New Tune additions - Blue Rain and Cycles

[chris gordon]

I added some new tunes to the top of my play list. I had some cassette tapes transfered to mp-3 thanks to Shane Porter, but admit the tapes haven't aged well and sound like they are as old as they are. So I apologize. I wanted to put up some sampling of big band writing that had been published. I used to be a staff writer for Kendor Music, Inc., which used to be one of the major educational big band publishers in the country. I assume they still are but don't know any more. I was the writer of baby compositions (all the other Kendor writers wanted to write hard cant play charts so that everyone would know they were great writers and thinkers. But Kendor made their money on the easy stuff but no one wanted to write it. I volunteered ) - I mean I wrote tunes for beginning bands or younger bands that were just learning to swing. When I was in school these would have been junior high school bands but I guess they are high school level or even college level now. Anyway, Blue Rain was my first published tune for Kendor, and it received a great review in the Instrumentalist magazine (I can't remember what issue or year) and this tune brought me my first BMI royalty check from some performance of it on TV in Denmark. I guess the Swedes love me.

Cycles is a funk tune with 6 bar choruses over modal changes - easy for blowing solos for beginners. Anyway - enjoy !