Recordings

Mississippi Classic

Mississippi Classic is the title of my latest recording. It is a tribute to the composers of my home state. All featured works were written by composers who were either born in Mississippi, live here presently or both. My pianist on this recording is Lois Hobbs, a fantastic performer and a good friend. The featured composer is William Grant Still. His following works are on the album: Summerland, Quit Dat Fool'nish, Mother and Child, Gamin, Here's One and Bayou Home. Other works are a Sonatina by William Presser, Tre Impressioni by Luigi Zaninelli, two movements from A Day in the Delta by Andrew Fox, Romanze by David Caudill and Mockingbird Variations by the little known composer Keith Pettway.

Mississippi Classic is on the Delta Classic label and available from many flute speciality stores, CD Baby.com, Amazon and other sources. If you wish, you can order directly from me.

Kuhlau Sonatas

This recording is on the Centaur label and contains three of Fredrich Kuhlau's flute sonatas: Sonata in A Minor, Op. 85, Sonata in G Major, Op. 69, and Sonata in F Major, Op. 79, No. 1. Kuhlau is known mostly as a composer of little piano sonatinas and flute ensembles. His output of flute music was quite large. This, plus the fact that he was a contemporary of Beethoven has earned him the nick name "Beethoven of the Flue." The flute solo sonatas are not widely known, but are worthy additions to the literature. The G Major is possibly my favorite. To my knowledge, this is the only recording available of this sonata.

Published Composition

Mockingbird Variations

Mockingbird Variations: Variations on an Old Song by Septimus Winner was a direct result of the Mississippi Classic recording. One more piece in a "different" style was needed to fill out the album. The variations are a parody of the bravura variations of the 19th century, the era of the original song. The "funeral march" variation is appropriate because even though the melody sounds rather happy the words are quite sad. The song is about a young woman who died in winter and in the spring the "mockingbird is singing o'er her grave." There are quotes from well-known classical works scattered throughout the piece.

Mockingbird Variations is published by ALRY Publications. It is widely available.