Bad Juju
General Info
Release Date: 2017
Publisher: Tapspace
Level: Advanced
Duration: 7:30
Price: $40.00
Description
Chad Heiny’s brilliant piece Bad Juju juxtaposes deep African grooves played on traditional instruments and dissonant harmonic material played on three marimbas to create a feeling of uneasy suspense throughout the work. Although not a story per se, the piece conjures images of voodooism, bewitchment, and impending doom—sure to raise a few hackles from the listener. There is also plenty of technical demand to satisfy the appetites of experienced players. Bad Juju was written for, and dedicated to, Omar Carmenates and the Furman University Percussion Ensemble.
Instrumentation
Player 1: Marimba & Agogos
Player 2: Marimba & Claves
Player 3: Marimba & Small Djembe
Player 4: Marimba & Shekere
Player 5: Crotales & Bamboo Wind Chimes & China Cymbal & Chinese Tom-toms & Woodblock & Triangle & Zil-bell & Tam-tam & Ribbon Crasher
Player 6: Crotales & GlassWind Chimes & Bongos & Small Conga & Doumbek & Seed Pod Rattle
Player 7: Crotales & Large Conga & Large Djembe & 4 Log Drums & Prayer Bowl
Player 8: Crotales & Small Caxixi & Sizzle Cymbal & Bass Drum
Recent Performance
Works for Percussion by this Composer
Solos
Auroras
Chemical Songs (Volume 1)
Chemical Songs (Volume 2)
Mementos
Percussion Ensembles
Beacons of Light - Percussion Ensemble
Bad Juju - Percussion Octet
Canon Fodder - Percussion Quartet
Coming of Age - Solo Marimba and Percussion Quartet
Elements - Marimba Duo
Epoch - Percussion Sextet
Hydra - Percussion Octet
Panthera Pardus - Percussion Ensemble
Perched - Drumset & Multiple Percussion
Thundersnow
Treespeak - Percussion (13)
Tribe
Two Preludes - Mallet Sextet
Undisclosed - Percussion Nonet
Wanderlust - Percussion Septet
Review
Marcus D. Reddick's Review
As I listened to this piece, I heard the familiar sounds that provide the incidental background music of many chase sequences seen in movies today. From the beginning, it appears that the goal of the piece is atmosphere and texture above melody. While there are melodic elements to the piece, no real melody stands out. At approximately 7 1⁄2 minutes in length, “Bad Juju” provides interesting textures and some dramatic musical moments, but leaves the audience wondering “what’s next?”
Extensive instrumentation with few alternatives is an unfortunate aspect of this work, as some of the smaller percussion programs in the country simply do not have the instrumentation to perform the work. Compositionally, Chad Heiny utilizes metric modulation and changing time signatures to create rhythmic confusion, which will challenge many groups when learning the piece. At times it gets a bit “drum corps”-like with humongous tutti impacts. The top two marimba parts share the same instrument while performing flourishes of thirty-second notes, which allows the third marimba part to provide rhythmic chording and the fourth to fill out the section by adding a bass line. ere are plenty of good things going on in the melody parts. Unfortunately, some of the really hip melodic content gets buried in the tumult of sound that is coming from the “battery.”
This work will require four strong marimba players, two of whom will play with four mallets. The battery parts have intricate and tricky thirty-second note passages that will require fast hands and decent drumming chops. This piece will work very well for an undergraduate percussion ensemble concert with ample personnel and equipment, and it will show off the ensemble admirably.