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"Portrait of Wayne Shorter" Project Page
Project Description
During the summer of 2022, I began writing a saxophone sextet arrangement based on Wayne Shorter's best-known compositions. The inspiration for this work came from my saxophone professor, Dr. Goodman, and his professional ensemble, the Moanin' Frogs, and from the University of Arizona Sax Studio ensembles. Later in the spring of 2023, legendary Wayne Shorter passed away at the age of 89, and this sparked an urgency within me to finish my arrangement as a tribute to Shorter and his impact on the jazz world. After a long process of writing, editing, and re-editing, I completed the arrangement consisting of four movements. To make a long story short, Dr. Goodman submitted my work to the North American Saxophone Alliance (NASA), and it was chosen to be premiered at the NASA Conference in April 2025. We, the UA saxophone ensemble, are excited to perform my piece, but this will require a significant amount of rehearsing in the next six weeks in order to have a stellar performance at NASA. Please follow our weekly progress as we prepare for the conference by clicking on any of the dates below.
Recent Posts
Wayne Shorter
part of aApr22
The Birth of An Idea
Being part of the jazz program at the University of Arizona sparked my interest to compose music. I began spending more time experimenting with sound, and soon after I was writing compositions and sharing them with my professors. Consequently, I was given the opportunity to have my compositions performed by the UA jazz combo that I played in I soon developed a desire to compose for large ensembles. Hence, the idea for my project was born. My inspiration for this project came from the legendary jazz saxophonist and composer, Wayne Shorter, who was one of the most prominent figures in jazz. His style of composing and improvisation really helped elevate jazz to become more melodic, reserved, virtuosic, and expressive. Wayne Shorter sadly passed away in March of 2023, and to honor his legacy, I wrote an arrangement of his greatest compositions for the University of Arizona saxophone ensemble and titled it “Portrait of Wayne Shorter.”
The Creative Process
Project Timeline
Project Results
My original plan was to have the sax ensemble perform my piece, “Portrait of Wayne Shorter”, for my senior graduation recital. To my surprise, Dr. Goodman, my professor, submitted my arrangement to the North American Saxophone Alliance (NASA) to be premiered at this year’s regional conference. The Alliance accepted my piece, and this began a 7-week period of rehearsals for the UA Sax Ensemble to perfect the playing of my piece. The first week of practice consisted of distributing the music and familiarizing the group with the piece. Our rehearsals were scheduled every Thursday night, but we were fortunate to have opportunities to perform my piece at public venues. For example, we performed for the students in the UA Sax Studio class, UA area recital, and the TURN UP Festival alongside other composers and arrangers. During these performances, I was approached by professors who stated that they really enjoyed my piece. Some provided constructive feedback that I later shared with the ensemble at our next scheduled practice. My website provides 7 weekly practice updates detailing what the ensemble worked on, what went well, and what needed more attention. In the end, our performance at the NASA conference on April 6th was well received. I was elated when a few professors approached me and expressed interest in purchasing my piece for their saxophone ensembles to perform.
Reflection
During our sax ensemble rehearsals, there were several issues that needed our focus and attention, and it was during this process that I was able to strengthen some of my individual skills. For example, the ensemble rehearsals were a perfect time to practice my leadership skills. While listening to run-throughs of my “Portrait of Wayne Shorter,” I could immediately point out specific sections of the piece that were not lining up due to inconsistencies in articulation, dynamics, and rhythmic feel. I had to rely heavily on my communication skills to provide constructive criticism without alienating anyone in the group. I aimed to be positive, supportive, and patient. Similarly, my instruction to the group had to be clear and concise because more than half of the ensemble did not have jazz experience. This included explaining and demonstrating alternative solutions on my instrument. It was an oversight on my part to assume that the ensemble would know how to make the right articulation, dynamic, and rhythmic choices. Given this, I decided to give a talk on the basics of jazz articulation and phrasing to help the ensemble match each other stylistically. Alongside that, I updated the score and parts with articulation, dynamics, and rhythmic points, and I tailored individual parts based upon each musician’s strengths. The ensemble sounded better not only because of the additions I made to the score and parts, but also because of the extra rehearsals we added to our weekly schedule. My commitment to this ensemble came first and ahead of other professional opportunities that popped up during the 7-week period. Overall, this experience has improved my leadership, communication, and music composition skills, and there is no doubt that I will be able to leverage this experience in my future endeavors.
UA Saxophone Ensemble -
A night of good food & great company!
My heartfelt gratitude to Dr. Goodman and the UA Saxophone Ensemble for dedicating their time and energy to making the premier of my “Portrait of Wayne Shorter” a success.
Dr. Goodman performing Kevin Day's "Unquiet Waters" at the 2025 NASA Conference
UA Sax Ensemble performing
at the 2025 NASA Conference
April 8, 2025
aApr8
The NASA Conference in Fullerton, CA, was a whirlwind weekend for the UA Saxophone Ensemble, and the weeks of rehearsing and refining my jazz arrangement, "Portrait of Wayne Shorter", has culminated into a successful premier given by the ensemble. I was very pleased with the performance we gave. The ensemble was in sync and the dynamics were strong. Everyone in the ensemble was listening to each other, and the balance between the group was good. The hours spent rehearsing really made the difference at NASA. Also, m,y arrangement caught the attention of several of the attendees at the conference for its unique use of jazz elements. In fact, two professors in the audience, Dr. Bonson Lee and Dr. Damon Zick, recommended that I copyright my piece so that it is available for their students and their own ensembles to play. I was ecstatically happy by their suggestion, and I will look into getting it copyrighted so that anyone who is interested can play it.
A Whirlwind Weekend
2025 NASA Conference Pamphlet cover
I have now attended two NASA conferences, and I have found them to be invaluable experiences. For me, the NASA Mission Statement holds true. It has been a great resource for learning new saxophone techniques, providing compositional and performance opportunities, introducing different musical styles, building connections, and strengthening my musicality. I would recommend the NASA Conference to all saxophonists who are looking to supplement their music education.
NASA's Mission Statement
The mission of the Alliance is to provide resources for saxophonists at all levels of skill, of all ages and backgrounds, and of varied musical styles by disseminating information about saxophone performance and pedagogy, by providing opportunities for music making, by fostering and facilitating the creation of new repertoire, by providing a communication network, and by promoting the musical activities of its members.
A Word of Thanks...
A big thank you to Dr. Goodman for making the premier of my piece a reality. It was Dr. Goodman who submitted my piece to the TURN UP Festival and to NASA in hopes that it would be chosen to be premiered by the UA Sax Ensemble. Dr. Goodman is an extraordinary professor who has taught me a great deal about classical music, musicianship, professionalism, and instruction.
April 1, 2025
aApr1
We made it through our final week of practice, and I'm feeling good knowing that we are ready to perform my composition, "Portrait of Wayne Shorter", at the NASA Conference next weekend at University of California Fullerton. The additional articulation and dynamic markings I made after last week's rehearsals really helped to clarify the important parts of the movements, and it helped the ensemble sound more together. During rehearsal, Dr. Goodman pointed out a timing issue because we are allotted 20 minutes for our NASA performance, but my piece alone took 20 to 25 minutes at the TURN UP Festival. Not to mention, we will be playing "Upper West Stomp" as well. As a group, we discussed how to keep the performance at 20 minutes, and we made a tough decision to cut "Upper West Stomp" from our performance. We also cut sections from my piece to stay within the 20-minute limit. We did a run-through in Sax Studio class and received positive feedback from our peers. Equally important, Dr. Goodman said that we were ready for NASA!
The Sax Ensemble is excited to travel to Fullerton, California next Friday! Every member in the ensemble has been committed to working diligently for the last several weeks in order to have a successful performance of my piece at NASA. I know that we are going to represent the University of Arizona in the best way possible. Go Cats!
section cut in mvmt. 2 -
"Portrait of Wayne Shorter"
aMar25
March 25, 2025
Our performance at the TURN UP Festival was a great learning experience for everyone in the UofA Sax Ensemble. For myself, the festival was a platform to debut my composition, "Portrait of Wayne Shorter", and it also gave me insight to what has yet to be mastered by the ensemble. I should note that this performance was the first time we had a full run-through of all the prepared music. Below is a video of our "Portrait of Wayne Shorter" performance.
After our performance, I noted what went well and what could be improved, and I'll be sharing this information with the ensemble next time we meet.
A Milestone
Reflection
UofA Sax Ensemble's performance of "Portrait of Wayne Shorter", mvmt. 1
TURN UP Festival 2025
Composer: Kevin Ravellette
Performance Notes for "Portrait of Wayne Shorter"
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Positive comments from audience!
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Saxes sound more together & locked in
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Fluctuations in time (unsteady time)
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Moments that dragged (issues w/rhythmic feel)
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Inconsistent articulation
-need agreement to how section should sound
-group needs to follow lead soprano
-ADD notations in parts/score to include important areas of articulation/dynamics
My Takeaways
1. Practice!
- to develop new skills or to retain old ones
- focus on skills you haven't mastered yet
2. Rehearse with your band, ensemble, etc.
- listen to each other
- communicate new ideas to try & changes to make
- rehearing will make live performances better!
3. Confidence
- Practice brings confidence
- It's what you love to do, so enjoy every minute!
As a young musician, I've been fortunate to be part of professional performances in and around the Tucson/ Arizona area, and I find the following to be true when preparing for every live performance regardless of the genre.
Turning Point
Performing my composition at the TURN UP Festival is validation that we are close to being fully prepared for our performance at the North American Saxophone Alliance Conference next week.
For this last week of rehearsals, it is important that we focus our efforts to correct the remaining items that need improvement before our trip to California.
aMar18
March 18, 2025
University of Arizona
University of Arizona Sax Ensemble practice
Time is Ticking
This was an eventful and busy week for the saxophone ensemble. Not only did we meet during the usual practice time, but we agreed that rehearsing over spring break would be advantageous since there was still plenty to improve with my piece, "Portrait of Wayne Shorter". Not to mention, the TURN UP Festival is only two weeks away!
I'm happy to report that our rehearsals were extremely productive as we revisited the four movements of my arrangement. The challenges from previous weeks were flushed out during these rehearsals. For example, the ensemble has a better understanding of how the movements should sound and feel and how they connect to each other. Focusing only on my piece during these rehearsals really helped us make progress.
Thank goodness for Dr. Goodman! During Saxophone Studio class on March 17th, Dr. Goodman pointed out the next set of items we need to address:
1. Agreeing on cutoffs
2. Articulation
3. Dynamics
4. Rhythmic feel of each mvmt.
Dr. Goodman explained that we need to appoint a leader to follow especially in the areas of cutoffs, articulation, dynamics, and rhythmic feel of the piece. From the moment we began reading my arrangement for the first time to now, the ensemble has naturally looked at me as the leader. But now that the group understands the piece and their individual roles, I expect them to follow the lead soprano player since he is the lead voice in the ensemble. This change has caused some confusion, and we are still actively working to correct it. As the composer, I will continue to explain the important sections of my piece and how they should be played.
The ensemble has one more rehearsal this Wednesday, March 19th, before our performance at the TURN UP Festival on Thursday night. The plan for this rehearsal is to figure out what the dynamics, articulation, and cuttoffs will be for each movement, and we have to remember to follow the lead soprano.
Next week, we'll have a postmortem of our performance at the TURN UP Festival, and we'll continue rehearsing and refining my piece for NASA which is literally two weeks away!
March 4, 2025
aMar4
We are exactly one month away from performing at the NASA conference, and there’s still an incredible amount of practicing to do on my piece, “Portrait of Wayne Shorter”. The sax ensemble will also be performing “Upper West Stomp” and “Shan Shui” at the conference, so we have a substantial amount of work before show time. This week, we dedicated our time to perfecting our playing of “Shan Shui”, and we also figured out the travel logistics to Fullerton, CA for the 9-member ensemble
Most of the ensemble is familiar with playing “Shan Shui” since they played it a year ago, but there were still plenty of kinks to work out during practice this week. As with “Upper West Stomp”, in order to gain an understanding of the piece, it’s imperative that we listen closely for the rhythms, melodies, and each others parts so that we accurately convey the story in Yuanyuan Kay HE's piece, “Shan Shui”.
In terms of travel arrangements, we found an Airbnb that accommodates the entire group! And even more exciting, it’s only a 5-minute walk to the conference from there. Given budget constraints, we have decided to carpool to Fullerton. Several members of the ensemble were kind enough to volunteer to transport the group, the luggage, and the instruments. At a minimum, that’s 9 pieces of luggage and 9 instruments. I can’t imagine what it would have cost to fly to California!
"Wayne Shorter" On Pause.....
Shan Shui Painting
Yuanyuan (Kay) He, composer
For next week, the plan is to practice my composition, "Portrait of Wayne Shorter", and if time permits, we'll do a run-through of what we'll be performing at the TURN UP Festival.
February 25, 2025
aFeb25
Let's Stomp
Will Healy, an American composer and pianist, wrote "Upper West Stomp" in 2015. If you're curious about what the piece sounds like, I've provided a video of the Oklahoma State University Sax Studio performance in 2016. We are excited to record our performance in the near future.
Will Healy, composer
The sax ensemble completed its second week of rehearsals in preparation for the NASA conference in April. The primary task this week was to revisit the music that we hadn't worked on since playing “Portrait of Wayne Shorter” a few months ago. As such, we put my arrangement aside temporarily to refresh ourselves with the two other pieces that we’ll be performing at the conference. These pieces are “Upper West Stomp” by Will Healy and “Shan Shui” by Yuanyuan Kay HE.
The majority of our rehearsal time was spent re-reading “Upper West Stomp”, and while I believe the rehearsal was productive, we still have plenty of work ahead of us. The main problems I noted during the run-through were issues with time, rhythm, and listening to one other. Because the piece has many simultaneous moving parts and time shifts, it’s incredibly important that each person pays attention not only to their respective part, but also to everyone else’s responsibilities. For instance, listening for the melody, countermelody, rhythm, and bass components is essential. We need to develop more confidence when playing our individual parts because as soon as one person gets lost, then it throws everyone else off. After we correct these issues, we can start tackling the problems with articulation and dynamics.
For next week, we'll run-through "Shan Shui" by Yuanyuan Kay HE, and if time permits, we'll look at my arrangement.
OSU Sax Ensemble performs "Upper West Stomp"
February 18, 2025
aFeb18
THE STARTING LINE
As a quick note, the University of Arizona Saxophone Ensemble is practicing my arrangement of “Portrait of Wayne Shorter,” which will be performed at the North American Saxophone Alliance Conference at California State Fullerton College in April 2025. This past week was our first week working on this project. The ensemble practiced movements two and four of “Portrait of Wayne Shorter,” in preparation for the University of Arizona Area Recital that took place on Friday, February 14th. After our performance, the audience, made up of music faculty and students, gave us helpful feedback about what worked and what needed improvement. Many students said they loved how the arrangement sounded and how the music stirred up their emotions. The professors provided constructive criticism that we'll take into account as we continue to practice. For example, professor Jason Carter expressed how the balance between the different voices was off, and how the soloists should move up to the front of the group in order to be heard. I made sure to note this down, in addition to noting the issues with articulation, inconsistent dynamics, and time related issues. For next week's rehearsal, I'd like to focus on movement four, and if things go well, we may start to read movements one and three.
Below is a photo of the UA Studio Saxophone Ensemble:
Hello! It's me, Kevin.
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