Hot

Hot itself evolves through repetition and transmutation. The composer described the piece as a sort of "imaginary jazz," and he begins with his rhythm section - piano, bass, and percussion - laying down a sort of oddly constricted, composite walking bass line, very soft but goosed with carefully placed accents. Then he brings in the brass (muted trumpet and trombone) playing a background phrase mostly in seconds, the ultimate close harmony - a smudged unison, really. When the solo sax enters, it too has a shadow, the clarinet acting as both echo and goad. Donatoni gradually raises the dynamic and complexity levels, moving the lead lines around like the trade-off in a jazz group. The piece grows through organic variation, but Donatoni also suggests - or lampoons expectations - of more conventional shapes with percussion markers. With the shift from marimbas to bongos he begins a fading transition that leads to a recapitulation of the whole process, and roto-toms drive a coda that ends with a mini-cadenza.