of Southern Mississippi Jazz Lab Band I

Disquietude

Taboo (Dragone) Opening Sequence (Live at Club Cubic)

Music director, pianist, composer, arranger. orchestrator, recording/mix engineer, etc. 

(if it involves your ears and you have a budget, I’m your hero)

Dance of Fury (for Olivier Messiaen)

Tyler Dennis

Related tracks