Calendula

Calendula

Duration: Improvisation – average 7:00

Instrumentation: tenor saxophone, double bass

Calendula, written for Harvey Wainapel and John Wiitala, was developed into a piece for improvisation from sections of an earlier through-composed work, Chaconne, for cello and bass. It’s inspiration came from the memory of a performance I saw as a young jazz undergraduate in 1984, of Joe Henderson and Larry Grenadier playing Joe’s composition Black Narcissus. The minor 10th arpeggiated by the bass stuck in my mind all those years. When Harvey Wainapel & John Wiitala premiered Calendula at the San Francisco Jazz Festival in 2001, Joe had recently passed away and the piece was dedicated to him. Written in 3/4 time, the chromatic yet tuneful tenor melody and arpeggiated bass line travel through an ever-changing harmonic progression, reminiscent of two of my favorite jazz composers, Wayne Shorter and of course, Joe Henderson.

SDPC 130 01 Score $5

SDPC 130 02 Tenor saxophone part $3