Wind: Give Me Some G String for Bass Quintet

About the piece:

I founded the Hofstra Bass Ensemble in 2012, I think, and have been trying to write a couple of arrangements per semester. Some of them were hits that students still remember playing years later. Some students have asked for charts to be brought back, and a few have even played them for their junior or senior recitals.

When I wrote Give Me Some G-String I wanted it to be funky and bluesy, not too difficult to play but sounding virtuosic. Over time, the chart became longer and longer until I completed it with a shout chorus for the 2019 International Society of Bassists convention at Indiana University.

That performance featured two of my Hofstra students, my colleague from Hofstra Dr. Pete Coco, and two very special guests, superstar bassist John Clayton and pianist Bill Mays.

The solo section can seriously open up. The actual bass line can be improvised or played as written by one or more players. The solo s can be played either pizzicato or arco, and maybe a couple of players could engage in musical conversation, going back and forth for a few choruses. After that it’s time to shout!

About the composer:

Martin Wind was born in Flensburg, Germany in 1968. He studied classical contrabass with Professor Wolfgang Guettler in Cologne and earned his master’s degree in jazz performance and composition at New York University in 1997.

Martin has performed all over the world with artists such as Mstislav Rostropovitch, Pat Metheny, Guidon Kremer, Lalo Schifrin, Sting, Hank Jones, Michael Brecker, Johnny Mandel and Bill Mays. He leads his own groups and has released more than 20 CDs as a leader or co-leader. As part of the Kennedy Center Honors Orchestra, he’s played for major artists such as James Taylor, Renee Fleming and Aretha Franklin.

Martin has been on the faculty at New York University since 1997 and at Hofstra University since 2011.

Thanks!

Thanks to my students at Hofstra University for their enthusiasm and their willingness to be my guinea pigs for all these years. Thanks also to Pete Coco, Bill Mays and John Clayton for playing Give Me Some G-String so beautifully during our performance at the 2019 ISB convention at IU in Bloomington. https://youtu.be/OVg1qfk40Dg