When Ilan Morgenstern approached me to write a piece for seven of the world’s finest bass trombonists, I was in the process of mixing my upcoming album of original Alphorn music,en plein air(2024), which is all about echoing soundscapes and tasty global grooves. Mixing that project felt very architectural, in that I was building lush acoustic environments and tight rhythmic sections inside my DAW and placing the Alphorn within them. With GrooveScape #1, I continued to play with this idea in a live performance context. The piece opens with a series of spatial fanfares, using rapid articulations that bounce back and forth across the ensemble. After the introduction, a stentorian melody emerges out of flowing semitones, then builds to a driving groove in the Phrygian Dominant mode. Next comes an almost-nostalgic lyrical interlude in the Lydian mode, with a dialogue between two soloists at the bookends of the ensemble. Following the recapitulation, the piece ends with a blistering coda, showcasing the sheer joy and excitement of high-octane trombone playing.
‘Don’t just play the trombone: play the ROOM. The room is your instrument.’ - Jim Hopson, August 2024
