Commissioned by the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble, Out of the Blues draws on jazzy and bluesy elements in quirky combinations and odd instrumental colors. The energetic first movement builds from a single line emerging from the ensemble in hocketed fashion. The second movement bounces and slides in quasi-scherzo fashion. The slow third movement hovers quietly and mysteriously before yielding to the raucously rhythmic finale, which, like the opening movement, builds a seemingly thick texture out of a single hocketed line.