Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
- Publication
Articles 1 - 23 of 23
Full-Text Articles in Arts and Humanities
Can't Buy Me Love (Recording), Gary Smart
Can't Buy Me Love (Recording), Gary Smart
Gary Smart
"Can't Buy Me Love" is an interpretation of the Lennon-McCartney classic performed on piano. It is from "Beatle Jazz," released by Mastersound Recordings in 1998.
Let It Be (Recording), Gary Smart
Let It Be (Recording), Gary Smart
Gary Smart
"Let It Be" is an interpretation of the Lennon-McCartney classic performed on piano. It is from "Beatle Jazz," released by Mastersound Recordings in 1998.
Singing The Blues (Recording), Gary Smart
Singing The Blues (Recording), Gary Smart
Gary Smart
The pop song “Singing the Blues” was written in 1920 by a team of composers (Robinson-Conrad-Lewis-Young) and was recorded that year by both the Original Dixieland Jass Band and singer Aileen Stanley. Both recordings were on the Victor label. But the inspiration for my improvisation here is the famous 1927 recording on the Okeh label by Bix Beiderbecke and his group. Bix’s jazz is not as brilliant as that of Louis Armstrong, nor is it as dramatic. But it is wonderful stuff, more sophisticated harmonically and more purely melodic. It is serene and musical. I have long loved this style. …
Night Garden, Christopher M. Ryan
Deeply Offensive & Utterly Untrue, Christopher M. Ryan
Deeply Offensive & Utterly Untrue, Christopher M. Ryan
Christopher Ryan
No abstract provided.
Jammin' At The Cathedral (Recording), Gary Smart
Jammin' At The Cathedral (Recording), Gary Smart
Gary Smart
An example of my electronic music. Taken from a collection called "Five Electronic Preludes".
Yo Yo (Recording), Gary Smart
Yo Yo (Recording), Gary Smart
Gary Smart
An example of my electronic music. Taken from a collection called "Five Electronic Preludes".
Del Diario De Un Papagayo [From The Diary Of A Parrot] (Recording), Gary Smart
Del Diario De Un Papagayo [From The Diary Of A Parrot] (Recording), Gary Smart
Gary Smart
"Del Diario de un Papagayo" [From the Diary of a Parrot] is a recording of the premiere of this work for chamber orchestra and tape recorded parrot. It was composed and premiered in 1973 by the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. The 'soloist' was our family parrot, Pablo.
Benediction (Recording), Piotr Szlewczyk, Gary Smart
Benediction (Recording), Piotr Szlewczyk, Gary Smart
Gary Smart
“Benediction” for solo violin (2009) was written for violinist Piotr Szlewczyk and his recording project “Violin Futura”. This short set of variations is based on the old southern hymn, “Part in Peace”.
Trumpeter Swan (Recording), Britt Theurer, Gary Smart
Trumpeter Swan (Recording), Britt Theurer, Gary Smart
Gary Smart
This piece was originally recorded for Capstone Records in 1990 by Britt Theurer on trumpet and The Franciscan String Quartet. At the time, this beautiful bird was disappearing from the American West and was on the endangered species list.The piece is in two movements. The first is “nesting music”, the second takes flight, and moves through several adventurous episodes, but finally settles back into the opening serenity. The work ends with echoing calls fading into silence.
Beatbox 4 (Recording), Gary Smart, Tomoko Hoshiyama
Beatbox 4 (Recording), Gary Smart, Tomoko Hoshiyama
Gary Smart
This group of short pieces for two pianists playing one piano was composed for a tour of central Japan in the summer of 2006. At a concert in Kyoto I premiered this collection, as secundo pianist, with six of my former Japanese piano students, each playing one movement with me. Each movement is dedicated to that individual and I like to think that these movements reflect, to some extent, each pianists’ personality.The title “Beatbox” refers to the repetitive rhythmic motives which serve as the basis for each movement. This music features energetic ostinati, and thick, bopish textures. Movement five is …
Beatbox 1 (Recording), Gary Smart, Yoshiki Hagihara
Beatbox 1 (Recording), Gary Smart, Yoshiki Hagihara
Gary Smart
This group of short pieces for two pianists playing one piano was composed for a tour of central Japan in the summer of 2006. At a concert in Kyoto I premiered this collection, as secundo pianist, with six of my former Japanese piano students, each playing one movement with me. Each movement is dedicated to that individual and I like to think that these movements reflect, to some extent, each pianists’ personality.The title “Beatbox” refers to the repetitive rhythmic motives which serve as the basis for each movement. This music features energetic ostinati, and thick, bopish textures. Movement five is …
Beatbox 2 (Recording), Gary Smart, Yukari Yano
Beatbox 2 (Recording), Gary Smart, Yukari Yano
Gary Smart
This group of short pieces for two pianists playing one piano was composed for a tour of central Japan in the summer of 2006. At a concert in Kyoto I premiered this collection, as secundo pianist, with six of my former Japanese piano students, each playing one movement with me. Each movement is dedicated to that individual and I like to think that these movements reflect, to some extent, each pianists’ personality.The title “Beatbox” refers to the repetitive rhythmic motives which serve as the basis for each movement. This music features energetic ostinati, and thick, bopish textures. Movement five is …
Beatbox 5 (Recording), Gary Smart, Chizu Hamano
Beatbox 5 (Recording), Gary Smart, Chizu Hamano
Gary Smart
This group of short pieces for two pianists playing one piano was composed for a tour of central Japan in the summer of 2006. At a concert in Kyoto I premiered this collection, as secundo pianist, with six of my former Japanese piano students, each playing one movement with me. Each movement is dedicated to that individual and I like to think that these movements reflect, to some extent, each pianists’ personality.The title “Beatbox” refers to the repetitive rhythmic motives which serve as the basis for each movement. This music features energetic ostinati, and thick, bopish textures. Movement five is …
Beatbox 6 (Recording), Gary Smart, Toshie Matsui
Beatbox 6 (Recording), Gary Smart, Toshie Matsui
Gary Smart
This group of short pieces for two pianists playing one piano was composed for a tour of central Japan in the summer of 2006. At a concert in Kyoto I premiered this collection, as secundo pianist, with six of my former Japanese piano students, each playing one movement with me. Each movement is dedicated to that individual and I like to think that these movements reflect, to some extent, each pianists’ personality.The title “Beatbox” refers to the repetitive rhythmic motives which serve as the basis for each movement. This music features energetic ostinati, and thick, bopish textures. Movement five is …
Beatbox 3 (Recording), Gary Smart, Naoko Kadota
Beatbox 3 (Recording), Gary Smart, Naoko Kadota
Gary Smart
This group of short pieces for two pianists playing one piano was composed for a tour of central Japan in the summer of 2006. At a concert in Kyoto I premiered this collection, as secundo pianist, with six of my former Japanese piano students, each playing one movement with me. Each movement is dedicated to that individual and I like to think that these movements reflect, to some extent, each pianists’ personality.The title “Beatbox” refers to the repetitive rhythmic motives which serve as the basis for each movement. This music features energetic ostinati, and thick, bopish textures. Movement five is …
Bye-Bye (Recording), Gary Smart
Bye-Bye (Recording), Gary Smart
Gary Smart
“Bye-bye” for mixed sextet of instruments was written specifically for the 2010 Finale Composers’ Competition. It was finished in August 2010. It is a kind of abstract toccata which relies on rhythmic gestures as a primary unifying device. “Bye-bye” is Ivesian in it’s overall American character and in it’s use of materials from diverse musical genres (vaudeville, ragtime, waltz, early jazz, swing, etc.).Only five minutes in length, this piece is written to serve as a brilliant, eccentric showpiece encore. Fans of the “Great American songbook” will recognize this music to be a free fantasy on the old sing-a-long favorite – …
Wabi Sabi (Recording), Gary Smart
Wabi Sabi (Recording), Gary Smart
Gary Smart
Wabi Sabi is a fantasy for eight instruments: flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, violin, viola, cello and bass. The title, a Japanese phrase, refers to a love and nostalgia for ancient times, for old things - antiques - things which evoke feelings of purity, nobility, hard won wisdom, an essential spirituality, true worth. A tea ceremony in a Kyoto garden is “wabi sabi”. The piece was formed intuitively as a kind of drama, perhaps a Japanese folk tale. The expansion of “time perception”, the savoring of sound colors and the evocation of mood is central to the aesthetic of this music.
Song Of The Holy Ground (Recording), Gary Smart
Song Of The Holy Ground (Recording), Gary Smart
Gary Smart
“Song of the Holy Ground” for piano and string quartet was written in reaction to an Apache chant recorded in 1953 by musicologist John Donald Robb. The original recording, sung by a young girl, is clear, delicate and charming at first hearing. The text itself is unknown to me, beyond the fact that this is a song of consecration, a blessing. But the music of the chant is enchanting, with its uniquely expressive melodic shapes and its asymmetrical rhythms.In approaching this material I first made a detailed transcription of the chant and became fascinated with the intricacy of the motivic …
A Mighty Fortress Is Our God (Recording), Gary Smart
A Mighty Fortress Is Our God (Recording), Gary Smart
Gary Smart
"A Mighty Fortress is Our God" is from a private release CD, "Bright Morning Stars are Rising", made as a fundraiser for the Unitarian-Universalist Society. It features hymns from diverse religions and traditions around the world and reflects my interest in a diversity of musical styles including Americana, jazz and world musics.
Lover (Recording), Gary Smart
Lover (Recording), Gary Smart
Gary Smart
"Lover" (Richard Rodgers) is from The Elevox Open Jazz Competition Grand Prize Album. This recording is in the grand old two-fisted (stride) jazz piano style of Art Tatum and my teacher, Oscar Peterson. Notice the musical quotes, a part of this tradition: at the opening, "Oh, Sweet Mystery of Life, at Last I've Found Thee!" and at the very end, the Mendelssohn "Wedding March".
Nowhere Man (Recording), Gary Smart
Nowhere Man (Recording), Gary Smart
Gary Smart
"Nowhere Man" is an interpretation of the Lennon-McCartney classic performed on piano. It is from "Beatle Jazz," released by Mastersound Recordings in 1998.
Shortening Bread (Recording), Gary Smart
Shortening Bread (Recording), Gary Smart
Gary Smart
"Shortening Bread" is from the forthcoming release "Blossoms", coming soon from Albany Records. It features twenty-five tracks of abstract improvisations.