Another work in a long history of pieces which invite conversation between the jazz and classical idioms, each of the three movements of Moods and Attitudes is written to champion a distinct stylistic era of 20th-century jazz. The first movement, "Blues shuffle kerfuffle," is a twist on a traditional blues shuffle with a melody inspired by the scale theories of Russian-American musicologist Nicolas Slonimsky. A tribute to one of my greatest musical heroes, the late Billy Strayhorn, the second movement, Swan song, so long, seeks to emulate his iconic and tragic final composition, "Blood Count," in which he attempts to wrestle with his own imminent mortality at the hands of esophageal cancer. The third movement, Bebop, won't stop!, is a tour-de-force true to the energy and virtuosity of the jazz style in which it is written.

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This work was commissioned by the Akropolis Reed Quintet with support from the National Endowment of the Arts.