Buss, Howard – Dry Bones

This well-known African American spiritual (the foot bone’s connected to the leg bone, the leg bone’s connected to the…), arranged by Howard Buss, makes a memorable concert feature as well as a rousing musical offering in church. Multiple players may be used on each part to expand the ensemble. This arrangement is hugely influenced by jazz. The extended two-part introduction begins hymn-like and then breaks out in a jubilant jazzy section. This is followed by a more traditional rendering of the spiritual; however, as the music reaches its climax, the jazz “licks” from the introduction are brought back as counterpoint against the main melody of the spiritual. The result is exhilarating, and for a bit of humor, just as the work ends, there is a “tongue-in-cheek” plagal cadence.