A Coconut Named Alex

This colorful title aptly combines the basis for the piece and the person it was written for. Tenth grade trumpet player Alex McCarthy would come to brass quintet rehearsals and, rather than warming up, he would play excerpts from the Denis Di Blasio tune Coconut Champagne, which was written for Maynard Ferguson and his band. This piece uses the melodic material as a base for this upbeat tune for quartet and optional drumset.