Epistrophy Variations

This
 piece
 reflects 
rhythmic 
interests
 I 
developed while
 playing 
with
 Ade 
Knowles
 and
 others 
in 
the
 AfroEurasian
 Connection/New
 African
 Music
 Collective.
 Ade
 is
 a
 superb
 percussionist
 in
 Afro- Cuban
and
West
African
(esp.
Ghana)
traditions.
The 
suite 
takes 
the
form
 of 
a 
set 
of 
variations
 based
 on
 the
 chord
 changes
 to
 Thelonius
 Monk’s
 "Epistrophy."
 Monk’s
 melody
 is
 not
 used
 the
 piece.

 




Note
 that
 the
 time
 feel
 for
 this
 piece
 is
 not
 a
 jazz
 time
 feel,
 it
 is
 to
 be
 played
 (more
 or
 less)
 straight.

 




The
 idea
 of
 creating
 a
 multi-movement
 suite
 by
 providing
 different
 rhythmic
 settings
 for
 the
 same
 melodic/harmonic
 material
 goes
 back
 at
 least
 to
 Chico
 O’Farrill’s
 “Manteca
 Suite.”
 This
 was
 written
 for
 Dizzy
 Gillespie—based,
 of 
course,
 on 
his
 tune—and 
recorded
 on 
Verve
 in
 1954.
 O’Farrill
 uses
 standard
 Latin
 rhythms
 as
 the
 basis
 of
 this
 four-movement
 suite,
 with
 the
 first
 movement
 being 
similar
 to 
Gil
 Fuller’s 
original 
chart 
for
 “Manteca.”