William Thomas McKinley: R.A.P.

BMOP/sound 1016
April 2010
77:07
  • Boston Modern Orchestra Project
  • Gil Rose, conductor

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CD price: $16.99

Track Listing

Disc 1
  •  Marimba Concerto "Childhood Memories" (2005)
  • 1.I. Childsplay
  • 2.II. Daydreams
  • 3.III. Hopscotch

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  • 4.IV. Tag
  • 5.V. Lazy Summer Day
  • 6.VI. Timeout
  • 7.VII. Under the Sprinkler
  • 8.VIII. Evening Reveries
  • 9.IX. The Playground
  • 10.X. Evening Birds
  • 11.XI. Night Dreams
  • 12.XII. Morning Light
  • 13.XIII. Downhill Sledding
  • 14.XIV. Ol' Time Radio
  • 15.R.A.P. (2005)

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  •  13 Dances for Orchestra (2007)
  • 16.I. Madcap Valse
  • 17.II. Ballad Walk
  • 18.III. Tango Blue
  • 19.IV. Charleston Jump
  • 20.V. Slow Dance
  • 21.VI. Jitterbug Stomp
  • 22.VII. Magic Ballet
  • 23.VIII. March Boogie
  • 24.IX. Samba Eye
  • 25.X. Crazy Minuet
  • 26.XI. Jitterbug Man
  • 27.XII. Rap Groove
  • 28.XIII. Flight Dance

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Download the album booklet

News & Press

American Record Guide reviews William Thomas McKinley: R.A.P.
September 1, 2010 — William Thomas McKinley (b. 1938) studied with Foss, Copland, and Schuller, and has performed as a jazz pianist with Dexter Gordon, Stan Getz, Eddie Gomez, and others. These three pieces owe a lot, in McKinley’s own words, to his love for Stravinsky, Ives, and Varese.
American Record Guide Full review
Fanfare reviews William Thomas McKinley: R.A.P.
March 1, 2010 — R.A.P., the title work of Thomas McKinley’s newest CD, is a hugely entertaining romp for clarinet and orchestra, jazz orchestra actually, which combines the exciting improvisatory abandon of jazz with the motivic concentration and rhythmic sophistication of classical composition. Although I haven’t listened to progressive big bands in a while, I remember hearing music that veered off in similar non-traditional, rhythmic directions while still retaining a tenuous link to what we think of as jazz.
Fanfare Full review
William Thomas McKinley: searching for transcendence
March 1, 2010 — William Thomas McKinley (Tom to his friends and family) is a protean personality, a composer of more than 300 works of great diversity, who embraces the classical and jazz worlds with equal proficiency and gusto. His is a restless, exploratory mind that ceaselessly seeks to expand the boundaries of musical form and substance without abandoning the essential building blocks of melody, rhythm, and harmony.
Fanfare Full interview
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