El Compadre Merengue - Saxophone Quartet (S/AATB)

'El Compadre Merenue' is one of those old traditional merengues that can be heard on evenings in Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic). Santo Domingo is a paradise for lovers of Latin-Caribbean music. There are many fine musicians and a good musician is well-respected in the community.

There is a great tradition of saxophone playing and most musicians seem to possess a rapid tongue to execute fast staccato passages. I picked up the tune from musicians in St. Maarten, where musicians from all over the Caribbean seem to gather. The quartet was 'commissioned' by four saxophone-players from a Brassband I was involved with. My reward mainly came from the dedication with which they played it on numerous occasions.

The quartet is set up in an a-b-a form and is harmonically and melodically simple. The b-section is sometimes stretched by local bands in order to create some room to go wild. This is a common feature in Latin music and in some cases the accompaniment stops to give the trumpet soloist and the percussionist a chance to show off; this is called a montuno.

Note the rhythm in the third part (TS/3rd Clnt); it follows the pattern of the traditional bellydrym that was used for the merengue in the old days (4 sixteenths on the last beat of the bar).

Art Marshall

Instrumentation:

• Soprano Sax (alternate Alto Sax part included)
• Alto Sax
• Tenor Sax
• Baritone Sax

Includes score and parts.