Fess, Etc.
Michael Wittgraf
About this work:
Fess, Etc.
Program Notes
Fess, Etc. is an 11 minute work for a single percussionist. It was composed in 2006 for Brett Dietz. It features only indefinitely pitched percussion instruments: 2 snare drums, 1 tom-tom, 5 roto-toms, 6 cymbals, 2 bongos, and 2 congas.
The “Fess” portion of the title refers to Professor Longhair (1918-1980), whose nickname was ‘Fess, the pianist who pioneered the New Orleans R&B piano sound and the second line beat that is characteristic of such music. “Etc.” refers to those who, along with ‘Fess, built that sound into a powerful American musical voice. Some of those musicians include The Wild Magnolias, The Meters, The Neville Brothers, and Dr. John.
“Fess, Etc.” takes themes from two second line standards: Big Chief and Hey Pocky Away. The music opens with an introductory statement that includes the beginning of the primary melody from Big Chief, adjusted, of course, to accommodate the lack of definite pitches in the instruments. That “melody” serves as one of the unifying motives of the music. Another motive, consisting of five rapid beats progressing from soft to loud and not derived from other music, appears closely afterward. Later in the piece there is a third primary motive, which is derived from the second line beat of The Meter’s version of Hey Pocky Away. These primary motives progress from occupying their own separate spaces to eventually being combined, dovetailed, transformed and otherwise abused in ways that require the performer to execute difficult meter and tempo changes. This “mixing” of motives culminates in an extended flurry of notes, and the music finishes with successive appearances of the Big Chief and Hey Pocky Away motives.
Year composed: 2006
Duration: 00:11:00
Ensemble type: Solo instrument, non-keyboard:Percussion (General)
Instrumentation: 1 Percussion (General)
Instrumentation notes: unpitched percussion