“Ever since I started writing jazz-style arrangements for my ”Jazztets 4 Horns“ series, I’ve wondered what they might sound like if I could expand them with more voices for larger ensembles. The lush chords used in jazz music, with all of their upper extensions, are often only truly effective when there are more than 4 pitches present. During the various COVID-19 lockdowns, I had an opportunity to make multi-track recordings in a local church and try out some of my ideas in this direction. Since this church was built in 1490, recording ”Veni, Veni, Emmanuel“ really seemed to be appropriate. For this octet version, I took my original quartet arrangement from ”Jazztets, set #4: It’s the Holly Daze!“, and added more chord tones, additional lines, and a bit more character.
The piece is essentially in two parts. The opening is meant to take advantage of the modal character of the chant style melody; evoking a medieval atmosphere, yet with stacked open fourths and fifths found in modern jazz. After a brief build and resettling, the second half of the piece takes the same melody and reharmonizes it using more modern, extended harmonies, lending a more peaceful character. One advantage of this piece is that since it isn’t necessarily on everyone’s top 10 Holiday Hits, it can be performed at any time of the year. I hope you and your audiences find it enjoyable to play.“
– Steve Schaughency
