Results
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£30.00Building on Sand - Jock McKenzie
This piece was composed with the intention of replicating some of the sounds of the New Orleans Brass Bands; particularly those whose music has a funky, riff-based edge to their sound e.g. the Hot 8, Rebirth, Dirty Dozen and Soul Rebels brass bands. As well as elements of the second line parade, the music also has a full-on, swing out section.
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£30.00Creature's Comfort - Jock McKenzie
This piece was written with the intention of being either an encore or end of set number; not a full-on technical 'tour de force' but rather a few minutes of 'comfort & chill' music consisting of a Blues / Gospel feel with a bit of Do-Wop thrown in for good measure.
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£30.00Dapperidoo - Jock McKenzie
The composition of "Dapperidoo" was inspired by the writing of P.G. Wodehouse and aims to create an ambience of humour and faux sophistication in the 1920's style. "Dapperidoo" is a nonsense word typically expressed by some of Wodehouse's more hapless characters.
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£30.00Django - Jock McKenzie
Django is inspired by the sounds of 'Hot Club Jazz'. The origins of this style also known as Gypsy Swing or Jazz Manouche were to be found in France in the 1930s. Indeed, the most famous group, based in Paris was the "Quintette du Hot Club de France" and featured in its ranks the legendary guitarist Django Reinhardt and violinist Stephane Grappelli. My composition Django seeks to provide a 'beginners guide' to some of the typical elements of this musical style: After a 'faux improvised' opening flourish, the main theme is in the characteristic minor key, including use of arpeggio figures to point the direction of the melodic line. The melodies throughout the piece are presented in a duet-like manner, spaced in intervals of 3rds and 6ths. The accompaniment based strongly around the minor 6th chords is designed to imitate the role of the rhythm section in a typical gypsy swing band.
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£30.00Espresso Street - Jock McKenzie
Musically this piece packs a real punch - with hints of Soca, Calyspo and Township. Definitely a piece that can be taken to the streets for a festival / party / parade / carnival etc. Just like the coffee, the duration of the piece can be adapted to suite the mood and need.
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£30.00Home Coming - Jock McKenzie
This was written with the intention of creating a 'feel good' piece with a particular emphasis on chilling out; music for a late summer evening after the barbecue embers have finally stopped glowing. The piece is unashamedly influenced by the slower, lazy-tempo numbers of the South African greats Hugh Masekela and Abdullah Ibrahim.
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£40.00Incoming ! - Jock McKenzie
I was delighted to accept this commission by the Footscray Yarraville City Band and their conductor (my friend & ex colleague) Louisa Lawless. I have made my response to the request to compose an upbeat opener and to adhere to the suggestion of something in the big band style.
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£30.00Junction 9 - Jock McKenzie
Junction 9 is my local access point to the nearby motorway. Indeed, Junction 9 is used by a significant number of musicians from my local area. From here we join the road network that gets us to our gigs and rehearsals. The approach roads to Junction 9 are elevated from the motorway itself, and as we draw near to the junction, we can see what lies in prospect - congestion or free-flowing traffic.
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£30.00Man from a Clan - Jock McKenzie
I wrote this piece as I watched the Scottish football side in the recent World Cup of 2021. At the time, all sorts of patriotic music was being played. As I listened it occurred to me that with just a handful of subtle musical nuances, music that was undeniably Scottish could be created from all manner of disparate sources.
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£30.00Meanwhile - Jock McKenzie
Just imagine being free of stress, anxiety, time pressures, workload & the general 'busy-ness' of everyday life... For the lucky few that may find themselves in this position, the clock keeps ticking for the rest of us. "Meanwhile" seeks to represent the relentless challenges of the 'everyday'. It is a full-on, driving swing number, very much in the style of a big band chart. In my orchestration of this piece I have deliberately treated the brass dectet somewhat similarly to that of a big band / jazz orchestra. The two 'rows' of four trumpets and four trombones are employed in the typical way, with the horn representing a unison / octave saxophone section. The tuba busily walks around the harmonic foundation of the piece. This piece was conceived out of the chaos of an overcrowded school music department. In one room I was rehearsing a brass ensemble whilst the other side of a (very) thin wall was a saxophone group attempting to make themselves heard over our dulcet tones. The brass ensemble would stop regularly to receive pearls of wisdom from yours truly, MEANWHILE the saxes could be heard in these gaps, plodding through their material. This seemed to go on interminably. In this piece the independent horn line represents the work weary saxes; occasionally breaking through the textures of the other brass lines. J.M.