Recorded on the album Blue (Equilibrium Records)

Over the course of several years leading up to this piece, I found my music moving more and more toward the idiom of jazz. In this time several pieces progressed from incorporating subtle hints of it to outright stating their jazz roots. Blue Two is the logical outcome of this progression, and represents my most explicit venture in that direction.

A Cool Blue is just that – a cool, laid back piece with nearly constant swing syncopation. A simple theme, slightly off center tonally, makes up the bulk of the movement’s material. What begins easily, gradually builds to a series of climaxes, with shades of be-bop and funk. After a final high point, followed by a downward sinking, a violin cadenza ends the movement in a smoky haze.

A Quiet Blue is a straightforward lyrical vocalise, somewhere between concert music and cocktail jazz. The chromatic nature of the harmonies supporting the plaintive melodic lines of the soprano saxophone lends a dark, somber beauty to the simple expressiveness of the melody. Would that life were so easy…

Blue Two was originally conceived as a work for violin, violoncello, and piano,Three Blues. The version for saxophone and piano was taken from the first two movements. Movements can be played separately. A Cool Blue is for alto saxophone, A Quiet Blue is for soprano saxophone.