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Alcorn Bedner Townsend Demo  (click to listen)

The Alcorn Bedner Townsend demo is a six song CD montage. Each excerpted song selection is approximately 1:30.

The first song is the Wes Montgomery composition Four on Six. The original recording
used a 4/4 time signature. We have changed the meter to 5/4 and renamed it Four on Six
in Five.

Blue Note is an original composition of mine that was inspired from those great Blue Note
records of the 1960’s. The A section is hard swinging four on the floor and the B section
morphs into a double time latin.

The third song in the montage sequence is pop song from 1971, Ain’t No Sunshine When
She’s Gone by Bill Withers. I have taken what was originally a three-chord song and
reharmonized the chords using a modern jazz sensibility.

Come Together by the Beatles is the fourth song in the sequence. I transcribed this
arrangement from the great jazz pianist Lynne Arriale. Lots of new harmonies and meter
changes in the head, and it’s fun improvising over.

Another one of my original arrangements is the Beatles classic Norwegian Wood. I love
the challenge of modifying a song form but keeping the integrity of the melody strong and
recognizable. The A section has been rewritten in a modal 5/4 time and the B section goes
to 3/4. It’s also a challenge to improvise over part of the B section where I use Coltrane
“Countdown” changes.

The last song in this demo montage sequence is my reharmonization of the centuries old
Scarborough Fair. It’s still in a 6/8 meter but with some modal and chromatic harmonic
elements for improvisation.

I hope you hear the joy in our music making!

- Tim Bedner