Next week on January 14th at 9pm, three composers from Pulse (myself, Darcy James Argue, and JC Sanford) will be featured on a concert at the Festival of New Trumpet Music (FONT) at the Abrons Art Center 466 Grand Street in New York City. Tickets can be purchased at the FONT website or at the door.
The Festival of New Trumpet Music, which was co-founded by the great trumpeter/composer Dave Douglas, actually begins the night before on January 13th with a tribute and benefit celebrating the life and career of famed trumpeter Wilmer Wise. Wilmer has lead a diverse and interesting career, straddling the worlds of jazz, contemporary classical, and Broadway. Working with such illuminaers as Steve Sondheim, Leonard Bernstein, and Leopold Stokowski among many others, he was often one of the few (if mostly, the only) African-American musician in many of the ensembles and symphony orchestras he performed in during the 1960s and 1970s.
The January 14th concert is really in two parts. At 7:30pm is a performance of the brass music by the incredible composer Charles Wuorinen performed by the Urban Brass Quintet, conducted by the composer himself, and the New York Trumpet Ensemble. Then at 9pm Wilmer Wise reprises his role as trumpet soloist in Ornette Coleman's rarely performed chamber work, The Sacred Mind of Johnny Dolphin. Wilmer Wise performed on the premiere in the 1970s and trumpet Lew Soloff played on the last known performance in 1987 with both Wilmer Wise and Lew Soloff tag-teaming the solo part for the January 14th concert. The Sacred Mind of Johnny Dolphin will also feature Gerald Cleaver (drums), Warren Smith (percussion), Meg Okura and Scott Tixier (violins), Judith Insell (viola), and Will Martina (cello). To round out the second half of the concert, Dave Douglas commissioned three composers from Pulse (myself, Darcy James Argue, and JC Sanford) to arrange some of Ornette Coleman's music for the ensemble, with trumpet soloists Lew Soloff and Taylor Ho Bynum.
The composition I wrote is called Memory of Red Orange Laid out in Still Waves and is a transmutation and refraction of the beautiful Kathelin Gray from the Ornette Coleman/Pat Metheny 1986 album Song X. My title comes from a line in Edward P. Jones's sobering book, The Known World which while a work of fiction was based upon the true incidents of African-Americans owning slaves during the 19th century. Darcy's arrangement is the opening theme from Ornette's Skies of America from the 1972 orchestral album of the same name, while JC will tackle Peace from the vestigial 1959 album The Shape of Jazz to Come.
Joe (posted at www.numinousmusic.blogspot.com)
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