Swamp Bog by Josh Oxford

Written to showcase the talents of percussionist Ujjal Bhattacharyya, Swamp Bog is a virtuosic work for solo vibraphone that explores open-voiced dissonant intervals and draws inspiration from Frank Zappa and Gordon Stout.

Program Notes
I met Ujjal Bhattacharyya in Ithaca, NY a few years ago when he was studying for his masters degree at Ithaca College. His technical abilities were unreal and inspired me to write him a piece for marimba. The piece featured those astounding physical feats, but was barely playable. Earlier this year, we talked about writing a new piece for vibraphone— one that wasn’t as difficult. He mentioned he was really interested in open voiced dissonant intervals. After our conversation, I went to sleep. At 3am that night, I woke up and wrote the first couple bars. There are moments in the piece inspired by Frank Zappa and marimba composer/innovator Gordon Stout.

– OX