TLC (2022)
for drum set (“Groover”) and Roland SPD-SX drum controller
Commissioned by the Well Behaved Women Seldom Make History members, led by Emily Salgado*
DURATION
8-9 minutes
PROGRAM NOTE
Inspired by the drummer Terri Lyne Carrington, TLC was written as a response to the percussionist Emily Salgado’s project “Well Behaved Women Seldom Make History.” Although Terri Lyne has made a significant mark as a jazz drummer, my first encounter with her work was through a recent album Waiting Game she released with her band Social Science. The album is self-consciously hybrid, drawing material from jazz, hip-hop, and even opera. The “second side” of the album features four tracks of free improvisation. This album gave me the idea of using beatbox samples within a stylistic domain influenced by jazz-funk fusion. The opening rhythmic motive, which combines the hi-hat and rim-knock in paradiddlediddle pattern, was developed from one moment of Terri Lyne’s playing.
Despite my conscious attempt to absorb her language, I knew I could not do jazz; I cannot access its soul in improvisation, nor can I imitate Terri Lyne’s embodied knowledge of her drums. Rather than seeing this as a limitation, I decided to think of my TLC as a multi- percussion piece in which tightly controlled rhythms develop within a narrative that is fixed yet fresh. My goal was to create a piece that pays homage to jazz while pushing the boundaries of solo drum set performance.
I am grateful to the lead commissioner Emily Salgado, the consortium participants of WBWSMH, and my partner Mark Eichenberger, who helped me test ideas and offered many valuable suggestions.
– J.S.