YAZZ Band: Fun Sized Edition

Primary author: Gregory Yasinitsky

Primary college/unit: Arts and Sciences
Campus: Pullman

Abstract:

Greg Yasinitsky, WSU Regents Professor of Music, received a 2019-2020 CAS Arts and Humanities Fellowship to produce a recording project of big band jazz for his ensemble YAZZ Band, composed by and featuring saxophone performances by Yasinitsky. The music is scored for “little big band,” a big band with the reduced instrumentation of four saxophones, two trumpets, trombone, piano, bass and drums. At this writing, five pieces have been composed, arranged, recorded and mixed and are essentially ready to be released. The recordings were made in the WSU Recording Studio and feature some of the finest musicians in the country. Two or three additional pieces will be orchestrated, recorded and mixed and when completed, the entire project will be released internationally streaming sites, including Spotify and Apple Music, and download sites including iTunes and Amazon. Physical compact discs will also be made available. The sheet music for all of the pieces will be published by Walrus Music, a top firm specializing in jazz. Yasinitsky’s big band music is performed in over forty countries around the world. His previous big band CD: YAZZ Band, was featured for fourteen weeks on national radio play lists and received numerous positive reviews around the world. YAZZ Band was named one of the top Big Band CDs of the year by BeBop Spoken Here in the United Kingdom. Because this new project is for a smaller ensemble, Yasinitsky’s new recording is called YAZZ Band: Fun Sized Edition.