Review

Jeff Reynolds
Fanfare for the Paleobones:
5 tenors, 2 basses, 1 contrabass

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Publisher: Cherry Classics Music
Date of Publication: 2024
URL: http://www.cherryclassics.com

Score and parts

Primary Genre: Trombone Ensembles - 8 trombones

Jeff Reynolds was the bass trombonist of the Los Angeles Philharmonic from 1969 until 2006. His major teachers were Robert Simmergren and Roger Bobo. He is known for his 1995 recording, Orchestral Excerpts for Bass Trombone, Tenor Tuba, Bass Trumpet which was a collaboration with Michael Mulcahy.

This relatively short fanfare uses bass clef in all parts. The top voice ranges up to b-flat1 but doesn’t overly tax endurance. The 8th part is labelled ‘contrabass’ but could be played by a good bass trombonist. It ranges down to EE with a few FF’s.

This energetic piece has a whole tone quality to it. One of the melodic figures in the piece is reminiscent of the Dies Irae chant but that might just be my imagination.

Reynolds employs a syncopated figure in cut time throughout much of the piece. Mostly the syncopations are shared by groups of instruments but there are moments where rhythms clash slightly with each other or bounce off each other. There is one moment in the piece where trombone 7 has a brief syncopated figure by itself and will require a confident player.

This is a lighthearted piece which could serve well to open a concert program. It should be within the reach of an average trombone ensemble.