“White River Junction” by the Matt Flinner Trio

This week I thought I’d introduce the “Music du Jour” project into the video of the week. As you may know, on most of the Matt Flinner Trio shows we write new music the day of the show to perform that night—basically one tune by each member of the trio, for three new tunes every night. I’ve been hesitant to add these new “du Jour” performances to our video channel, as I don’t know what tunes will end up getting recorded on our CDs, and I’m not sure I want to end up with a CD full of material that is already out there on YouTube. Anyway, I liked this performance enough to give it a go. I wrote this tune while on the road between Richmond, VT to Putney, VT. After rejecting a few ideas, the idea for this tune seemed to take shape somewhere near White River Junction; hence the title.
In our du Jour shows we’re often trying to change things up to keep the material fresh and varied. I gave the main melody to the bass and then tried to pass it around a fair bit to vary the texture. Then in the middle, Ross and I trade solos and build up into the reprise of the B melody back into the bass melody—sort of a backwards version of the beginning.

This video was made at the Next Stage Theater in Putney, VT on March 25, 2012 (the same day the tune was written). We hope you enjoy it!