Roger Lewis - Junior Recital

Junior Percussion Recital
Bliss Hall - 2326

Accompanied by:

Al Troiani, guitar

Luke Hagerman, bass

Justin Randall, trumpet

 

This junior recital is presented in partial fulfillment of the B.M. in Music Education

Rain Dance (1988)
Alice Gomez b.1960 and Marilyn Rife

Rain Dance is a four mallet marimba solo that gives the effect of falling rain, with a sound resembling Native American music.

Notes by Roger Lewis

#1 from Douze Etudes (1964)
Jaques Delecluse b.1933

DeLecluse was a percussionist, composer, and all around talented musician. He began writing his etudes in 1964, because at the time in France there was no repertoire for snare drum, primarily just orchestral excerpts. His etudes are closely related to that, as they are more musical in nature rather than technical patterns organized together.

Notes by Frederic Macare, edited by Roger Lewis

Cold Pressed (1990)
David Hollinden b. 1958

The term "cold pressed" refers to the method of extracting olive oil which results in the most robust and full-bodied flavor. Syncopation, contrasting timbres and rock-influenced style are blended together in music which is vivid, spicy and obsessively persistent.

Notes by David Hollinden

Hellcat Halftime (1985
John S. Pratt b.1931

 

Off the Beaten Path (2014)
Roger Lewis b.1985

For this drum set solo, I wanted to combine elements that were both very comfortable for me to play, and also other elements that I’m interested in playing but don’t get to incorporate into my groove playing very often. The piece starts out in common time, representing my comfort zone as a rock drummer, but then touches on some different odd time sections before settling into a 7/8 groove with improvisation.

Notes by Roger Lewis

Straight, No Chaser 1951)
Thelonius Monk (1917-82)

Straight, No Chaser, recorded July 23, 1951 (Blue Note 1589, 1511), it is only the second blues Monk recorded, Misterioso being the first. Like Misterioso, Straight, No Chaser is not like other blues in that the melody breaks with the typical four-bar phrasing and extends beyond the bar line. It is also the only blues he recorded in F (all others, including a few versions of “Straight No Chaser,” are in Bb). It has become a true standard in jazz repertoire.

Notes by Robin D. G. Kelley

Rosanna (1982)
David Paich b. 1954

Rosanna is a song from the band Toto, a million selling certified gold hit single. It features a famous drum groove known as the Purdy Shuffle. For this arrangement, I have taken the chord changes and melody and orchestrated it for a jazz combo, using the vocal melody and then soloing over the form while keeping the same signature groove.

Notes by Roger Lewis

Musician Biography

Roger Lewis is a 2004 graduate of South Range High School and a current Music Education Major at the Dana School of Music at Youngstown State University. Growing up in North Lima, OH, he began taking drum lessons from Jim Vivo at age 6. During his time at South Range High School, he was a member of the marching band, symphonic wind ensemble, jazz band and pep band. Outside of school, he played with various local rock bands and also played in the pit orchestra for musicals at South Range and the Youngstown Playhouse.

At Dana and YSU, he has studied under Dr. Glenn Schaft, Brian Sweigart, Nathan Douds, Rob Ferguson, Ron Coulter, and Dr. Elizabeth DeLamater.  He has been a member of the YSU University Band, Concert band, Wind Ensemble, Dana Symphony Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra, and the Percussion Ensemble, and can be heard on the Youngstown Percussion Collective’s recording Forms of Things Unknown. He has also performed with the Marching Pride, Jazz Combos and played drum set in the pit orchestra in 2006 for YSU’s musical theater presentation of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.

Outside of YSU, Roger has performed and recorded with his original rock band Relic and original blues and soul group Hoss and the Juggernauts. He was able to perform at Rock on the Range, a large music festival in Columbus, Ohio among various other opening spots with National Recording artists as a member of Columbus based band Noise Auction. He can also be heard playing drums on Natalie Sprouse’s jazz/blues album “Queen Bee.”  In the summer of 2013 he recorded drums for Christopher Lee Bayda’s We Wish You A Merry Rockin’ Christmas, heavy metal arrangements of traditional Christmas music.

 He also plays various regional touring gigs with tribute bands Robbing Zombie (Tribute to Rob Zombie), Nightmare: The Alice Cooper show, Kid Rocked (Tribute to Kid Rock) and Speak of the Devil (Tribute to Ozzy Osbourne), and in 2013 served as drummer and music director for Main Street Theater’s production of “The Wizard of Oz” as well as various church, pit orchestra, and various other gigs.

 Roger spent four years as the percussion instructor/coordinator for the South Range Schools music department from 2008 until 2011 and currently maintains weekly private lessons in the Youngstown area as well as teaching marching drumlines for South Range, McDonald, and Geneva High Schools.