• Date - 2007
• Dur -18'
• Inst - jazz sextet
• Premier - March 20, 2007: UAB Hulsey Recital Hall, Birmingham, AL

This suite for jazz sextet represents a variety of influences on both my jazz composition and performing, from such luminaries as Charles Mingus, Miles Davis, Ornette Coleman, and John Coltrane. It is a long-form composition set in three movements, entitled Blue, Yellow, and Red, each with different musical characteristics and synaesthetic connections I associate with those colors.

The movements are continuous, but separated by free-form improvisations by the guitar (between Blue and Yellow) and the drums (between Yellow and Red). The harmonic language is inspired both by tradition, as heard in the modified blues-form solos of the Blue section; and by the often dissonant, always challenging innovations of the jazz giants listed above. The title is inspired by similar titles used by the De Stijl painter Piet Mondrian (1872-1944), whose stark geometric patterns and exclusive use of primary colors made his works hallmarks of 20th century art.

CBYR premiered at my UAB Senior Composition Recital on March 20, 2007, with members of the UAB Honors Jazz Combo performing. The recordings to your right are from that performance; they are meant to be listened to as one continuous work. I broke them into five sections to save file size.