music - Jamie Rosenn
video - Kevi Walsh
Composed 04/05/17
Crane Fly started out as a voice leading exercise that me and a student stumbled on in 2014. I was interested making cycles out of symmetrical structures (in this case major and minor triads moving in whole steps). I thought this progression had potential as a tune. Three years later, I found this recording and added a few sections and it sounded complete to me. The week that I was finishing it up there was a Crane Fly invasion in Altadena and these giant but gentle mosquito hawk-like insects were all over the place. I learned they live as larva for about 2-3 years and then about a week or two after they emerge as Crane Flies. The tune itself has a Guiffre-like quality (Guiffre had a tune called “Dragonfly” which we used to play in his ensemble at NEC) but also a similar feel to a somewhat obscure Ellington piece that I love called “Village of the Virgins”. I've been a fan of Kevi Walsh's art for a while. I asked her to collaborate on a project and she put together this awesome video!
