Cahn-La Negra

From the first NEXUS "Ragtime" album, Bill Cahn has established himself as not only a great arranger and performer of "Xylophone Novelty Music", but also as the world's foremost duck call virtuoso. His compositions can be programmed on recitals or percussion ensemble concerts, featuring students or the instructor as soloist. Most are arranged to be performed by the same instrumentation as the G. H. Green arrangements: four players performing on a minimum of two marimbas.

Number of Players: 5
Difficulty: Grade 5+
Instrumentation:

Player I: Xylophone

Player II: Marimba 1

Player III: Marimba 2

Player IV: Marimba 3

Player V: Marimba 4

*Four Marimba parts playable on 2 Marimbas (one 4 octave, one 4.3 octave)


Bill Cahn has been a member of the NEXUS percussion group since 1971, and was principal percussionist in the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra from 1968 to 1995. Born in Philadelphia in 1946, Bill has performed with conductors, composers, ensembles, and artists representing diverse musical styles - Chet Atkins, John Cage, Aaron Copland, Chuck Mangione, Mitch Miller, Seiji Ozawa, Steve Reich, Doc Severensen, Leopold Stokowski, Igor Stravinsky, and Paul Winter. He has conducted programs with symphony orchestras, and his compositions for solo percussion, percussion ensemble and percussion with orchestra/band are widely performed. His fourth book, "Creative Music Making," on freeform improvisation was published by Routledge Books in 2005.