Obamalogue
This work is based on Barack Obama’s autobiography Dreams from My Father. It’s a sort of travelogue about Obama using music from Hawaii, Indonesia and Kenya and original music and text by Charley Gerard featuring Gino Sitson.
Scored for BRSQ plus drums, piano, vocals
Music for Colluders
Music for Colluders These pieces cover the Trump gang’s involvement with Russian hacking of the 2016 election. Actual Trump tweets are included for comic effect
Scored for BRSQ plus spoken text
Those Who Were
In 2009 Charley Gerard received the prestigious New Jazz Works grant from Chamber Music America with the generous support of the Doris Duke Foundation. Practically the day he received it he made plans to write a work dedicated to loved ones. One example is “Don’t Forget the Cork Grease” written for Tom Olin, who played in the group for 8 years.
Scored for BRSQ
Father McKenzie in Cuba
A series of original works as well as danzas by 19th century Cuban composer Ignacio Cervantes. The premise is that Father McKenzie, a character represented in the Lennon-McCartney song “Eleanor Rigby” lived in Cuba, had a life in Cuba before being sent back home after a car accident in which he killed a cow.
Scored for BRSQ plus Latin percussion
Gumbo Sax: The Music of New Orleans
New Orleans is the birthplace of Jelly Roll Morton (one of the inventors of jazz) and Louis Armstrong, Mardi Gras Indians, the Boswell Sisters, and for a distinct style of rhythm ’n blues. This work features original takes on this body of music.
Scored for BRSQ plus drums
Sugar Baby's Baby in America:
a Celebration of Southern Culture
This work is a mix of original music and folk music taken from the famous Anthology of American Folk Music, edited by Harry Smith. The title is taken from the folksong “Sugar Baby” recorded by Dock Boggs. Also included is music by Jimmy Giuffre from his swamp music period.
Scored for BRSQ
Mustang Sally: Rock Gets the Blues
Creative arrangements of songs from the late 1950s on that are based on the blues. The blues form includes everything from the basic 12-bar blues to 24-bar blues in which the basic harmonic structure is doubled to blues with extensions. In addition to “Mustang Sally,” there are songs by Bob Dylan, Cream, Lennon-McCartney as well as original pieces.
Scored for BRSQ plus vocals
Doo Wop Celebrated and Reworked
The vocal groups of the early 1950s created a unique body of songs that just beg for an ironic treatment, but they have a beauty all their own. This project includes the Marcels’ version of “Blue Moon,” the Fleetwoods’ “Come Softly to Me,” Fats Domino’s version of “Blueberry Hill,” and more.
Scored for BRSQ plus piano
Mozart Swings
This project features “Charles Bukowski Liked Mozart” which is based on Mozart’s 25th violin sonata. Like the original it’s in three movements. Each movement has a title based on the writing of Charles Bukowski and to throw in some notes befitting a balance-losing drunk.
Scored for BRSQ plus piano