About this work:
This lead sheet version of Buzzards In Love is for small jazz groups. There is a separate entry for the full-ensemble score.
The music tells a story about two buzzards finding each other. Section titles in the score include: buzzard search for life's meaning, buzzard attraction, buzzard tango, buzzard dating, roadkill interlude (open improvisation section), and buzzard love in the sky. This piece has a spirit of fun and adventure.
The composition is dedicated to Charlie Mariano, one of my favorite teachers at Berklee. Besides being one of the greatest jazz alto saxophonists, Charlie had an equally great sense of humor.
The score has two sections where improvisation is used: "roadkill interlude" and over the 5/4 vamp toward the end. These sections can have any creative possibility taking place. The improv can be in a new music style, jazz, or even (as an example) using a violin to play in an old-time or bluegrass fiddle style. Anything creative and fun is fair game!
The musicians on the Roadkill Interlude section are Jason Shapiro, soprano saxophone; E. Shawn Qaissaunee, guitar; Brian Howell, bass; and Skip Rohrich, drums. The other sections of the composition (full score version) were produced with Silibelius software and is an approximation of how the piece sounds with a real band.