The impetus for Meditative Swagger came form several different areas. Originally I had wanted to write a solo for instrument and Rav Drum after being introduced to those particular hand drums by my friend and yoga teacher Kate Umble Smucker--who provided the original samples for this work. Another project that had been stewing in my brain was a piece about the freedom and energy given to the mind in a state of meditation. As a regular practitioner of Yoga and Transcendental Meditation, I have often been struck by the energetic and wild nature of my subconscious and how, in a meditative state, my fears, desires, and interests come so much closer to the surface. The third influence was my friend Sergio Carolino--a player I have always held in the highest regard. I have had the privilege of working with him on several occasions, but a talk he gave in the winter of 2020 with the Canadian Brass helped fit the ideas into place. In the presentation he said that he wished more composers would write for him in a way that was approachable for other tubists and highlighted more of the tuba's low register. Sergio has also written about the importance of Flow--the psychology of optimal performance presented by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi--in brass playing and has described his approach to musicality as "Wild and unpredictable, but controlled." This provided the framework for me to fit all of these ideas together. The convergence of all of these ideas and influences was made accessible through Jazz--the only musical genre that I think accurately captures the energy, wildness and improvisatory nature of the human subconscious. Sergio is an exceptional Jazz tubist, and I felt this project would fit with the works he regularly performs, but it was also important to me that musicians have an opportunity to express a more individualistic element to the piece. This resulted in a pair of solo tuba sections in the work--one pre-written and one improvised. I spent a great deal of time listening to charts like "Little Sunflower" by Freddy Hubbard in order to get an idea of how I wanted to capture the relaxing groove of that particular more modal Jazz style, but my attention continues to be drawn to the works of Pat Metheny. After combining those textures and harmonies with the timbre of the Rav drum, the result is an unpredictable but calming groove in an idiosyncratic rhythmic pattern.

The structure of this work is a bit strange, however. I superimposed the typical jazz structure over Sonata form. The groove is stated as an intro before the tune takes over in the key of the piece before its second statement at the dominant level. The solo sections and the bridge serve as the development and transition to the recapitulation where the tune is stated twice in the original key of the piece.