I wanted to give you a heads up on a concert that I will be part of.

On Sunday, May 15, 8:15 p.m. the Wooster Symphony Orchestra will be doing Nelson Riddle’s “Cross Country Suite,” which is an 11-movement work for solo clarinet, orchestra, and jazz band.  Paquito D’Rivera is the clarinet soloist.

One of the movements features harmonica, and I will be playing that part.

I’m excited!

Nelson Riddle is the arranger who helped re-invent Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra, and a lot of other artists in the 50’s. He had a genius for creating rich moods and sonic textures by combining unusual combinations of instruments. He had one foot in the symphony orchestra and the other in a swinging big band.

He also was a composer, and his “Cross Country Suite” won a Grammy in 1959 for Best Original Instrumental Composition.  It was recorded in three days in the summer of 1958. It is a series of 11 mood portraits of America. The movement I will be playing on is titled “Mississippi”.

I will have 12 bars to cut loose on a blues improvisation. I have been listening to the original recording with Buddy DeFranco on clarinet. He’s a monster. So is  Paquito D’Rivera.

Howard Levy played the harp part with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. I did not look for this recording to listen to. It would probably freak me out. I’ll do that later.

My job when I solo is to create a mood and my strategy is to go with the strengths of the blues harmonica. If you play the clarinet, you can blow a continuous stream of air, diddle your fingers, and play incredibly fast intricate licks.

But unless you do a Rahsaan Roland Kirk and pick up two or three clarinets and play them all at the same time, you can’t play chords, or bend chords on a clarinet.

So whatever I end up doing will have some chords. The kind I can bend. That is all I knew for sure right now as far as the improvisation part.

Here is the time, location, and contact info:

Title: Wooster Symphony Orchestra
Location: Wooster, Ohio
Link out: Click here
Description: Nelson Riddle’s “Cross Country Suite” performed by the Wooster Symphony Orchestra and Jazz Band with guest soloist Paquito D’Rivera and Richard Sleigh.

Sunday, May 15, 8:15 p.m.
McGaw Chapel
340 E. University Street
Wooster, OH 44691
330-263-2419
330-263-2047

Tickets: $5.00/Students Free
Start Time: 8:15 PM
Date: 2011-05-11