Bid Call resulted from the investigation that saxophonist Paul Bro and I have of finding musical form in American language traditions. In the last piece that Paul and I collaborated on, Holy Roller, we looked at the revivalist preacher's musical form. However, I had been studying auctioneering patter for a long time, and it suddenly dawned on me that our new piece should explore auctioneering patter. In the auction business they call it “bid call” and people train a long time to develop their own patter and style. So, this piece is all about auctioneers’ styles, pitches, timing, and complex and wonderful rhythms.

I would like to thank Dale Newton for his creativity and guidance in developing new techniques for the violoncello.