I received the printer’s proof of Turkey in the Straw today. Got to say, they look good. Now it’s just a matter of giving the green light to send the rest of them to the press.

As usual, Manhattan Beach did a beautiful job with the artwork. Neil Ruddy is the creative mastermind behind the visual impact of their scores. For this piece, he made a modern, Andy Warhol-ish collage of old-timey images… a wind mill, an old bike, turkey feather, and… what looks to be some kind of lunar lander? But maybe it’s just a boat or something. I can’t tell.

This piece has certainly grown on me the longer I live with it. Thinking about it, it’s probably my most mature piece, orchestrationally. That is, there’s a lot of variety and fun/quirkey things going on. I don’t even remember when I started on this piece. One could trace it back two years ago, but it’s still been way too long. Certainly long enough to drive a guy nuts (see crazy person below)…

By the way, the first band that performs this piece will inadvertently be giving its WORLD PREMIERE. Although ASU read and recorded it for me, it’s still virgin to any concerts. Any takers?