Hazel Leach : Composer

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String quartets with rhythm section

These 3 quartets were all written in 1996 for a project headed by friend and colleague Michael Gustorff, who teaches jazz-violin at the Arnhem Institute of the Arts. They are jazz quartets: space for improvisation is integrated into the composed sections, accompanied by a jazz rhythm section of piano, bass and drums.

Information about ordering the music can be found on the "contact" page- see link above.


Miniature

...is a shorter version of a song called "Self-Portrait", which I wrote for bigband with vocalist. It was recorded by The United Women's Orchestra with Sam Leigh-Brown on their second cd "The Blue One".

The piece is a slow, expressive ballad with an open solo section over the changes of the song.
Length: 6 minutes (minimum, depending on solos)

An extract from the score is included below as pdf file.


Siringo Rondo

This is an arrangement of the "duet" part of "Siringo Road", a piece for bigband. It was recorded by The United Women's Orchestra on their second cd "The Blue One". The duet has acquired a life of its own, so it seemed a good idea to expand it out into a quartet version.
The leadsheet of the duet can be downloaded from the "Siringo Road" page.

The music is a romantic ballad with open solos.
Length: minimum 6 minutes.


Third Party

..alias "Mabel's Birthday", a piece for bigband which was recorded by The United Women's Orchestra on their first cd.
The music is a rolling afro feel, switching between 6/8 and 3/4. There are several improvised sections (all optional): an open drum solo as intro, a free/collective "dialogue" section as well as a more conventional set of solo changes.
Length: at least 4'30", more if solos are extended.

Links
Miniature pp1-3.pdf
Self-Portrait
Siringo Road
Mabel's Birthday
The United Women's Orchestra
Michael Gustorff

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