The two-piano version of Bebe’s Blues is an echoing arrangement of the third movement of my earlier quartet, Montage Music, for clarinet, violin, cello and piano. Initially written in memory of Bebe Krimmer, an acquaintance hailing from Santa Fe, NM, this dedicated piece aims to evoke her joie de vivre. Bebe left us with her reverberating legacy as a kind, vigorously remarkable and memorable visual artist.

A native of Chicago, Bebe exuded a dynamic affinity for jazz. Thus, I chose to write this movement in an old-time Dixieland style, reminiscent of funeral music in a New Orleans tradition. The music opens with a deliberately slow and mournful funeral march. However, as if it could do no other, it quickly sweeps into a vibrant bluesy mode, ending with a cheerful and energetic Second-Line Dance.