Ryan Truesdell

I wrote the first three movements of this work while studying with Bob Brookmeyer and Lee Hyla at New England Conservatory in Boston. I began with eight chords that provide the harmonic and intervallic material used to compose the entire work. “Shadows at Dawn” develops these chords, introducing a melodic motif and utilizing hemiola to establish a groove.

In “Branches of Night,” I experimented with the clarinet and strings alternating between lead and accompa­niment roles, expanding the depths of orchestra­tional color while adding textural interest. The clarinet cadenza was composed with Lee Hyla’s guidance, and I love how effortlessly Anat blurs the lines of the written music, making it sound improvised.

“Fire and Flowers” is my homage to the pizzicato-driven second movement of Maurice Ravel’s String Quartet in F Major. I used parallel voicings in the strings to emphasize one of my work’s key intervals — a perfect fifth — establishing an element of push-and-pull between the clarinet and strings, similar to that of a soloist and rhythm section in jazz.

The time constraints of the parameters for the original piece left me with the nagging feeling that it was incomplete. This project gave me the opportunity to finally bring this work to its conclusion. After 18 years, in order to make this final movement feel cohesive within the larger work, I needed to analyze my own writing and contextualize my compositional approach, essentially figuring out how to ghostwrite for my former self.

Written specifically with Anat and this quartet in mind, “Image of Mystery” continues the exploration of the intervallic and harmonic structure of the first three movements, leading to a climax which recalls the eight chords from the very beginning of the work. The experience of building upon the musical foundation of my past gave me an appreciation for the evolution of my compositional voice, and reflects where I am as a composer today. I am extremely proud and honored to finally share this now-complete work that represents nearly two decades of my development and growth as a composer.

Throughout this project, I observed how, if allowed, Jody’s open strings would ring seemingly forever, once played. This led me to the concept of Jody accompanying herself, letting her open strings provide the harmonic base for a melody played on the higher strings. Late one night, I was noodling around playing the cello’s open strings on piano when out of nowhere, this melody appeared — fully realized, including the title — and immediately spoke to Jody’s incredible musicianship and warm, caring and loyal soul. I’ve never had a compositional experience like that before — my process is typically slow and arduous — but by the time I had gotten it on paper, I knew the piece truly belonged to her.

To give Jody the freedom to improvise in the middle section, I augmented the quartet with my dear friend and legendary bassist, Jay Anderson, as I knew the melodic interplay between Jay and Jody would be an exquisite addition to this piece.

I am truly humbled by and thankful for whatever compositional higher power decided to choose me as a conduit for this piece on its way to Jody and her Heart of Gold. 

This melody had been in my head for years, and when I sat down to write a piece for Sara for this project, it resurfaced. I realized this would be the perfect vehicle, both for Sara to play, and for my long-dormant melody to finally be brought to fruition. It has a light, bouncy, Brazilian choro feel, with consecutive off-beats as the pulse, which is relatively uncommon in the string quartet vernacular.

As we rehearsed the piece, I quickly realized that what I had written was not a “solo with accompani­ment,” but rather a quartet with four equal parts. Each voice simultaneously serves a melodic, rhythmic, and harmonic function while passing around the lead and support roles to each other like a group of dancers on a stage, which inspired the title, translated directly from Portuguese to “dance of four.”

While the piece was ultimately composed as a feature for Sara, it became a chance for these four extremely talented musicians to revel in the joy and friendship that comes from the intimacy of making music together.

A world-renowned, GRAMMY® Award-winning producer, composer, arranger, and educator, Ryan Truesdell was voted “Best New Artist” in the 2012 JazzTimes Critic’s Poll and best known for his award-winning Gil Evans Project, a large ensemble devoted to the performance and preservation of the music of the famed arranger and Miles Davis collaborator, Gil Evans. This extensive project to unearth and bring to light some of the lesser-known music of Evans’ has resulted in two critically acclaimed albums: CENTENNIAL: Newly Discovered Works of Gil Evans (ArtistShare, 2012) which debuted ten never-before-recorded works of Evans’ in honor of his 100th birthday, and LINES OF COLOR: Live at Jazz Standard (Blue Note/ArtistShare, 2015), recorded live during the band’s annual residency at Jazz Standard in New York City. Both albums were unanimously praised by the critics, receiving a total of four GRAMMY® nominations and a posthumous GRAMMY® Award for “Best Instrumental Arrangement” for Evans, in addition to two Jazz Journalist Association Jazz Awards for ‘Record of the Year’ and ‘Large Ensemble of the Year,’ UK JazzFM Awards Nomination for ‘Album of the Year’ and the "Les Coups De Coeur" from France's Académie Charles Cros.

In the studio, Truesdell has proven himself an invaluable resource, notably producing Maria Schneider Orchestra’s albums Concert in the Garden (2004), Sky Blue (2008), The Thompson Fields (2015) and Data Lords (2020), which have received a total of eight GRAMMY® nominations and won two GRAMMY® Awards for “Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album,” with Data Lords also becoming a 2021 Pulitzer Prize Finalist in Music. He served as producer for Owen Broder’s The American Roots Project, Nick Finzer’s Hear & Now, Cowboys & Frenchmen, as well as radio broadcasts for the NDR Big Band in Hamburg, Germany with Truesdell’s former teacher, legendary composer and valve-trombonist Bob Brookmeyer. Truesdell has served as the manager of Brookmeyer’s musical estate since his passing in 2011.

A sought-after composer/arranger, Truesdell has been commissioned by Ingrid Jensen with U.S.A.F. Band of the Pacific, Frank Kimbrough with University of Minnesota’s jazz ensemble, Owen Broder’s American Roots Project, and composed a new work for Bob Brookmeyer’s 80th birthday celebration at the Eastman School of Music. Truesdell recently contributed two arrangements of dear friend and Gil Evans Project pianist Frank Kimbrough’s compositions for the memorial album, KIMBROUGH, alongside 67 of Frank’s former bandmates, students, and friends, which all proceeds benefit the Frank Kimbrough Jazz Scholarship at The Juilliard School.

As a clinician and guest artist, Truesdell has worked with national and international universities including the University of North Texas, Elmhurst College, New York University, CODARTS University of the Arts, and the Royal Conservatorie of Antwerp. Between 2010-2013, he embarked on a multi-concert residency at the Eastman School of Music culminating in performances at Kilbourn Hall (Rochester, NY), St. Peter’s Church (NYC), Rochester International Jazz Festival, and a six-concert series at the Umbria Jazz Festival (Perugia, Italy) performing nearly 150 of Gil Evans’ historic works.

As a guest conductor he has worked with leading professional ensembles such as WDR Big Band (Köln, Germany), Brussels Jazz Orchestra (Brussels, Belgium), and RTV Slovenia Big Band (Ljubljana, Slovenia) and performed as a guest and with his own ensemble at famed venues and festivals including Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall, Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, Koerner Hall at the Royal Conservatory Toronto, North Sea Jazz Festival, Newport Jazz Festival, Jazz Standard, and Jazz at Lincoln Center.

Truesdell currently serves on the board of directors of the International Society of Jazz Arrangers & Composers and holds a faculty position at The New School in NYC.