Traditional/Chapman –
Throughout history, imagery has been created showing angels in the clouds. What other interpretation can we take from this than to conclude that angels are high…
Twisted Christmas 2011 – O Come Emmanuel
Traditional/Chapman –
After a particularly hectic year, I’m keeping it simple this time around, with a set of improvisations on a very traditional Christmas melody…
Glutton For Love
Chapman –
Dore was petting Callie, one of our dogs, and as is normal for a dog, Callie didn’t want her to stop. Dore started cooing to Callie that she was a glutton for love. Next thing I knew, Brian Ferry was singing in my head. Things just evolved from there…
Twisted Christmas 2010 – Joy To The World
Axton/Watts/Mason/Chapman –
The seeds of this mashup have been rattling around in my head for going on 40 years at this point. Back when Three Dog Night had their big hit, I was thinking about ways to superimpose the one over the other. I guess it was only a matter of time before I let it loose on the rest of the world. And for your further listening pleasure, there’s also an instrumental version…
Special Guest: Steven Shayle Rhodes on Vocals
The (Partial) Nutcracker Suite – Overture, March, and Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy
Tchaikovsky/Chapman –
Ever since creating my version of the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy for the Twisted Christmas series, I’ve been tossing around the idea of creating my version of the entire Nutcracker Suite. Well, here’s the first three pieces of the suite, Overture, March, and the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy. I don’t know if this will go any further than this, or if this is as much of the suite as I’ll create, but here it is.
Twisted Christmas 2009 – Ol’ Man Claus Is Coming (For You)
Gillespie/Coots/Chapman –
We teach this song to our kids to get them excited? Have you listened to the lyrics? It should be treated more like a Grimm’s Fairy Tale, warning kids about the creepy old man who offers them candy and wants them to sit on his lap…
Twisted Christmas 2008 – I’ll Be Numb On Christmas
Gannon/Kent/Chapman –
A Christmas song for all those that dread the holiday season, with the requisite dysfunctional family gatherings, and everything else that comes along. The idea for this came from a joking remark a friend made in an email discussion.
Although I already had a rough cut of this arrangement in the works before the death of Richard Wright, I hope that it can be considered a suitable tribute to the legacy of musical works that he was a part of creating.
Artwork design by Judson Cowan.
Twisted Christmas 2007 – Funky Drummer Boy
Davis/Onorati/Simeone –
One of my least favorite Christmas songs (ok, I admit it, I hate this song), so what better to get the twisted treatment. Take a bunch of musicians and ply them with drinks, and see what you get.
Special Guests: Baba Kwasi, Nana Kweku, and Diabate Moussa on African Drums
Fevered Dreams
Chapman –
Have you ever had one of those dreams that starts out ok, then suddenly you find yourself running for your life? Me neither…
The Ambilution Variations
Ambegin – Shifting Relations
Chapman –
The starting point of this set of pieces. All three works start virtually the same, but don’t stay that way. This was the first of the three, and was intended to be a play of shifting interval relationships.
Ambidance – Tension and Release
Chapman –
This piece is all about building tension, and then releasing it. It plays with slightly different tempos, and the overlap between them, as well as contrasting harmonic relationships that build tension, and then release it.
Special Guests: Baba Kwasi, Nana Kweku, and Diabate Moussa on Drums
Ambijam – Flow
Chapman –
The final piece in this trilogy is all about finding the flow and going with it, adapting to changing conditions. It’s also about taking elements that aren’t normally found together, and combining them in a harmonious way to build something greater than the separate parts and pieces.
Special Guests: Baba Kwasi, Nana Kweku, and Diabate Moussa on Drums