The Music

For those of you who are new to my page and for those of you who have been before, I would like to bring something to your attention:  TUNES!

Go over to the right of this page and click on “Audio”

This will bring you to all of the tunes that have recorded on my own up until this point.  Here is a rundown of what you’ll find:

Some Scenes:  Is the latest batch of original music I have recorded.  Some of it in my home studio and some of it in the Murder Room with Ed Tupper(Engineering/Coproducing/Sick Beats) in Kitty Hawk, NC. Bob Hamilton contributes some guitar on “Ridiculous” and Kip Germscheid plays sax on “Crumbs” and “Just Fine”…I wrote, played, and sang the rest.

The Big Show:  This is a live recording of some of my original instrumental music.  It was recorded in the Caplan Center for the Performing Arts in Philadelphia, PA and features Steve Tjernagel on Guitar, Gregory Martin on Saxophone, and Arturo Stable on Percussion in addition to yours’ truly on the bass.

University of the Arts Graduate Ensemble 2008-2009:  This documents some of the music I was involved in while in Grad School.  The music is composed by myself, Tim Andrulonis, and Greg Martin.  In addition to featuring the three of us, the Ensemble was directed by Micah Jones and features the talents of most of my classmates at the time.

203:  This was a session of jazz standards I recorded with Greg Matthews on Guitar and Tim Andrulonis on Alto Saxophone.  Recorded live in the studio at Uarts.

Hamilton/Rice:  This is myself and my friend Bob Hamilton(guitar).  Kinda bluegrassy, kinda jazzy….Recorded in various places.

Maine to Mexico Mixtape:  This was recorded by me on a mobile recording rig in various places from Garages, bedrooms, and attics in Maine to my apartment in Mexico over looking the Rio Cuale and Paso Ancho…I wrote, played, and sang everything except for some tasty guitars by Mr. Bob Hamilton that we recorded when he visited me in Mexico.

Miscellaneous:  Simply that…mostly me doing covers except for some cover tracks from the Wilders and one Original

That’s about it for now.  Please check it out and tell me what you think!

Crumbs

This is not a new tune, but this is the first in an attempt to get the latest batch of tunes that i have recorded online.

First the Lyrics:

Crumbs

Pretend we never met. Undo it, better yet.

Portray me to the world like i’m a criminal

I’d like a little time to wrestle with my mind

I’m starting to believe we’re all just self-destructive.

They say home is where your folks are and I know it’s true that most are.

All fucked up like everybody else.

But hope, it springs anew with every sight of you.

Whether near or far, it doesn’t matter now

the communion that we take is the love that we make

but thieves made off with the bread and the wine

one empty wine glass sits there next to one small pile of

crumbs

even though everybody listens, not everybody hears

we’re all using our voicebox, neglecting our ears

but I, for one, won’t be held down, i’ll fight for better years.

You made off clean with my heart but I retain my tears

the communion that we take is the love that we make

but thieves made off with the bread and the wine

one empty wine glass sits there next to one small pile of

crumbs crumbs

fast forward six months from now

no longer tired, no long down

no longer searching for absolution.

the communion that we take is the love that we make

but thieves made off with the bread and the wine

one empty wine glass sits there next to one small pile of

crumbs crumbs crumbs

 Three versions:

Andy Rice featuring Kip Germscheid version: crumbs

Hamilton Rice version:  crumbs

Wilders version:  04 Crumbs

Thanks for checking in.

More to come, I promise!

Some Scenes

Hi there,

Another tune for you to check out!

This is on the Outer Banks Sounds CD and is also the title track of the latest collection of my tunes available on CD from yours’ truly.

click here:  some scenes

Some Scenes

Wet and winded, we decided to decree

With ink we marked our skin, with stars we traced our sin.

She told us she could see the direction and a tree.

Roiling in the din, I retreat within.

Some Scenes, some scenes

Some kings, some queens

Some scenes, some scenes.

She laughs and then she leans

One side, Two Sides, Upside Down

You once had smiled, but now you’re frowned

The pace I found you at has slowed me down.

A million pardons on shaky ground

Some Scenes, some scenes

Some kings, some queens

Some scenes, some scenes.

She laughs and then she leans

The irony of my disdain for words and my poetic inclinations

Has not been lost on me

I fear for the state of my reputation so with candor now I speak.

Cause I just want to be

You’re eyes are big, your limbs are long.

I haven’t felt inspired in far too long

The wind can blow, the sun can burn, that only makes you free.

Your fingernails, the skin I’m in, I want to.

Some Scenes, some scenes

Some kings, some queens

Some scenes, some scenes.

She laughs and then she leans

With the wit of a card shark and the grace of a stripper

She made her mark on a stiff upper-lipper

Some scenes, some scenes

Some scenes, some scenes.

here is a Video of it from Outer Banks sounds showcase 10/21/2011
at Kelly’s in Nags Head, NC:

Wet and winded, we decided to decree

With ink we marked our skin, with stars we traced our sin.

She told us she could see the direction and a tree.

Roiling in the din, I retreat within.

Some Scenes, some scenes

Some kings, some queens

Some scenes, some scenes.

She laughs and then she leans

One side, Two Sides, Upside Down

You once had smiled, but now you’re frowned

The pace I found you at has slowed me down.

A million pardons on shaky ground

Some Scenes, some scenes

Some kings, some queens

Some scenes, some scenes.

She laughs and then she leans

The irony of my disdain for words and my poetic inclinations

Has not been lost on me

I fear for the state of my reputation so with candor now I speak.

Cause I just want to be

You’re eyes are big, your limbs are long.

I haven’t felt inspired in far too long

The wind can blow, the sun can burn, that only makes you free.

Your fingernails, the skin I’m in, I want to.

Some Scenes, some scenes

Some kings, some queens

Some scenes, some scenes.

She laughs and then she leans

With the wit of a card shark and the grace of a stripper

She made her mark on a stiff upper-lipper

Some scenes, some scenes

Some scenes, some scenes.

The Owl

Here is a fun one that i composed for bowed bass, pizzicato bass and electric bass(Kevin’s 1979 guild classical guitar is doubling the electric bass part too just for effect).  There are also some hand claps and bass percussion.

owl

This piece is very simple and is comprised three short parts, each lasting 8 measures.

One ostinato bass line outlining the harmony, a melody, and a bass line.

Each part is swapped from one instrument to the next like a canon (a round, like ‘Row row row your boat’).

Once each instrument plays each of the parts, the cycle is repeated in reverse order, creating a musical palindrome.

This composition began as an exercise for my composition class in Grad School, but i think it turned out pretty cool.

I hope you enjoy!

Below is a PDF of the Sheet music, if you care to take a look.

Owl bass trio

The Smooth

This tune is named in tribute to a 1985 Mercury Grand Marquis.

The car belongs to Kevin Roughton and we ride to gigs in it.

mp3:  the smooth

Here is the music:

I often will jot ideas down in a little music paper notebook, when they strike me.

They range from very short snippets to full songs.

This tune is like a sonic patchwork quilt.

It is several small ideas that i found in my notebooks, put together by my brain.

My brain is like the Bond-O that holds together the smooth.

Enjoy!

VWR

My grandfather’s name was Virgil Wilder Rice.

I wrote this tune the day that he died.

To me, he was one of the greatest people to ever live and i could never do justice to any of the stories about him.

click here to hear it:  VWR

Here is the lead sheet:

Theoretically, i don’t have much to share about this one.  When i wrote it, i was in college and really into Monk.

I heard from one of my instructors about Monk writing major blues tunes sometimes.

I also was just beginning to understand about chord substitutions, and how Bartok used harmony.

I misunderstood both of those things at the time and this tune came out of that combined misunderstanding.

That is a beautiful thing.

Toast for Breakfast

Hi there!

Thanks for stopping by.

What you’re reading now is the first of a few posts that I have planned where I will be posting some of my compositions in the form of sheet music and recordings.

This tune is titled “Toast for Breakfast.”

here is the chart:

if you prefer, a pdf file is here:  toast for breakfast

and here is a recording from my master’s recital on 11/18/2009.

Toast For Breakfast

I composed this tune as an assignment for my ‘Composing for Performers’ class in the spring of 2009.

The assignment was to experiment with the sound of different slash chords and/or pedal points, and compose something using those sounds.

The form of this piece is AABA.  The A sections are the first and last 8 measures.  The B section is the middle 16 measures, after the repeat sign.

A slash chord is one of two things.  If the slash notated is diagonal, the player is to play the chord indicated on top with the note on the bottom being the bass note.  sometimes it’s a chord member, sometimes it is not.  If the slash is horizontal, it indicates bitonality where the top is a chord and the bottom is a different chord, like two chords at once.

I used slash chords of the diagonal variety on the A sections of this one.

Pedal points refer to the act of sustaining a note(usually on the bottom in jazz) while the chords are changing.  This creates a sense of tension and release depending on how the chords change.

The pedal point is employed over the B section here.

The melody was inspired by the chord sounds and  developed right along with the changes.

The title came about when I asked Kirsten what she thought it sounded like as I was composing it.

She said:  “Toast for breakfast, like you’re making breakfast and it’s toast.”

That worked for me.

thanks for reading!

Andy Rice

To Keep

I wrote this song while in Mexico and it was recorded there too.  I played the guitar, bass and sang.  There are actually 3 bass parts at the end.

Don’t worry if the lyrics don’t make 100% sense, they will in time.

To Keep