Description
Triangles, for Tuba Octet (4 Euphoniums, 2 Bass Tubas, 2 Contra-Bass Tubas and Drums), was commissioned by Adam Frey for his 2024 IET Festival and premiered there by a mass Euphonium/Tuba Ensemble. It is an expanded and re-arranged version of a Jazz Waltz that I had recently recorded on my Touch and Go CD for Jazz Quintet. Both were inspired by a tune I recorded on my Basset Hound Blues CD. I loved the easy-going groove and the harmonic minor scales and thought it work be good for a larger Tuba/Euphonium group. The chart begins with a contra-bass tuba intro into the melody played by the bass tubas. They play a bass line throughout the piece. The song form repeats with the high euphoniums in stretto on the melody with the bass tubas—one beat apart! The 3rd statement is a written-out jazz solo for the 1st bass tuba and the 4th by a written-out jazz solo for the 1st euphonium. The original tune and stretto are repeated. A short coda ending has all of the parts playing a unison line. (There is an optional drum set part if wished).
Jim Self is a Los Angeles free-lance musician, a veteran of thousands of motion pictures, television shows and records, and tuba soloist on many prominent movies. He is Principal Tubist with the Pasadena and Pacific Symphonies, the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra and the Los Angeles Opera and Opera Pacific orchestras. His compositions and arrangements include works for solo tuba, brass quintet, and other brass and woodwind chamber music.
More about Jim and his recordings can be found here:
Basset Hound Music – http://www.bassethoundmusic.com
