Solos are in fluegel 2 and tenor 2. I have had accordion play the first solo.
5 reeds, 4 trumpets, 3 trombones, 1 bass trombone, piano, guitar, bass, drums and optional percussion. The flute passage in reeds 3, 4, 5 are very minimal... you could leave it out if you had to. We included an accordion part in case you find yourself doing other pieces of mine with accordion.
Recorded on Allegrésse, "Hang Gliding" was written about my hang gliding experience in Rio de Janeiro. The wish I had in writing this was to create the feeling of flying in sound. Not only did my experience of hang gliding in Brazil influence the writing of this piece, but so did being exposed to a lot of Brazilian music through the many generous people I met in Brazil.
This is one of my more harmonically/rhythmically intricate pieces, but the basic "ideas" are actually very few. It's a good score to look at when trying to learn about "development" in big band writing and long-form, through-composed composition in jazz. Both solos are written on very different material, and they both offer big challenges for soloists.
I've found all sorts of things to add to the offer: many of my sketches, interviews with musicians who have recorded or performed this music, a slide-show of my terrifying/inspiring hang gliding experience in Rio, and a rather fiery video version of "Hang Gliding" made in 2008 at the Monterey Jazz Festival, eight years after we recorded it as the opening piece on Allegrésse, and finally, I've included a video where I talk about the writing of this piece.
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