READING SESSION: December 20, 2019 | The United States Navy Band Commodores Jazz Ensemble (MUCS William C. Mulligan, director) | The Midwest Clinic New Music Reading Sessions (2019), McCormick Place, Chicago, Illinois

Windy City was a chart I wrote in 2017 after attending the Midwest Clinic International Band and Orchestra Conference in Chicago for the very first time (the title is the nickname for the city). The chart was written for a jazz album I wanted to create that was eventually postponed. When the opportunity came along to revisit this work, it gave me a chance to revise this material in a new light. When I initially wrote this tune, the biggest challenge that faced me was where it needed to be placed on this planned album in order to create a cohesive whole. In revisiting it, I wanted to go back and iron out some parts of the material in order to create a greater sense of flow and direction throughout the chart itself. In the end, it's a soaring tune that encapsulates the whirlwind experience of my first trip to Chicago.

-program notes by Kevin Day (please credit Kevin Day when reproducing these program notes in excerpts or in full)