Will you come and follow me if I but call your name?
Will you go where you don't know and never be the same?
Will you let my love be shown? Will you let my name be known?
Will you let my life be grown in you and you in me?

The Summons

String Cheese

"Fields of Green" makes large use of slash chord harmony in this happy tune. The pianist is given a large section to solo alone in the middle of the chart before the ensemble re-enters. The melody morphs and shifts throughout this second half of the chart, not resting until the final chord is sounded. 

Fields of Green

"Afterthought" is a laid-back swing tune that features the drums and the beauty of the flugelhorns and trombones in combination throughout the melody. The solo sections for the trombone and trumpet give them the chance to solo on contemporary changes in two different sections and moods of the tune. The shout chorus after the solos sections showcases the brilliance of the ensemble's sound and also features some nice work for the saxes.

Afterthought

PYT (Pretty Young Thing) arr. Drew Ninmer

Performed by the Eastern Illinois University Jazz Ensemble on April 26, 2018.

Luminescence

Composed by Oleg Bagrintsev and Valeriy Stepanov.

Valeriy Stepanov - melodica, percussion, keyboards.
Oleg Bagrintsev - acoustic guitar, percussion.

Lights Of Rio (featuring Oleg Bagrintsev on guitar)

В лесу родилась ёлочка

This piece was written as an assignment for the 2013 Metropole Arrangers Workshop.  During the week-long workshop, we were given a lead sheet on Sunday night and were asked to write a two-minute arrangement to be performed by the Metropole Orchestra at a recording session on Thursday morning.

The assignment was designed to test our ability to function under heavy time constraints.  In hastily writing the piece, I tried to be as creative as possible while still retaining the swing flavor of the original.  Similarly, I sought to vary each section of the form melodically, harmonically, or orchestrationally while tying all of the pieces together into a cohesive form.

Theme from 'The Odd Couple'

This happy-go-lucky tune is a metaphor on the back-and-forth motion of the popular Atari video game, "Pong". The fun melody features the trombone and tenor playing this game with music. The saxes shine in their bluesy soli, and the powerful brass is heavy-hitting in this piece that is sure to be fun for both the band and the audience! 

String Cheese

Mark Ninmer