Blues for Gilbert (vibraphone)
By Mark Glentworth
This composition was written for the memory of the composer’s instructor, Gilbert Webster. Not a blues composition in the traditional sense, this piece opens with a slow lament with flurries of mournful notes, before rolling into a jazzy, toe-tapping 4/4. The player will bounce around syncopated triplet patterns in the left hand while playing the melody in the right hand. After several virtuosic bars the piece returns to the melodic thoughts at the beginning of the piece before resting on the Major 7th. The piece will require a lot of dampening and coordination through several artificial rhythmic groupings. Most important is the player’s ability to evoke a jazz feel while performing, in addition to the emotionally-charged melodic content.
Annotated by Robert McCarthy