Fever Pitch

[1] Fever Pitch (David Rimelis)

Starts hot and gets hotter, as it swings the big band sound through some new territory.—DR

[2] Bone Meal (J. Billy Ver Planck)
Marin Alsop, violin solo Christine Gummere, cello solo

You see I’m a trom “bone” player! Just a little food for the soul.—BVP

[3] South Street Strut (David Rimelis)

This funky shuffle takes you on an imaginary walk down a street in a shady but scenic part of town.—DR

[4] Go For It (George Bogatko)
Christine Gummere, cello solo Chris Adams, drum solo

Go For It is the most adventurous piece I’ve written for String Fever to date and an attempt to combine a serious, extended form piece with the jazz idiom. I wanted to write something for String Fever’s lead cellist, Christine Gummere, that would use the whole range of the cello and team it up with an unlikely partner: the drum set!—GB

[5] Bubba Loomis Blooz (J. Billy Ver Planck)
Marin Alsop, violin solo

A few years ago my wife was in Charleston, South Carolina to sing a concert and we met a man named Bubba Loomis Plunckett. I figured anyone who went through life with the name Bubba Loomis Plunckett deserved to have a song written about him.—BVP

[6] Who, Me Worry? (David Rimelis)
Marin Alsop, violin solo

Somewhere between calypso and rhythm and blues is a happy place, and when you’re there you haven’t got a care in the world!—DR

[7] In A Monday Mood (George Bogatko)

In A Monday Mood is a ballad-like tune written to evoke that sleepy, slow, slightly overcast feeling we all experience on a rainy Monday morning back to work.—GB

[8] Sneakin’ (David Rimelis)

Put on your sneakers and tiptoe through tin-pan alley.—DR

[9] Caribbean Leprechaun (David Rimelis)
Laura Seaton, violin solo

Based on the traditional Irish fiddle tune Kitchen Girl, this cross-cultural romp goes from raga to reggae to rock and back.—DR

[10] SFO (George Bogatko)

SFO, which stands for “String Fever Opener”, is a kaleidoscope of styles embraced by the band. From country fiddling through Back through ’50s rock ‘n’ roll to hot swing, I wanted to document String Fever’s musical adventures in under five minutes.—GB

[11] Pictures of Emily (David Rimelis)

A memorial to Emily Hart, a church organist who at age 85, after being pronounced legally blind, decided to begin studying music composition and became a composer.—DR

[12] Groovy Cats (J. Billy Ver Planck)
Marin Alsop, violin solo

Marin sent me a copy of a String Fever performance in Eugene, Oregon and in it she referred to me as a “groovy cat” from New York. My wife immediately looked at me and said, “That should be the title of your next song for Marin.” I agreed…but then we always agree on musical things.—BVP

[13] Mill Town Gypsy Ball (Michael Sahl)
Mary Rowell, violin solo

The Mill Town Gypsy Ball is a fantasy about what kind of music might occur on a Saturday night in a New England factory town, when a gypsy fiddler (probably a Soviet émigré) goes down to the dance and tries to sit in with the band. It tries to introduce the idea that underneath these two wildly different styles—the one with a tough, relentless rhythm and the other with an almost hysterical rubato—there exists a common spring of sensuality and funk.—MS

[14] Mine All Mine (David Rimelis)
LaMar Alsop, whistling solo Marin Alsop, violin solo

Light and swinging—you might want to do a soft shoe to this one or just whistle along.—DR