J. Scott McKenzie’s bio remains too fun and witty (and, incidentally, true) to mess with:

Scott McKenzie (b. 1971; reportedly still alive, unusual for a composer) is a composer, arranger, and conductor currently serving as a band officer in the United States Army. His oath and personal ethics stipulate that he can’t use his grade or position for personal gain, so that’s all he can say about that.

He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in music from Virginia Tech and a Master of Music degree in composition from George Mason University, where he was a student of Dr. Glenn Smith and Mark Camphouse. He previously studied music education and conducting at Old Dominion University and the Peabody Conservatory. Prior to doing a crazy thing and enlisting in the Army, he taught band, chorus, and general music at the middle school level for four years. If you taught middle school general music for any length of time, you might not think joining the Army was that crazy, either.

Scott has won accolades and the occasional prize for his work. He is the only two-time winner of the Columbia Summer Winds Outdoor Composition Contest (even though he does most of his writing indoors): Keynote Address recently won the 2016 prize, while A Summer Breeze took the 2012 title. His Fanfare for Enduring Freedom was a 2007 winner of the Dallas Winds’ ‘Call for Fanfares,’ which he conducted with the combined members of that ensemble and The United States Army Field Band. He enjoys serving as an adjudicator and guest conductor for honor band festivals and other events.

Scott and his wife, Anne have three children, Jimmy, Colleen, and Allie. (The kids were so named so that everyone in the family has at least one double letter. Why do this? No particular reason.) Jimmy is a music education major at James Madison University, and Colleen is training to be a professional ballet dancer in Kansas City. Our youngest, Allie, is learning everything she can so that one day she can rule the universe, or at least be fabulously wealthy. In any case, there will be a lot of cats.

Pursuit harnesses the wit on display above to construct a piece of music that, in effect, chases its own tail. It was written in the summer of 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic raged across the world. It is a standout among the many pieces for flexible ensemble written for the socially distanced band circumstances that appear ready to dominate this year. McKenzie himself describes it best on his website:

Pursuit is a four-part canon for four instruments plus an optional drum set. All players play the same music but with staggered entrances. Parts are provided for all transposing instruments and various clefs, but other than that all parts are identical. The piece will work with any combination of instruments, but it seems to work best if the lowest instrument plays either first or last. I encourage you to experiment with different instruments and orders to discover your favorite!

At the beginning of the piece, players will be four bars (16 beats) apart, but at specific moments the trailing players will close the gap by either not taking repeats or skipping over select bars. By the end of the piece, the trailing players are hot on the lead player’s heels, playing only one beat behind.

Here is the Backyard Flex Band of Upstate New York playing an outdoor rendition of Pursuit: