Something Blue

DJ Hairy Larry Presents ASU Students Playing Sympatico
From The Archives Of Something Blue 2025-03-23

Sympatico

Thanks Marty, today we’re going to hear one of my compositions recorded in the Fine Arts Recital Hall.

If you listen to me at all you know I love jazz and blues and that most of the pieces I write are at least a little bit of both. But what you might not know is that I have also written a lot of algorithmic compositions going all the way back to the eighties when I wrote a music program on a Kim single board computer and then I gave a talk for the ASU Association For Computing Machinery where I generated melodies based on the solos of John Coltrane and Charlie Parker using an Atari 800 computer.

When I was studying with Dr. Tacke I did some more algorithmic composition and I wrote this piece, “Sympatico”, about ten years ago, but I didn’t use a computer. I executed the algorithm the old fashioned way, with pencil and paper. And then I used the composer’s perogative of listening and picking the interesting bits for the piece. And I placed the parts I picked where I wanted them in the composition, keeping the algorithm in mind and I decided which instruments would play them.

And there were a lot of instruments, all played by ASU students except the vibes were played by Craig Collison, director of percussion studies.

Flute – Tyler Fields
Oboe – Devin Morton
English Horn – Devin Morton
Alto Sax – Clinton Curtis
Tenor Sax – Cody Ballard
Bari Sax – Lauren Dudley
Horn – Cassie Ferrell
Trumpet – TJ Irvin
Flugelhorn – Hunter Durham
Trombone – Adam Waddell
Tuba – Cody Duncan
Guitar – Alex Ditto
Vibes – Mr. Craig Collison
Drums – Addison Boling
Bass – Terrell Montgomery
Piano – Tyler Worsham

I love english horn as a jazz instrument but it is a rare bird. Fortunately a graduate student, Devin Morton, played both oboe and english horn really delivering the english horn solo. You’ll hear it because the english horn has a unique sound.

I also want to thank Dr. Carroll who rehearsed and directed the ensemble.

I will include a link to the piece and some extensive notes on the Internet Archive where I write, “I call the piece Post Zappa Impressionist. There are definite jazz influences but I think “Sympatico” is more heavily influenced by the 20th Century impressionists and by the work of Frank Zappa.”

Ok now, recorded on October 28, 2014, here’s all sixteen musicians playing “Sympatico”.

archive.org/details/hl2014-10-28
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