Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales
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Reviewing Barbara Snow’s infectious Animal Jazz back in 2016, I concluded,
“What impresses me most with this collection is the way in which the composer is able to introduce so much character to each of these highly accessible pieces, but without adding unnecessary complexity in the process.
I can highly recommend ‘Animal Jazz’ as a thoroughly charming collection of jazzy pieces, and suspect my own younger students are going to love it!”
Happily, Snow is back with another collection, More Animal Jazz, once again brought to us by boutique publishing house Edition HH. Let’s find out more…
Sixteen Short Pieces
Introducing her new collection, Snow tells us,
“After the positive reviews of Animal Jazz, I was encouraged to write a sequel of pieces that would provide more of a challenge to the player, using a wider range of the piano keyboard and more complex rhythms. Diving into musical genres from around the world, I’ve come up with this colourful and eclectic collection, where you can find influences from blues, jump jive, ragtime, latin, disco, funk and classical music.”
Once again, the alliterating animals evoked in the titles are highly suggestive of the musical styles and imagination on offer here:
- Who’s Harry?
- Capering Cats
- Brown Bear Boogie
- Camel Caravan
- Fireflies
- Barracuda Blues
- Moles on Motorbikes
- Penguin Parade
- Spider Monkey’s Stampede
- Chickens love to Cha Cha
- Disco Time for Dingos
- Jump Jive Jellyfish
- Mandrills’ Mambo
- Waltz of the Wildebeest
- Alpacas with Maracas
- Ducks’ Day Out
As promised, these pieces provide a little more challenge than the first set, suitable for late elementary players at around UK Grade 2-3 level, making this book an ideal follow-up for those who enjoyed Animal Jazz.
Several of the pieces include complex syncopations, invoking the rhythms of Nigeria, Cuba, Brazil, New Orleans and beyond, and are written in keys with up to three sharps or flats. Some pieces require sustain pedalling.
The range is extended using 8va signs, and pieces are lengthened with repeats. That said, they remain short, as stated in the subtitle, lasting from just 12 bars in length to, in one case, 32.
Making the most of the creative opportunity that arises when writing at this slightly higher difficulty level, these pieces are generally more characterful and varied than in the first book, and overall I found more material here that I will look forward to introducing to students.
The Publication
Barbara Snow’s new collection appears in the same house style as the first Animal Jazz, and I am always impressed with Edition HH’s attention to detail and simple but classy presentation. The music is nicely engraved in a suitably spacious font for players at this level, and on cream paper.
Replacing David Blake, whose characterful illustrations graced the first book, the line drawings inhabiting this new bestiary are provided by Martin Chesterman, who preserves the cheery humour with a continuity that devotees of these books will enjoy.
The only minor disappointment is that this time around, the composer has not produced audio demonstrations of the pieces. But readers might be interested in downloading the sample page from the book kindly supplied on the publisher’s website as a preview of the musical quality.
Closing Thoughts
In a crowded market, Barbara Snow’s Animal Jazz collections have a personal charm that is unique, and I have no doubt that this new, slightly harder collection will delight as much, even more, than its predecessor.
Where these pieces particularly score is that they make such an entertaining diversion from more serious fare at this level, and are concise enough to squeeze into the player’s programme as first-rate “quick study” pieces.
And with their range of rhythmic and stylistic challenges, they are equally useful as an introduction to a gamut of jazzy idioms. Highly recommended!
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