PROGRAM NOTES FROM THE COMPOSER: GROOVES is a work made up of five tunes in a variety of jazz styles for tuba/euphonium quartet and drums. It was composed in 2020 for the Sotto Voce Quartet and is the last of a series of works that honor my four grandsons. GROOVES is dedicated to the youngest, Jasper Nichols. Rather than being a piece in five movements, per se, GROOVES is a set of jazz tunes in different styles; more like five tracks in a row on a recording or a live set. They are titled STREET CRED, THE VAMP, STEPPIN’ OUT, SOULMATES and ON FIRE! Each tune has a different mood, energy and rhythmic drive, conveyed more strongly by the addition of a drummer to create a quintet for this work. The timings below are approximate; the whole piece should take about 23 minutes to perform. GROOVES was composed entirely from April to July, 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic while I was “sheltering in place”. The music is intended to be upbeat not down, light not dark, happy not sad. PERFORMANCE NOTES The drums should be set up directly behind the usual quartet seating so that everyone can hear each other well and the drums have less chance of overbalancing the quartet. Using the dynamics on the page as a guide rather than gospel, they may have to be slightly adjusted for balance within the group and, most especially, with the drums. 1. STREET CRED (5:00) The look of the finger snaps at the beginning is as important as the sound, and should convey the “coolness” of the opening section (hopefully without looking too “dorky”). If something like tapping on the instruments is substituted (to achieve more sound or because some people can’t finger snap) the drummer should simply rest until playing at bar 19. The second (street beat) section should be more energetic (“hotter”). 2. THE VAMP (4:10) Not a swing tune – straight eighths and sixteenths. The drum solo after letter G begins while the last 8 bars of the vamp are being played by the quartet. Then the drums are alone and should continue in time ad lib. The solo should come to a stop, either by heating up to an abrupt ending or cooling down gradually to a more subtle ending. When the drummer begins the hi-hat riff, that’s bar 89. 3. STEPPIN’ OUT (3:05) The tempo indication says it all. The tempo is actually fairly fast but the feel should be cool and easy (swing articulations with long-ish eighth notes). This is the lightest feeling tune of the bunch. 4. SOULMATES (5:50) After the intro this is a very slow 12/8 groove with the eighth note as the pulse you think of in order to subtly imply the even slower dotted quarter note groove. Resist the temptation to speed up. The drums should be pretty sparse at letter A and become more active as the piece goes on. The lead voice changes hands a good bit, so be aware of balance and making sure that voice is the strongest. Be as soulful as you can and don’t be afraid to add appropriate nuances to the articulation to accomplish that. 5. ON FIRE! (3:35) This is a VERY fast swing, so much so that the eighth notes are virtually straight. There is a lot of fast “walking bass” in the Tuba 2 part. I’ve written it in solid quarter notes. When the player needs to take a breath, it should always be on beat 2 or beat 4, and the note written on that beat should be played on the and of the beat. In other words, a breath should create just an eighth rest. Drum solos between letters J and N should all be in time. Wait a bit before the last bar so it’s delayed and out of time. The solo drum fill in that bar should be big and busy – a slam-bang finish!