Featured Composition: Three Songs for Solo Marimba (Amor en Primavera, Corrida Real, My Favorite Things) by Mayumi Sekizawa

Three Songs for Solo Marimba is a collection of arrangements by Japanese marimba virtuoso Mayumi Sekizawa. The first two, "Amor en Primavera" and "Corrida Real," are based on works by the great flamenco guitarist Manolo Sanlucar. "Amor en Primavera" is sunny and vibrant, depicting the beauty of Andalucia, and "Corrida Real" is a tribute to bull fighting. The third song in the collection is "My Favorite Things" from The Sound of Music. This is one of Sekizawa's favorite songs, and her arrangement for solo marimba has an improvisatory character. All three works are beautiful, spirited arrangements that will surely prove rewarding to learn and enjoyable to perform. To hear audio samples from each song, click HERE.

Featured Book: Subway Musings - Ten Miniatures for Solo Vibraphone by Richard Grimes

Subway Musings is a collection of ten short vibraphone solos, inspired by Richard Grimes' experience performing on the 14th Street/Union Square subway platform in New York City. The miniatures can be played independently or as a suite. But, Grimes hopes for more: he encourages embellishment and believes these songs can become the basis for improvisation, and he imagines that they can be performed on other instruments or arranged for ensembles. Grimes offers his blessing for creativity and hopes these songs will provide artistic inspiration. To hear audio samples, click HERE.

Featured Media: (CD) Global Percussion - Joseph Gramley

Check out Joseph Gramley's CD Global Percussion (one of three Gramley recordings distributed by Bachovich). This collection of world and contemporary solo works for marimba and multi-percussion features a couple Gramley favorites, including "Ganda Yina" (marimba solo based on traditional African melody) and "1+1" (a classic from Philip Glass). Gramley is one of the the world's greatest solo percussionists, and Global Percussion is a CD not to miss. To hear samples from every track on the CD, click HERE.

Featured Composer: Brian Mason

Brian Mason is a trailblazer in the field of marching percussion ensemble and is recognized worldwide for his work with the Cavaliers and Phantom Regiment drum corps. Brian currently is the Percussion Coordinator/Designer for the Santa Clara Vanguard. Additionally, Brian is a member of the faculty of Morehead Sate University, where he is director of the award-winning marching percussion ensemble and performs with the Faculty Jazz and Chamber Ensembles and Brass Quintet. Brian is also a member of the Lexington Philharmonic Orchestra. To get a taste for Brian's ensemble writing, check out Horizons for percussion ensemble (11 players), percussion trio, or marimba-vibraphone duet.

Highlights (October)

~Bachovich Welcomes New Composers/Arrangers:

-Andrew Kruspe/Matt Jordan with their 2nd place DCI percussion ensemble arrrangement of Oliver Rivo's "Er Sammelt Muscheln"
-Jared Soldiviero and his groovin' multi-percussion duet Palindromes
-Pablo Bagilet and his heart-wrenching Argentinean Suite for vibraphone
-Tizoc Ceballos and his award-winning multi-percussion duet Ollin
-Rich Greenblatt and his 3 hot jazz vibes CDs: Mooin', Hot & Dry, and Hat Trick


~Other New Exciting Publications:

-Rancho Jubilee for cajon trio by Andrew Beall
-Advanced Rhythm Studies by Samuel Solomon
-500 4-Surface Patterns for 4-mallet and drum set applications by Samuel Solomon
-Variations on the First Three Pages of George Lawrence Stone's Stick Control by Samuel Solomon
-Repousse for percussion quartet by Joseph Pereira
-Wanderings for percussion quartet by Daniel Temkin
-Why Has the Hunter Not Returned? for marimba duet by Joel Harrison (1st place winner of the Ironworks Percussion Duo Competition)
-Sufficiently Funky for solo snare drum by Danny Soulier

~Transferring Publishers: Thanks to Robert McClure for publishing his "...of the Earth" with Bachovich! (Recently published with GoFish).


~On Broadway: Congrats to Bachovich composer Charlie Descarfino, who's the percussionist in the Broadway revival of Ragtime, starting this month!

~Teaching up a Storm: Congrats to Bachovich composer Joseph Tompkins, who's now teaching at Mannes College of Music (as well as heading up the percussion department at Rutgers University).


~We've Gone Global: Bachovich continues to expand, with sales in Japan, France, Belgium, England, Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Spain, China, Taiwan, Luxembourg, Switzerland, and Hungary.