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Composer: Paquito D'Rivera Title: The New York Suite Instrumentation: Saxophone Quartet Duration: 18 minutes Difficulty: Harder Programme note: 'The quartet was composed in 1980 by Cuban saxophonist , who had recently defected to the USA while on tour with the band 'Irakere'. The suite is in four movements: 1. 'Sofia (Bulgaria)': based on a fairly fast Balkan 9/8 (2+2+2+3) rhythm. 2. 'Waltz: Improvisation on a theme by Chucho Valdez': starts with a slow introduction featuring the tenor saxophone, followed by a faster improvised solo on the soprano saxophone. This develops into a short collective 'free' improvisation before returning to the original theme with which the movement ends. 3. 'Monk-tuno': the title is an amalgamation of surname of the iconclastic jazz pianist Thelonius Monk, and 'montuno', a distinctively Latin-American dance rhythm. 4. 'Escape to Dreamland': starts with a slow introduction for baritone and tenor saxophones before reviewing the themes of the preceeding movements. |
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