Figures was written in early 2021, all tributes to inspiring and intriguing figures who were lost in 2020.

Broken Pieces is from the early 2000s. The sheet music for it followed me through multiple moves and would surface every few years, but I never could quite find the right setting for it. I found it in my piano bench a few months ago and sent it to Dahveed for a read through. I’m happy that it finally has found its place.

Still Alive - Ruth Kluger’s acclaimed Holocaust memoir of the same name was called “an act not of running away but of confrontation, of facing her past head-on and allowing no rationalization or romanticization of it.” Very much inspired by the minimalist piano works of Philip Glass, the naked repetition in this piece doesn’t sugar coat anything. I hope it captures the persistence and rawness of the horrific memories that Kluger carried through her life.

RBG - A complex and iconic figure who has inspired a generation and whose loss continues to be felt so deeply. Nick Sanders crafts an exquisite introduction here.

Passloff’s Dance - For Aileen Passloff, the legendary dancer, choreographer and teacher, for whom “dancing’s like breathing - it’s as much a part as being a person as laughing and crying and screaming and the rest of the things we do.” She was of Russian and Polish ancestry, and there’s certainly more than a hint of those influences here. I’m pretty sure Glenn Zaleski shares some of this lineage as well.

Last Act - I wasn’t familiar with actor Chadwick Boseman until seeing him play the brash young trumpeter Levee in the movie adaptation of August Wilson’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, which was filmed just before Boseman succumbed to cancer at just 43 years old. He was an extraordinary artist who had many more performances to give. I hope Dahveed’s lush reading of these nine slow bars of music and his improvised interludes capture some of the beauty that Boseman left us.

Brimley’s Oats - Long before I knew Brimley’s work as an actor, I knew him as the grandfatherly spokesman for Quaker Oats. In one of the ads, he bluntly calls eating oatmeal “the right thing to do.” I couldn’t agree more. Brimley was also an accomplished bluegrass musician and singer who eventually left Hollywood to live in Greybull, Wyoming (population 1,885). He led a noted jam session there, and I hope this piece captures some of the down home spirit that must have lived there. The rumbling opening bass figure that returns several times is a single line that Glenn Zaleski uses to improvise an angular counterpoint above.

Sama - Another life that was taken far too young, entrepreneur and activist Leila Janah started Sama, which went into some of the poorest parts of the world and provided job training and facilitation of living wage tech and internet jobs there. Her company is credited with lifting nearly 50,000 people out of poverty before she died at the age of just 37. There’s more than a little Bartok influence to this piece, especially his Mikrokosmos pieces, which have such a beautiful and lyrical simplicity. Janah saw solutions to seemingly daunting and irreversible problems. Let’s hope the work she did continues.

Maradona - To soccer fans, Diego Maradona wasn’t human - he was pure poetry on the field. However, his life off the field was all to human, and marked by his long and deep struggle with a number of addictions. I hope this short piece captures some of those magical highs and stunning lows of his life.

Incidental-Lee - Lee Konitz was pure poetry on the saxophone, and a huge influence that I find myself constantly drawn back to. I was fortunate to see him play so many times, and once even played a few tunes with him in his Manhattan apartment. He was so extraordinarily adventurous and fearless as a musician, and the breadth of his seventy five year career is unmatched. He also had an amazing sense of humor that I tried to capture here.

Paradiso - Those first scratchy notes of Morricone’s iconic score to Cinema Paradiso never fail to grab me. This is my humble thank you for his nearly 400 movie and television scores that he crafted. Dahveed plays a heartfelt intro and interlude here before launching into the Radiohead inspired ending, which stacks quarter-note triplets starting on different beats.

Real News - A tribute to one of the greatest and most iconic newsmen in TV history. As a kid, I remember that everything would stop for my grandfather when the Newshour would come on at 6pm. No matter who was over, he made sure that the volume was turned up loud enough for him to get his daily news fix. I hope we see again the day when good journalists are given the respect they deserve - they’re democracy’s most potent and important defense. Musically, there’s more than a hint of the slow movement of the Ravel Piano Concerto here.

Freedom’s Ride - The beauty of Erik Satie’s piano music informs this tribute to one of America’s bravest Civil Rights Activists and congressmen. The work he fought so hard to accomplish continues more than ever in his shadow.

DiPrima Line - A brief tribute to feminist beat poet Dianne DiPrima. Mostly just two lines in similar motion, they spool out like the rhythms of her poetry. Paul Motian’s compositions were much on my mind here as well.

Dwyer’s Flute - As principal flutist for the Boston Symphony for nearly forty years, Doriot Dwyer was the second woman to serve as principal in a prominent orchestra. Most certainly a trailblazer and fit for a waltz tribute.

Who Was Alex Trebek? - A fixture of television for nearly sixty years, and a nightly companion to millions of fans… Hard to resist having some fun with the Jeopardy theme over the stormy left hand figure.

Maestro - Master marimba player and multi-instrumentalist Diego Obregon seemed to be made of music. I never heard him play a single note that wasn’t both straight from his heart and somehow perfectly in the pocket at the same time. He came from one of the most remote corners of Colombia and changed the Colombian music scene in NYC, with a gentle warmth, generosity, humility and positivity that was infectious. He was a gift to everybody who knew him and is so dearly missed. Much like the traditional marimbas that Diego made himself, this piece is entirely diatonic, and Glenn Zaleski improvises beautifully up front and again towards the end.