Featuring the Complete Score for the Original Motion Picture "The Nightmare Pill"

Bonne Nuit Ma Chérie

Within The Vault

The Nightmare Pill

Opening Overture

Fourth Wall

This massive and pounding track contains hype and energy from start to finish.  "Stampede" features heavy percussion, driving strings, nasty synthesizers, and heroic brass that combine to make a solid wall of sonic intensithy.

Stampede

During the fall of 2018, I had the privilege of sharing the stage with Justo Almario as a member of the APU Jazz Ensemble. I can recall multiple moments speaking with Justo when he would share the divine intervention God had in his music. His whole philosophy on writing, playing, and sharing music was highly inspiring and directed my efforts in composition to write a work with a goal in mind: to uniquely glorify God through music.
Along with the incredible experiences with Justo, Joseph Yang introduced me to the music of trombone prodigy Marshall Gilkes In 2015, Gilkes recorded an album titled “Köln” featuring the WDR Big Band. The album contained a plethora of incredible music, full of contemporary jazz, choral-like movements and a very unique harmonic vocabulary. The sound was extremely fascinating and not something I had heard much in a jazz context. I couldn’t get the music out of my head for months. So, in the effort to subside my addiction to Köln, I decided to write a chart using the inspiration from the album and the message shared by Justo
The piece got its name in a literal sense. Gilkes’s album features the cathedral of Cologne, a massive architectural feat about 800 years in age, on the cover. The cathedral towers over the modern city and is surrounded by contemporary architecture, making the enormous building stand out like a sore thumb. In a similar sense, I designed the composition to stand out from other jazz contexts in the same way that the cathedral stands out in the modern world. Its uniqueness grabs attention and reminds viewers that the work itself, by its physical presence, symbolizes the glory of God.

Filled to the brim with compositions for brass quintet, string quartet, woodwind trio, jazz band, and a full symphony orchestra, this collection of Ian Berry's latest work is truly a kaleidoscope of sounds. Enjoy these live recordings from Ian's senior composition recital at Azusa Pacific University.

Recording and Mixing by Sean Gabel

Cathedral

I began What’s A Waltz almost as a contra fact to a rare recording of Dave Brubeck’s early quartet playing Let’s Fall in Love in 1953. Eventually the piece developed enough creative material where it can now stand on its own, but I drew a large amount of inspiration from the opening passage of Brubeck’s recording.
There is an element of Brubeck’s quasi-Baroque piano playing that I have fallen in love with the more I listen to it. Out of motivation, I did a takedown of his introduction and built my own composition using the form as a model. The 6/8-meter intro of What’s a Waltz plays with the mixture of genres between jazz and classical styles and builds a form of contrapuntal dialogue between the instruments as they enter one by one. Once the full effect of the counterpoint has surfaced, the piece shifts gears and enters a light-hearted swing bringing in the full group.

Filled to the brim with compositions for brass quintet, string quartet, woodwind trio, jazz band, and a full symphony orchestra, this collection of Ian Berry's latest work is truly a kaleidoscope of sounds. Enjoy these live recordings from Ian's senior composition recital at Azusa Pacific University.

Recording and Mixing by Sean Gabel

What's A Waltz

One fine evening, Elisabeth and I were driving back from a date and sharing stories in the car. As we pulled up to my house, I found myself laughing, quite ridiculously, about something I said and she turned toward me with a smirk on her face and said, “You think you’re so funny!”
I paused… because the way she had said the phrase had created a melody in my head with a very distinct rhythm. I guess you could say she “wrote” this song, but I turned towards her and said, “Lis, I think you just gave me an idea for a jazz chart.”
So, I began to write this quirky bebop chart based on the melody and brought it in to the jazz combo class to play. Eventually, the piece gained enough favor in the group that it was chosen to be on the set list at the Jazz Combo concert last spring.
The beauty I find in this piece is that the inspiration came from such an ordinary moment in a very ordinary day. Frankly, I believe that despite the seemingly average spark of inspiration led to one of my best compositions yet. I often find myself sitting and waiting for inspiration or trying to force creativity when my ideas don’t seem to formulate. Nonetheless, patience and attentiveness to surroundings prove to be great inspirations for song ideas.

Filled to the brim with compositions for brass quintet, string quartet, woodwind trio, jazz band, and a full symphony orchestra, this collection of Ian Berry's latest work is truly a kaleidoscope of sounds. Enjoy these live recordings from Ian's senior composition recital at Azusa Pacific University.

Recording and Mixing by Sean Gabel

You Think You're So Funny

Filled to the brim with compositions for brass quintet, string quartet, woodwind trio, jazz band, and a full symphony orchestra, this collection of Ian Berry's latest work is truly a kaleidoscope of sounds. Enjoy these live recordings from Ian's senior composition recital at Azusa Pacific University.

Recording and Mixing by Sean Gabel

Underneath The Lamppost

Composer, Arranger, and Guitarist.  Music student at Azusa Pacific University.

IanBerryMusic