Percussion teachers couldn’t ask for a more colorful and diverse collection of pieces to introduce young players to all the keyboard percussion instruments. Works for marimba, xylophone, vibraphone and one that can be played on glockenspiel make this a valuable teaching tool and studio or recital resource. All the piano accompaniments are simple and playable by anyone who has a music education degree level of piano proficiency.

Included are: Hommage to Michaël which is a wink at the famous composer Michaël Nyman; Ca va swinger which is written in the style of Glenn Miller, and Dessins animés recalls the cartoons of the Sixties.

This collection of five accessible two-mallet solos will provide the intermediate-level soloist with a set of repertoire that could be performed either at contests or festivals. Integral to the successful performance of any of these five solos is an accomplished pianist who really carries the “load” musically. Each solo is about two minutes in length, which would permit the soloist to perhaps select two or three of the five solos for performance. The individual titles of the selections are “Dessins animes,” “Tarentellixylo,” “Ca va swinger, “Xylofonlichon,” and “Homage to Michael.”
The final selection, “Hommage to Michael,” is composed for either vibraphone or gloceknspiel, and is probably the most challenging musically of the five selections. It is in A minor and in 3/8 with a feeling of one beat per measure.
– Jim Lambert, Percussive News – March 2017