One of the reasons I play so many different instruments is that I really enjoy performing in pit orchestras for musical theatre productions. In these ensembles, each individual woodwind musician is frequently called upon to swap between 3 or 4 instruments, and this practice of ‘doubling’ allows orchestrators to maximise the palette of sounds available from a small group of players. If done well, it can help make the band sound many times larger than it actually is.
Woodwind doubling is a fine art in itself (and annoyingly more difficult than playing each instrument in isolation). But the results can be tremendous, and I personally find it fascinating to watch how a reed section can metamorphose over the course of a single piece of music as multiple players juggle an array of instruments. Pit orchestras nowadays tend to be very small, but back in the heyday of Broadway it wasn’t uncommon to have 4 or even 5 woodwind musicians in a show band.
All this brings me onto my latest project, which has finally reached completion after several years on the back-burner. What I’ve done is taken one of the most iconic pieces in musical theatre history – the overture from ‘Gypsy’ – and recorded myself playing all 5 of the reed parts, before putting it all together into a dazzling One-Man Woodwind Section video!
During the piece, the players are expected to between them tackle varying combinations of piccolo, flute, oboe, clarinet, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone and baritone saxophone. This ever-changing ensemble would usually be hidden away from the audience, but now I have brought it right to the forefront, allowing you to marvel at the ingenuity of Broadway orchestrators and musicians, and the magical sound-worlds they can generate from minimal resources.
So here we have it at last – I hope you enjoy my rendition of the woodwind parts from the overture to ‘Gypsy’!
New Music Monday, #53: ‘I Never Did Expect That It Would End Like This’
Every Monday throughout 2023 I highlighted a different piece of music that I have either written or been closely involved with. But there’s one more song left on my list, which I think justifies an extra bonus edition to kick off 2024! So this week, prepare to be mildly creeped-out by the appropriateness of this final piece’s title (especially considering I’ve spent the entire year choosing the music completely at random by picking slips of paper out of an envelope) because it’s…
What’s it called?
I Never Did Expect That It Would End Like This.
What’s it from?
My 2019 ragtime musical ‘It’s Not Really the Apocalypse’, which tells the story of four old friends who wake up one morning to discover they are the only people remaining on planet Earth.
What’s it all about?
This is a bit of a comedy vaudeville number, which exemplifies my concept of the show being a juxtaposition of jolly two-piano ragtime with depressing subject matter. Our four protagonists have just realised that the end is nigh and they are the only surviving members of the human race. This prompts them, in a fit of hysteria, to have a laugh and sing about all the alternative ways they would have expected armageddon to arise.
Listen out for…
I’m particularly pleased of the opportunities I took in this song to showcase some barbershop-style 4-part close vocal harmony. You can hear this in chorus 2 (1:19-1:58), and chorus 3 (3:10-end). Chorus 3 also features an absurd soprano line which has been described to me as “from the Star Trek school of descant writing” (3:34-3:44).
Find out more at…
www.michaelgrantmusician.com/inrta
New Music Monday, #52: ‘Untitled Worm Song (Part II)’
Every Monday throughout 2023 I will be highlighting a different piece of music that I have either written or been closely involved with. And this week, prepare to listen to the gradual build-up of a single chord because it’s…
What’s it called?
Untitled Worm Song (Part II).
What’s it from?
‘Mongolian Death Worm: A Puppet Show Musical’, the show what I wrote, starred in, directed, produced, edited etc. with my regular collaborator Mister James Ure during the first national lockdown in 2020. It’s a full 68 minutes of silliness, centring around the search for a mysterious creature that has been pilfering steaks from a village community somewhere near the Gobi Desert.
What’s it all about?
It’s all kicking off in Mongolia! Now that Professor Roy Chapman Andrews But You Can Call Me Roy Chapman Andrews and Sheriff have located The Worm and its master in their underground lair, all sorts of conflicts and calamities have come to pass. But there’s one big climactic moment that the whole sequence has been building to, and it occurs at the end of this song when The Worm comes to realise that his mentor has been betraying and manipulating him all along. And let’s be honest, if there’s one creature you don’t want to anger it’s the Mongolian Death Worm!
Listen out for…
It’s only 30 seconds long and consequently there’s not a lot to point out here! The main thing is the big dissonant chord that builds note by note. I actually used a ‘random number generator’ in this piece to pick the notes, so if the harmony sounds a bit disjointed and unpredictable that’ll be why!
Find out more at…
www.michaelgrantmusician.com/mdw
P.S. Yes I know today isn’t technically a Monday, however I’m sure people have better things to do on Christmas Day than reading my blog posts so I thought it prudent to get this one out of the way a little in advance!
Christmas with The Dixie Beats
I’ll be heading out in a couple of hours to play some trad. jazz clarionet at Glossop Jazz Club with The Dixie Beats, in their final gig of the year. But before I do, I thought it would be appropriate to share these pictures of our previous Christmas gig at Eagley Jazz Club on 4th December (accompanied by a track from our new album – further details to follow…). Thank you to Fred Burnett from jazznorthwest.co.uk, who also had the following kind words to say:
“…this was one of the most exciting bands I’ve seen in a long time, with their own twist on each number. When it came to playing ensemble, I reckon Craig Revel Horwood would have given them a 10 for being in sync.”
New Music Monday, #51: ‘Finale’
Every Monday throughout 2023 I will be highlighting a different piece of music that I have either written or been closely involved with. And this week, prepare to get married because it’s…
What’s it called?
Finale.
What’s it from?
‘Mongolian Death Worm: A Puppet Show Musical’, the show what I wrote, starred in, directed, produced, edited etc. with my regular collaborator Mister James Ure during the first national lockdown in 2020. It’s a full 68 minutes of silliness, centring around the search for a mysterious creature that has been pilfering steaks from a village community somewhere near the Gobi Desert.
What’s it all about?
Without wishing to give away too many spoilers, it’s a well-known fact that for a musical to be good it absolutely has to end with at least one wedding. Ours is no exception, and this song – which is actually several little songs rolled into one – self-indulgently takes us through the entire ceremony from “Dearly beloved” right through to “You may now kiss the worm”, before a grand song-and-dance finale brings the entire musical to a satisfying close.
Listen out for…
There are so many great details in this one, so here’s a bit of a list:
- The parody of Wagner’s ‘Here Comes the Bride’, but based on the melody of ‘Untitled Worm Song (Part I)’ (0:00-0:25).
- The parody of ‘All Things Bright and Beautiful’, but with new worm-related lyrics (0:43-1:38).
- The homage to Tony Burrello’s classic comedy song ‘There’s A New Sound (The Sound Of Worms)’ (1:49-2:12).
- The parody of ‘Minnie the Moocher’, which descends into Shooby Taylor-esque scat singing (2:49-4:07).
- One of my favourite jokes in the whole show:
ROY: Normally people buy each other metal rings, not fungal infections.
WORM: But you said, “I want you to buy me a ring worm”! - One of my favourite fills/transitions, which at 7:27 leads into the final section.
Find out more at…
www.michaelgrantmusician.com/mdw
New Music Monday, #50: ‘I Saw Him In My Dreams’
Every Monday throughout 2023 I will be highlighting a different piece of music that I have either written or been closely involved with. And this week, prepare to enjoy the delights of a standard piece of DIY equipment because it’s…
What’s it called?
I Saw Him In My Dreams.
What’s it from?
According to the apocryphal tales, ‘The Attack of the Dancing Demon Lollipop Man from Hell’ was to be the crowning glory in the career of esteemed filmmaker Armando Allegro, telling the story of an ordinary man who becomes possessed by the spirit of an evil road safety officer (with horrific consequences). Sadly the film itself has been lost forever, however parts of the soundtrack did survive to be later reconstructed by myself and the enigmatic Mister James Ure. This EP, released in 2022, is the result of those reconstructions.
What’s it all about?
This is some low-level-creepy background music that was presumably originally written to play in the background of a scene, and give it a general air of unease and supernatural mystery.
Listen out for…
The really really REALLY clever way it turns itself backwards over its duration. This was achieved by first taking the completed piece, reversing it, and superimposing this back-to-front version over the original. Then the forwards version was gradually faded out while at the same time its backwards counterpart was gradually faded in, meaning that over the course of the piece it imperceptibly morphs into its own retrograde. You can hear this most clearly by comparing the noise at 0:25 with its reversed counterpart at 3:05.
By the way, in case you’re wondering, the title is actually a pun on the jazz standard ‘I’ll See You In My Dreams’, but tweaked to accommodate the fact this piece features a solo musical saw.
Find out more at…
www.michaelgrantmusician.com/lollipop
New Music Monday, #49: ‘Stop and Smell the Roses’
Every Monday throughout 2023 I will be highlighting a different piece of music that I have either written or been closely involved with. And this week, prepare to just calm down and chill for a bit because it’s…
What’s it called?
Stop and Smell the Roses.
What’s it from?
My 2019 ragtime musical ‘It’s Not Really the Apocalypse’, which tells the story of four old friends who wake up one morning to discover they are the only people remaining on planet Earth.
What’s it all about?
This song comes quite late in the show, when all the characters have worked through their various conflicts and are beginning to see their situation with new eyes. Joe in particular has realised the folly of his workaholic tendencies, and resolves to let go a bit more and make time to enjoy the world that still remains. In that spirit, he whisks Helen and Lizzie off to the beach for some rest and relaxation, and while there he tells them a story that may even be based loosely on real life. Not that he’d admit it!
Listen out for…
The assortment of rose-related idioms that I managed to squeeze into the lyrics from 5:00 onwards. A particular favourite – and possibly my proudest lyric of the whole show – is my variation on Shakespeare’s “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet” quote. When writing that section I initially came up with the idea of “They feel at home in [something something], By other names they smell as sweet”, however now I needed to think of two different soil types, both a single syllable long, one of which rhymed with ‘sweet’. Hmm… Then in a flash of inspiration the solution came to me, resulting in the line:
“They feel at home in loam or peat,
By other names they smell as sweet.”
By other names they smell as sweet.”
Which gives me even greater satisfaction because ‘loam’ also forms an extra rhyme with ‘home’. Lyric writing can be hard at times, but occasionally everything just falls into place like a perfect jigsaw!
Find out more at…
www.michaelgrantmusician.com/inrta
Video: ‘Variations on a Theme’ by Paul Wellings-Longmore
I recently had the pleasure of collaborating with Cambridge-based composer Paul Wellings-Longmore, who despite not playing any musical instruments himself has written some thoroughly charming pieces for a variety of woodwind ensembles. He’s kindly allowed me to share the results of one of these projects, and so I’d like to present ‘Variations on a Theme’, with me on the clarimanet and the bassoooooon parts and the superb Nicole Marriott Fullmer on obomaboe.
Also, bonus points if you can name the theme. I’ll give you a clue: think ‘birds’.
New Music Monday, #48: ‘Thunderstorm’
Every Monday throughout 2023 I will be highlighting a different piece of music that I have either written or been closely involved with. And this week, prepare to pack a decent umbrella because it’s…
What’s it called?
Thunderstorm.
What’s it from?
‘Mongolian Death Worm: A Puppet Show Musical’, the show what I wrote, starred in, directed, produced, edited etc. with my regular collaborator Mister James Ure during the first national lockdown in 2020. It’s a full 68 minutes of silliness, centring around the search for a mysterious creature that has been pilfering steaks from a village community somewhere near the Gobi Desert.
What’s it all about?
Those poor villagers have just been singing all about how scared they are of the Mongolian Death Worm and how little pleasure they would derive from meeting it in person, when – shock horror – a thunderstorm begins and sends them scurrying for shelter (because they know it’s the worm’s favourite kind of weather)! Then when they’ve all escaped, a massive sign descends from the heavens proclaiming the title of the cardboard-based epic that is by this time in full swing.
Listen out for…
The big over-the-top horror film chords at 0:23, which accompany the reveal of the film’s title and synchronise with on-screen lightning strikes. Very scary stuff indeed.
Find out more at…
www.michaelgrantmusician.com/mdw
New Music Monday, #47: ‘Vision of Triumph’
Every Monday throughout 2023 I will be highlighting a different piece of music that I have either written or been closely involved with. And this week, prepare to punch the air and shout “YESSSSHHHHHHH!!!” because it’s…
What’s it called?
Vision of Triumph.
What’s it from?
‘Miniatures’, my 2023 album of classical piano compositions.
What’s it all about?
A celebratory piece which takes influence from such compositions as Mussorgsky’s ‘The Great Gate of Kiev’ and the final movement of Brahms’ ‘Symphony No. 1’, I can’t help feeling that there is a certain shallowness underlying the bombast of ‘Vision of Triumph’. It feels a bit like an idealised form of victory that comes without a cost, hence the word ‘vision’ – maybe this piece represents what you think triumph is going to be like, even though when it actually arrives it may not be so simplistic.
Listen out for…
The more orchestral style of writing in this piece – you can surely imagine the big block chords being blasted out by a brass section, the lyrical melodies floating over from the strings, and of course the bass tremolos booming out from the timpani. It would definitely be an interesting exercise to fully orchestrate this piece one day, to see what it would sound like in full technicolor.
Find out more at…
www.michaelgrantmusician.com/miniatures
