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Bella
Inspired by an early summer afternoon spent playing with his young daughter, Chris Munson has composed a tasty jazz waltz for 4-mallet vibraphone solo. Written at a medium-advanced level, the cool jazz harmonies create an ethereal mood that’s surprisingly but effectively complemented by playful rhythmic moments.
This piece ships as a printed, professionally bound folio with a full-color cover.
Take a nice 32-bar cool-jazz-style head, support it with some tasteful block chords and a few passing lines, add a little variation and an improvised notated chorus, and in essence you have “Bella” by Chris Munson. The tune will sound familiar, but one of those “can’t quite put your finger on it” types of familiar. The sweet and cheerful nature of it is, according to the composer, reflective of “playing with my young daughter outside on an early summer afternoon.”
Everything in this solo, with the exception of pedaling, is notated. Though portions are intended to sound improvised, there are no chord changes or open solo sections. The melody has a childlike simplicity, but the supporting chordal activity and some of the four-mallet voicings are challenging and require intermediate to advanced technique. The feel is essentially a jazz waltz, and the piece is set in C major, but includes a predictable amount of chromatic decoration given the jazz influence.
Skilled jazz vibists will likely find “Bella” to be a well-conceived realization of a jazz tune, but may prefer a little more flexibility and some chord notation. For those without a strong jazz back- ground, the more traditional notation of this piece is an excellent introduction to the genre, could serve as a nice study piece, and certainly is a quality under- graduate recital selection.
–Josh Gottry
Percussive Notes
Vol. 52, No. 2. March 2014
Inspired by an early summer afternoon spent playing with his young daughter, Chris Munson has composed a tasty jazz waltz for 4-mallet vibraphone solo. Written at a medium-advanced level, the cool jazz harmonies create an ethereal mood that’s surprisingly but effectively complemented by playful rhythmic moments.
This piece ships as a printed, professionally bound folio with a full-color cover.
Take a nice 32-bar cool-jazz-style head, support it with some tasteful block chords and a few passing lines, add a little variation and an improvised notated chorus, and in essence you have “Bella” by Chris Munson. The tune will sound familiar, but one of those “can’t quite put your finger on it” types of familiar. The sweet and cheerful nature of it is, according to the composer, reflective of “playing with my young daughter outside on an early summer afternoon.”
Everything in this solo, with the exception of pedaling, is notated. Though portions are intended to sound improvised, there are no chord changes or open solo sections. The melody has a childlike simplicity, but the supporting chordal activity and some of the four-mallet voicings are challenging and require intermediate to advanced technique. The feel is essentially a jazz waltz, and the piece is set in C major, but includes a predictable amount of chromatic decoration given the jazz influence.
Skilled jazz vibists will likely find “Bella” to be a well-conceived realization of a jazz tune, but may prefer a little more flexibility and some chord notation. For those without a strong jazz back- ground, the more traditional notation of this piece is an excellent introduction to the genre, could serve as a nice study piece, and certainly is a quality under- graduate recital selection.
–Josh Gottry
Percussive Notes
Vol. 52, No. 2. March 2014
