TONGUE MEAT
1998

Tongue Meat is a theatrical work for SATB saxophones, flute, female storyteller/actress, and slide projector. It was accompanied by the Avocado Saxophone Quartet, for which I was the director. Based on a Swahili tale of the same name, the piece unfolds through the narration of a royal wife as she recounts the unexpected outcome of her husband's audacious wife-swapping scheme. The original music, rich in idiomatic character, was partially reworked from an earlier composition, Sax Quartet No. 1. Over time, the musical score of Tongue Meat has come to be regarded as an independent work, standing apart from its theatrical origins. Premiered at the Y Theatre, Leicester, in 1998 as part of the New Works Festival.