In the summer of 1976, I was in my final semester at Berklee. I was taking a jazz composition class with Herb Pomeroy. His assignment was to write a big band piece that featured the bassist in 2 sections, the first being an improvisation with the bass and other ensemble solos. Then part 2 with the entire ensemble. The project was called Snake Music. Part 1 was When The Snakes Come Out and part 2 was Snake Dance. Only part 2 is recreated here. Why Snake Music? The notation of the bass part resembles a snake if you draw a line connecting all the notes. The bass line is based on the symmetric diminshed scale, 1/2 step, whole step, 1/2 step, whole step. It moves between 15/8 and 7/8. After all these years, I still love this piece and it brings back memories of Back Bay Boston and Berklee. Enjoy!more