Wood Structures by Benjamin Wittiber

If you like groove-oriented pieces,”Wood Structures” will be a delight.
It grooves on its own and can be played as a marimba solo, but the added drumset accompaniment definitely enhances the work. With some nice bluesy bass lines, right-hand melodies, funky syncopations, and creative time changes, the marimba solo itself has a great feel. With tasteful playing, always staying underneath the marimba, the accompaniment helps solidify the groove and adds both rhythmic clarity and color. While the drumset part is never soloistic in nature, it does contain nice melodic tom parts that often coincide with right hand double-stop triplet hemiolas on the marimba. Wittiber is very creative with his variety of time signatures including 11/16, 5/8, and 6/8-much like his popular piece “Rhythm Dance.”
These sections serve as a nice contrast to the more traditional funk-based grooves. Both parts are very clearly written regarding expression and articulation and are extremely idiomatic for the instruments. Neither instrument has any bars rest.