The idea for Distinguished came from a simple idea—I missed writing light-hearted music since most of my works in the past few years have been filled with drama and/or distress. I began by setting out to write something like soul food, something irresistibly delicious and close to home.
Inspired heavily by the boombox works of Jacob Ter Veldhuis, and after spending days (no joke, days) researching, I stumbled upon Emily Post’s Etiquette. This chapter covers the importance of how one introduces, or more properly “presents” someone to another. After painstakingly analyzing the text and the recording for certain clear words and inflections, I reconstructed a text in which Mrs. Jones, before being introduced to the mysterious Mr. Distinguished, is warned of his not-so-distinguished persona.
Mr. Distinguished is dedicated to Virginia Ryder, and written for the Vipisa Trio in Arcata, CA.
In 2015, Mr. Distinguished received a special judges’ citation from the American Prize for “Most Entertaining Work of the 2015 Contest Year”