Large Ensemble

In Search of Softer Selves (for 10 piece jazz ensemble)

In Search of Softer Selves

For 10 piece jazz ensemble

Commissioned by Edgefest

With support from the Foundation for Contemporary Arts

Premiered at Edgefest 27, Ann Arbor MI

Forces:
Clarinet in B-􏰀at and Tenor Saxophone (one player)
Tenor Saxophone and Soprano Saxophone (one player)
Baritone Saxophone

Trumpet in B-Flat
Trombone
Trombone

Drum set
Piano
Upright Bass
Upright Bass

Premiering Ensemble:

Wendell Harrison, Marcus Elliot, Kaleigh Wilder, Allen Dennard, Vincent Chandler, Zekkereya El-magharbel, Jonathan Barahal Taylor, Michael Malis, Marion Hayden, Ben Willis

Purchase the score here: https://www.michaelmalis.com/store/in-search-of-softer-selves-for-10-piece-jazz-ensemble

Wise Ones (for fourteen players)

For fourteen players
November 2016, Revised November 2020
Duration: ~7 minutes

Purchase the score here, and the score and parts here.


At the time I was writing this piece, I was spending a lot of time with Ornette Coleman’s Peace, Arthur Russell’s Tower of Meaning, Gil Evans’ arrangements on the Miles Davis album Birth of the Cool, and Wayne Shorter’s Alegría. The instrumentation is:

Flute
English Horn
Clarinet in Bb
Bassoon
Horn in F
Flugelhorn
Trombone
Vibraphone, Suspended Cymbal (one player)
Bass Drum, Glockenspiel (one player)
Violin
Viola
Cello
Bass

This piece has never been performed, and I would absolutely love to have someone play it one day. If you’d like to play it, please contact me.

Ask the Sun Rays (for large jazz ensemble)

Purchase the score here, and the score and parts here.

May 2011
For Jazz Ensemble


I wrote this piece at the very end of my undergrad. It’s for a large jazz ensemble. It’s never been performed, and I would love to have it performed one day! If you’re interested in having your ensemble play it, please let me know.

This piece takes its title from a lyric by the rapper Dudley Perkins: “There’s a message in my music / these is the last days / do I need to prove it? / just ask the sun rays” from the Georgia Anne Muldrow track “To the Stage” from her album King’s Ballad.