Make Me a Scythe
for alto sax, electric guitar, piano, drum kit, and vocal trio.
(The choral section in this piece is a Carl Linich arrangement of Georgian folk song Okro Mchedelo. Read on to learn more!)
Make Me a Scythe is a dialectic. I present an extended instrumental section, the “thesis,” then challenge it with a vocal section, the “antithesis.” Finally, a synthesis occurs, reconciling the two sections and combining the instrumental and vocal forces. The thesis consists of my own original musical material, while the antithesis is Georgian folk song “Okro Mchedelo.” The synthesis of these contrasting sections consists once again of original material, but this time referencing and riffing off of the Georgian folk song.
I created the instrumental lines for the ensemble Throw Down or Shut Up! intending for each member to be able to bring in inflections from their own personal styles and the traditions they champion. The vocal lines are performed by Beartooth Scrimshaw, a trio consisting of Max McKee, John Boggs, and myself. Originally, Max taught “Okro Mchedelo” to us simply for the joy of singing together. Max learned the song from Carl Linich, who in turn learned it in Meskheti, a province of south-central Georgia. Linich writes: “I learned this from Marina, Mary, Medea, and Mzia Davlasheridze, four sisters from Akhaltsikhe … They had learned it in a girls’ choir, from a transcription made by Georgian ethnomusicologist Valerian Maghradze in the late Soviet period.”
Beartooth Scrimshaw tends to perform in public only in unusual settings or contexts. One such event occurred in Boulder, Colorado on May 8th, 2015: John and I had just started a set with our progressive metal band Fifth Veil when a thunderstorm rolled in and a lightning strike caused a power outage. Rather than leave our audience in silent disappointment, Max, who happened to be in attendance, joined us in the darkness to sing “Okro Mchedelo” and other Georgian folk songs. In this context, we were able to form a strange bond between wildly different musical traditions. In Make Me a Scythe, I was inspired to achieve a similar bond via the dialectic framework described above.
lyrics
Okro Mchedelo (Meskheti)
1. okro mch’edelo, mch’edelo (2x)
chit’is nali mip’ovnia, okro mch’edelo, mch’edelo
erti bari gamik’ete, okro mch’edelo, mch’edelo
(Refrain) hoda, ho... oha-i-ralo, ha...ri, hara-lo, haralo (2x)
2. okro mch’edelo, mch’edelo (2x)
rats rom imas gadarcheba, okro mch’edelo, mch’edelo
erti tokhi gamik’ete, okro mch’edelo, mch’edelo (R)
3. okro mch’edelo, mch’edelo (2x)
rats rom imas gadarcheba, okro mch’edelo, mch’edelo
erti tsuli gamik’ete, okro mch’edelo, mch’edelo (R)
4. okro mch’edelo, mch’edelo (2x)
rats rom imas gadarcheba, okro mch’edelo, mch’edelo
erti dana gamik’ete, okro mch’edelo, mch’edelo (R)
Goldsmith, I’ve found a bird’s iron shoe. Make a spade for me.
With what’s left, make a hoe for me.
With what’s left, make an axe for me.
With what’s left, make a knife for me.