Every year, the University of Missouri holds a “Creating Original Music Project”, part of Mizzou’s New Music Initiative. Aiming to recognize Missouri students with a passion for music, the competition requires students to write and submit an original composition in a variety of musical styles.
This year, the award for the High School Jazz Division went to senior Nick Larimore. On Saturday, April 16th, Larimore’s original jazz composition was performed by the Mizzou Jazz Band and members of the Music faculty. As a result, he was awarded a $1,000 cash prize with an additional $1,000 going to the school.
Part of our own Jazz Band, Larimore applied his love for music as well as a background in Jazz and Music Theory to create his piece.
“I’ve been in jazz band all 4 years of high school,” Larimore said. “I wouldn’t say that helped as much as taking theory did, because I think jazz band is a lot more applying what you know rather than learning beyond the basics of jazz.”
Larimore also drew influences from musicians and popular culture to build his composition, such as jazz tenor saxophonist Joe Henderson.
“I was playing around with parallel harmony when I wrote the chord changes, which Joe Henderson used to do a lot,” Larimore said. “The ‘A’ section is minor chords moving in minor thirds and the ‘B’ section is major chords moving in major seconds.”
As well as using musical influences, Larimore also incorporated elements and aesthetic from the Woody Allen film, Annie Hall, to draft the piece, evident by the song’s title.
“I wrote it on a keyboard while I was watching Annie Hall, so I titled the song ‘I Need The Eggs’, which references the final scene of the movie,” Larimore said.
However, Larimore’s jazz career doesn’t stop with his award as the senior aims to continue working with music throughout college.
“I am pursuing a career in music,” Larimore said. “I’m still waiting to hear from schools to make a final decision but I will be majoring in Jazz Guitar Performance.”
