Listen to Greg Ward’s ‘Scorch’ for jazz quartet and string orchestra

Saxophonist and composer Greg Ward has released a free recording of a new concerto for string orchestra and jazz quartet.

Here are his notes about the work:

I’m releasing some new music but there’s a bit of a story behind this piece. In 2010, I was commissioned by the Brazos Valley Symphony Orchestra to compose a piece for string orchestra and jazz quartet. My quartet at the time, Fitted Shards, featuring Rob Clearfield, Jeff Greene, and Quinlan Kirchner, premiered the work in College Station, TX, in 2011. In 2012, I received the Van Leir Fellowship from New Music USA and decided to record the piece. We completed this project at Caleb Willitz’s studio, Rattle Snake Studios that summer. A bit of time passed as we mixed the piece when we both had time. Around 2015, I believe, Caleb’s studio burned to the ground, along with the rest of the building. Miraculously, the hard drives with all of the files from our session and so many more were left untouched by the flames and, when Caleb went turn on the drives, they turned on and were functional. Amazing! We finally finished the mix in 2016. Manny Sanchez mastered it in 2017 and I’ve been sitting on it every since, waiting for the right moment or situation to release this piece. I figured that there’s no better time than now.

You can listen to it on SoundCloud here. Greenleaf subscribers can listen here.

Enjoy the music and thank you to Greg for sharing his artistry!

Details:

Scorch: Concerto for Jazz Quartet and String Orchestra featuring:
Greg Ward – Alto Sax/Composition
Rob Clearfield – Keyboard
Jeff Greene – Electric Bass
Makaya McCraven – Drums
Aurelien Pederzoli – Violin 1 and 2
Dominic Johnson – Viola
Jocelyn Butler Shoulders – Cello
Christian Dillingham – Bass

Production Credits:
Recorded at Rattle Snake Studios in 2012
Recorded and Mixed by Caleb Willitz
Mastered by Manny Sanchez

Commissioned by the Brazos Valley Symphony Orchestra