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On May 3rd, 2005, I was asked by guitarist Daniel Lippel to write a piece for his ensemble Flexible Music. Looking on my calendar (which lists musicians’ birthdays), I realized that the day was also the birthday of Soul Brother No. 1, James Brown. After doing some free association between James Brown songs and the piece I was listening to at the time (Messiaen’s Poèmes pour mi), I realized that when mapped to rhythms, several of Messiaen’s Modes of Limited Transposition yield rhythmic tattoos found in late 60’s/early 70’s era James Brown songs. After seeing this connection, I decided to write a piece that would attempt to fuse the music of James Brown and Olivier Messiaen on a deeper level. The result of this exercise is Throw Down or Shut Up!
The piece is set in A-B-A form, where the outer ensemble sections are comprised of “background” material that begins as a pedal but quickly grows in complexity. Each change in complexity occurs at shorter and shorter intervals, propelling the music forward. Over this background material, each instrument trades off short, “funky” riffs. The central section features solos for all four instruments (the “throwing down” of the title). Throughout the piece allusions (some less obvious than others) are made to Brown’s Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag, I Got You (I Feel Good), I Got the Feeling, and Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine as well as Messiaen’s Poèmes pour mi, Quatuor pour la fin du temps, Visions de l’amen, and Oiseaux exotiques.
– Vineet Shende

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from Throw Down or Shut Up!, released May 14, 2020
Composed by Vineet Shende

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Thompson Jazz Faculty Boulder, Colorado

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