Petite Bete Noir

Petite Bete Noir was commissioned by Gene Aitken for the Greeley Jazz Festival All-Star Big Band. Written in a somewahat minimalist style, the piece is based on a four-note cell in the bass voices whose intervals gradually expand, creating the chord progression for the melody. The Afro-Cuban groove in the first half of the piece undergoes a subtle metric modulation to a straight-eighth note 6/4 feel for the ensemble development. Piano, guitar, and bass parts all utilize extensive written lines; the ensemble texture is fairly contrapuntal. Saxes: S/A/T/T/B; five trumpets (some doubling on flugelhorn), four trombones, RS: p/g/b/d. Lead and second trumpet: written C#. Solos: alto sax and piano.