The Overture is one of four compositions included in Bruce Jackson’s doctoral dissertation. The composition is typical of his third stream style influenced by Gunther Schuller, who was serving as President of New England Conservatory of Music while Bruce was a student there. It was Dr. Schuller who encouraged him to develop a program of study that included Jazz Studies and Bass Guitar. Recorded in 1994. (Description continued on Part 2)
©1993 Bruce Jackson
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Music
Job, A Modern Oratorio (Part 4 of 4)
(cont.) Special guest vocalists and readers from the community joined the group in this setting of the Book of Job. Readings of the words of the antagonists were accompanied by improvisations on synthesizer and percussion. Recorded in 1980.
©1980 Bruce Jackson
Job, A modern oratorio (Part 3 of 4)
(cont.) This work is typical of his dissonant style with its avoidance on consonant intervals, employment of disjointed melodic lines, and use of contemporary contrapuntal techniques. Recorded in 1980. (Description continued on Part 4)
©1980 Bruce Jackson
Job, A Modern Oratorio (Part 2 of 4)
(cont.) The oratorio was performed under the direction of Dr. Jack Groh by the Schola Cantorum, the premier vocal ensemble of the University of Arkansas. Performers were drawn from the community and the Northwest Arkansas Symphony Orchestra. Recorded in 1980. (Description continued on Part 3)
©1980 Bruce Jackson
Job, A modern oratorio (Part 1 of 4)
This recording is an excerpt from Bruce Jackson’s masters’ thesis at the University of Arkansas. His thesis included a second work titled Sermon of Psalms for Soprano and Quintet, based on Psalms 11 – 15. Recorded in 1980.
©1980 Bruce Jackson
Opera Improvisation
This brief excerpt is an improvisation on themes from Bruce’s latest compositional project. Recording on an old Tascam four-track used for experimentation and exploration, Bruce cut three tracks improvising on themes from the suite that serves as the musical foundation for his opera project. Since concluding his volume of poetry Tales, Politics and Religion, he has been focusing on this major work. Recorded: July 2007.
c2007 Bruce Jackson
Goin’ Fishin’
A musical joke, this up-tempo blues was an early training piece introducing the lads to this important style. This recording omits several verses, since it was recorded for a demo. Though it incorporates a story line utterly out of the experience of the band, it is meant to be nothing more than a bit of tongue-in-cheek. In this recording, Bruce did all the vocals and bass work, Kelsey (age 12) was on synthesizer, and Aaron (age 14) was on percussion. Galen did not perform on this recording. Recorded in 1998.
© 1998 by Exis Jaxn
Discourse for the Saxophone Quartet (Part 1 of 2)
Bruce Jackson composed Discourse for the saxophone ensemble directed by Dr. Jackie Lamar at University of Central Arkansas. The work was performed at a regional saxophone conference and at U.C.A. Recorded in 1996. (Description continued on Part 2)
©1995 Bruce Jackson
Discourse for Saxophone Quarted (Part 2 of 2)
(cont.) Discourse for Saxophone Quartet is typical of the more consonant later style that Bruce was developing immediately after the compositions for his doctoral dissertation. This work was composed in response to the emerging popularity of the sax quartet. Recorded in 1996.
©1995 Bruce Jackson
Angel
The Exis Jaxn Band originally intended to emphasize vocals. Here both Galen and Kelsey harmonize vocally with Bruce on this early training piece in Latin jazz genre. This style has always been a favorite of the band. In this recording, Bruce did the bass work, Kelsey (age 12) was on synthesizer, and Aaron (age 14) played set. This recording was shortened into a demo format typical of early Exis Jaxn recordings. Recorded in 1998.
© 1998 by Exis Jaxn