In my project I composed and arranged original music for a nine piece jazz ensemble consisting of five horn instruments and a rhythm section. My objective was to write diverse music specifically for the group I put together, and also to challenge myself as a bandleader. I had an ambition to write detailed horn arrangements and to take the opportunity to try out many different arranging concepts. Additionally I wanted to explore and reflect on how my piano playing functioned in the ensemble in different situations and contexts. A significant part of the project was learning about the relations between my roles as a composer/arranger, as a pianist and as a band leader. The result was recorded in the KMH studio.

When I contacted musicians for my group I wanted the players to be accomplished and professional but also with a strong personality that I liked. The horn instruments I decided on was one trumpet, two trombones and two saxophones, one of which also doubled on clarinet. This instrument combination gave very characteristic results I enjoyed. The musical ideas came from many different places but most of the actual composing and arranging work was done away from the instrument in the notation software Sibelius. Most of the arrangements was written in a more contrapuntal way than a traditional jazz arrangement, which was something I always had in mind. I also explored collective improvisation in several instances to make the music even more multi-layered in an interesting way.

I tried to find different roles for the piano in the different pieces to challenge myself as a pianist. Despite this I didn’t put enough thought into what my playing actually was going to be. During the recording I often found myself unsure of how the piano was going to fit in the arrangements. This was mainly due to the rehearsal time being too limited, but also because of my inexperience as a bandleader. The composer/arranger role and the band leader role turned out to take up much more of my focus than the pianist role during the whole process. That being said, I still learned a lot about my own piano playing in general. I also got a memorable recording of my music, and got some experience in leading a large ensemble.