Funk Off

My first meaningful experiences in music came in early high school when I got my first guitar, an old Yamaha acoustic whose neck has since warped into a giant U. When my mom gave it to me on Christmas, I was stoked. I could now learn to play all of my favorite bands and become the next great rock god. While sadly the latter has not come true, the guitar is the main reason that I am composing today. The guitar helped me to truly connect with music that I was passionate about. Funk Off is a tribute to my early experiences in music and a way of tapping into the genres of music that I grew up loving. Throughout the piece, there are elements of funk and jazz and even my take on the famous "Hendrix Chord" from Purple Haze. The piece, however, is not straight up popular music. I deliberately tried to fuse many of the techniques and concepts that I have acquired through my formalized training in composition. Rather, Funk Off is a quirky blend of my many influences and ultimately a piece that blurs the line between New Music and popular music.

Instrumentation: saxophone quartet

Year: 2011

Duration: 8 minutes

Program Note:
My first meaningful experiences in music came in early high school when I got my first guitar, an old Yamaha acoustic whose neck has since warped into a giant U. When my mom gave it to me on Christmas, I was stoked. I could now learn to play all of my favorite bands and become the next great rock god. While sadly the latter has not come true, the guitar is the main reason that I am composing today. The guitar helped me truly connect with music I was passionate about.

Funk Off is a tribute to my early experiences in music and a way of tapping into the genres of music that I grew up loving. Throughout the piece, there are elements of funk and jazz and even my take on the famous "Hendrix Chord" from Purple Haze. The piece, however, is not pure popular music. I deliberately tried to fuse many of the techniques and concepts I have acquired through my formalized training in composition. Rather, Funk Off is a quirky blend of my many influences and ultimately a piece that blurs the line between New Music and popular music.