Skyscraper was designed to pay tribute to one of my favorite pieces of music by one of my favorite composers, Steve Reich’s New York Counterpoint. This piece was not only a major inspiration for my career as a composer, but also a major inspiration for my saxophone career. I heard a saxophone ensemble version of New York Counterpoint while in high school and I was instantly taken to a place I had never been before musically. I like to say that “it was the day I stopped hearing the saxophone and started hearing the music”.

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I followed the basic structure of Reich’s New York Counterpoint (Fast, Slow, Fast). However, they are not separate movements. Each section is meant to flow continuously. Skyscraper uses massive sound walls, highly grooving basslines, and shouting melodic lines to bring out the character of cityscape imagery.