A quartet is made of 4 players. It can be fun to play with numbers. Maestro! Count us in: Ah 1, and-ah 2, and-ah 3…
Quartet Beginnings
As promised, I’m releasing a new suite. This is the one with two sets of four performers. Whether you call it a band, a 4-piece, or a piano trio, it’s all fine with me. More fun with numbers.
In this particular suite, all four songs are in 3-count — also known as 3/4 time signature. 4 of 4 plus 4 in 3. See? I told you this is fun.
Speaking of fun: don’t be fooled by the title of the title of the first piece. It’s not lusciously. It is “Luciously Lyrical”. Lucy did what?
Let’s Keep Playing
The first track starts with the piano quartet. Their theme is repeated by the rock band (another 4-piece). Finally, the theme is restated by the piano. This is the most simple arrangement. Each band plays and then one soloist.
Next up is “Prescient Pitches”. I’ll let you sort out the arrangement in this one. Not so straightforward this time, though the musical melodies are repetitive enough to sing along with.
Pretty Foursome
I have a mentor who sometimes says, “Don’t get precious”. What she means by this as an improvisation teacher is that it’s easy to get too predictable or aim for the heartstrings of the listener.
So, in the third piece, I let the piano and the lead guitar go wild with improvisations over a sweet set of three chord sequences. Just when you think it will get too precious, there’s another surprise before the all-too-sweet ending.
Quartet Endings As Starting Anew
Messing with the formula yet again, we hear the final track, “Blister Breaker”. This time the quartets are much more intermingled. The acoustic guitar replaces the piano in the orchestral quartet, the piano accompanies the bass, and so on.
Yeah, it’s fun to have two quartets in three. I hope you enjoy their interplay in these four pieces.
If Bandcamp is not your thing, this suite is also on Mirlo, Bandwagon, and Subvert. Coming soon to the commercial streamers.
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Good luck with your collaboration with the two bands! It will certainly be exciting and stimulating – it always is. Despite my love for classical music, I’ve always been fascinated by good rock bands, especially those that have moved away from the mainstream. Prescient Pitches does that.
Thanks, Friedrich! Yes, this was so fun to create. I dipped into my connections with orchestral/classical, rock, and jazz music in these 4 short pieces.
Thanks for listening and responding!
That was a really great listening experience Stan. This orchestral/rock adventure of yours is fascinating. And the recent ethnic vibes are cool too. All the best.
Thanks so much. This means a lot to me, coming from you!
Thank you Stan. It is kind of you to say. I like your idea of ‘band’ philosophy. I’ve been thinking more deeply recently regarding this outlook. It would be fantastic to get my musician friends from our younger years to play on these new songs. Your posts and uploads have been really interesting and have reminded me of ‘individualism’. The nature of having a synergy of musicianship with variety. Having my friends’ own styles contributing and producing a different dynamic to the overall sound results of my new songs. Maybe they have songs of their own too.
So cheers for this.
Oh yes! I like the way you are looking at this. I often make up personas for my band mates including moodiness and stylistic leanings. This can often help me to extend my composing/songwriting into places I might not go normally. “Blister Breaker” was particularly giving in to the pianist and lead guitarist in these two bands.
Thanks – as always – for your insightful input.
Cheers Stan. Luckily my friends from those band days are still playing. My brother and John the drummer have been jamming together recently and are going to a play live open mic next month. So it is not an impossible task to see this through.
I do like your marrying these distinct styles together. Very inventive.
too.
Awesome.
Check my live gigs and you’ll see some of the collaborations I’m involved in.
Will do. I did see a video of your piano presentation regarding improvisation about a month or two ago. I’ll check out more.
Here’s my gig listing: https://muz4now.com/events-gigs-stan-stewart/