"In Fanfare, Nocturne, Fanfare, Simon has produced a work whose authenticity of spirit represents the most captivating narrative elements of the concert, electronic, and jazz genres without sidelining any language in favor of the others. One does truly feel as though the piece is a complete story through its three parts. In this work, it is clear that Simon’s journey as a composer of jazz, concert music, and electronic music continues, and it leaves the listener excited to find out where he will go next."

~Jordan VanHemert

Download the whole track at gregsimonmusic.bandcamp.com.

Fanfare, Nocturne, Fanfare

The Indigo Train (2015) takes its inspiration from a variety of sources and was written for my high school band director, Gary Wells. His son, Alex Wells, is the head band director at PN-G and wanted me to write a piece for his Dad. I first started out researching all kinds of things, and through various conversations learned that Gary grew up working on trains; his father worked at the train depot and his childhood is rich with experiences working on trains. For me, trains inspire images of the deep south and the rich history of the blues, which was born there and eventually traveled up the Mississippi to Chicago. This piece begins with a few bluesy solos by the bass clarinet, saxophone, and euphonium, followed by an ominous depiction of a mysterious railyard. The piece gets moving with a bluesy A section that three different melodies that are used throughout the piece. I imagined a person quickly traveling through railcars, experiencing a slightly different music in each. After a briefly-latin section, the piece moves into a sultry clarinet solo and then a ballad-like climax before rearing up to start moving again. Everyone gets together for one more last big chorus and a bluesy piccolo solo rips through the melodies heard before.   

The recording you hear was taken after the revisions of the piece in 2021. The SFASU Wind Ensemble is heard in this recording and was led by Dr. Tamey Anglley.

The Indigo Train

Derek Ganong — trumpet
Matt Castner — bari sax

Chills And Vapors

A study in rhythm with inscrutable lyrics. 

Calabash & Catamaran

It was a stark experience this summer standing in the desert of Joshua Tree National Park, bathing in an impossibly vast expanse of light, sand, and heat.  Days later, I plunged into the wilderness of Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  The jarring transition allowed me to see a vision of the forest in sharper relief, one where trees and plants seem claustrophobic, feverishly overgrown, even a little psychedelic.  This track illuminates that darker, insidious side of the forest.  

The title quotes from the book Annihilation, while the guitar part quotes a melody found in the movie adaptation of the very same book.  The sound samples of birds, crickets, and people are field recordings taken during my time as Artist in Residence for the month of August in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  The psychedelic section was processed using Max/MSP.  The picture, oddly enough, was taken in a public garden at Balboa Park in San Diego.

Where lies the strangling fruit

“The Block” is a short orchestral study based on the late visual art of Romare Bearden. Most of Bearden’s work reflects African-American culture in urban cities as well as the rural American south. Although Bearden was born in Charlotte, NC, he spent his most of his life in Harlem, New York. With its vibrant artistic community, this piece aims to highlight the rich energy and joyous sceneries that Harlem expressed as it was the hotbed for African American culture.
“The Block” is comprised of six paintings that highlight different buildings (church, barbershop, nightclub, etc.) in Harlem on one block. Bearden’s paintings incorporate various mediums including watercolors, graphite, and metallic papers. In the same way, this musical piece explores various musical textures which highlight the vibrant scenery and energy that a block on Harlem or any urban city exhibits.

The Block (2019) for orchestra

Voice and piano: Dariya Maminova

James Joyce

Simples
   
Of cool sweet dew and radiance mild
The moon a web of silence weaves
In the still garden where a child
Gathers the simple salad leaves.

A moondew stars her hanging hair
And moonlight kisses her young brow
And, gathering, she sings an air:
Fair as the wave is, fair, art thou!

Be mine, I pray, a waxen ear
To shield me from her childish croon
And mine a shielded heart for her
Who gathers simples of the moon.

Fanfare, Nocturne, Fanfare

Greg Simon - Composer

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