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"November in Massachusetts"

Nov 2005, Jul 2006, May 2010 || Score

This is a tune I originally wrote in 2005, and it's an homage to Boston and the state of Massachusetts where I lived from age19 to 21. Then I reproduced the tune in 2006 and 2010.

Squirrels in Boston Common. The winter as cold as it freezes your un-dried hair exposed outside. The Burbank St apartment in which I lived on my own for the first time. An old elevator whose door you had to close by hand. Brick buildings and autumn leaves. Grocery stores in Chinatown. The ensemble auditions I took at school every semester. Bruce Bartlett, my teacher. Cafes on Newbury St. The nightclub Avalon I frequented on Thursday nights. Dunkin' Doughnuts coffee. The Avant-garde Ensemble class which always started after the teacher turned off the lights completely. Harmony lessons by Barbara London. A homeless man singing over the rhythm of a shaken spare-change cup. These and many other memories still return vividly once I start recalling them after more than 10 years.

This piece starts with an intro section in Dm, which has a tender swing feel.

Then it enters the A section which works as the main theme of the tune. This section is in D and has a straight 8th feel.

(Continued from the left column)

This is where the tune enters the B section, which begins with the B7(#9) chord. After that, it goes to the C section which is quite similar to the A section.

The tune then goes into the D section which is in the key of F#m.

The E section is a mono-chord section based again on D. There are some other chords used in this section, but I see them as spontaneous deviations rather than chord changes.