UNCG New Music Festival
Mark Engebretson – Director
Alejandro Rutty – Associate Director
Anna Meadors, Eric Pazdziora – Assistants
Concert III
Thursday, September 26, 2013
7:00 pm
Weatherspoon Art Museum
Program
Sam Newsome set (15:00)
Ask Me Now Thelonius Monk
Sophisticated Lady Duke Ellington
In a Sentimental Mood Ellington
St. Thomas Sonny Rollins
Sam Newsome, saxophone
Fantasy for Violin and Electronics (7:00) James Aikman
Davis Brooks, violin
Sleight (12:00) N. Cameron Britt
Cameron Britt, electromagnetically actuated vibraphone
Knives of Spain set (15:00)
gentle (narcotic) Gwen Young
from the wall
ants
top of the stairs
Gwen Young, Knives of Spain
The 2014 New Music Festival was made possible by the E.T. Cone Foundation
Program Notes
Sam Newsome set (15:00) works by Monk, Ellington, Rollins
Playing in the solo-unaccompanied format allows me to explore improvisation and
various degrees of tonal manipulation. Much of my musical language is sound
oriented. I make extensive use of extended techniques such as multi-phonics,
percussive slap-tonguing and circular breathing.
Playing standard tunes provides a point of reference by which the listener can better
understand how ideas that stem from the aforementioned extended techniques can be
integrated with the language of modern jazz. - Sam Newsome
Sam Newsome first came into prominence on the New York jazz scene as a member
of the Terence Blanchard Quintet in the early 1990s, whose core members consisted of
Mr. Blanchard on trumpet, Bruce Barth on piano, Tarus Mateen on bass, Troy Davis
on drums, and Mr. Newsome on the tenor saxophone. The group toured all over the
world as well as recorded several CDs for the Columbia/Sony label, including the
critically acclaimed “Malcolm X Jazz Suite.”
Mr. Newsome, who was feeling uninspired by his sound on the tenor, along with his
inability to shake his early influences, seemed to find hope and inspiration in the
sound of the soprano saxophone, which, consequently, lead to his radical change in
1996 that resulted in him trading in the big tenor saxophone, for the smaller, more
difficult soprano saxophone. When asked why he made the switch, Mr. Newsome
said, “The sound of the soprano allowed me to play with the freedom of not having to
carry on my shoulders, decades of the great tenor saxophone legacy. I felt that the
sound that I was producing was my own. That was very liberating.”
Consequently, this lead to Mr. Newsome broadening his musical palette as he began
studying music from North Africa, Japan, and the Middle East--incorporating non-
Western scales into his musical vocabulary. He soon formed Global Unity, which was
to become his working band for the next seven years. Global Unity consisted of a
wide range of musicians from all over the world: vocalist Elisabeth Kontomanou, oud
player Amos Hoffman, guitarist Marvin Sewell, pianist Jean-Michel Pilc, bassist
Ugonna Okegwo, and percussionists Gilad and Satoshi Takeishi. They released two
CDs: Sam Newsome & Global Unity (Columbia/Sony) and Global Unity (Palmetto).
After a seven-year commitment to honing his band sound with Global Unity, Mr.
Newsome decided to take a hiatus from performing as a leader to develop a musical
concept that was more specific to the soprano saxophone.
Moreover, being frustrated with trying to keep a working band together, and
realizing that the essence of his musical concept with Global Unity was about sound
and texture, made exploring the solo saxophone format even more attractive. This
lead to years of Mr. Newsome diligently studying the solo works of Steve Lacy, Evan
Parker, Sonny Rollins, and Anthony Braxton, where he learned how to approach solo
saxophone as a concept, and not just sound like one person minus a band. The fruits
of his labor culminated with the 2007 release of his critically acclaimed solo
saxophone CD, “Monk Abstractions,” on which he recorded the compositions of
Thelonious Monk. Mark Corroto from All About Jazz wrote: “Newsome expands the
sound of a single soprano saxophone into a one man band.”
In 2010, Newsome released his second solo saxophone CD, Blue Soliloquy--this time
with the blues being at the music's core. Jazz critic Howard Mandel wrote, "Sam
Newsome's Blue Soliloquy is music of significant yet subtle accomplishment." This
CD was also given the distinguished five star ★★★★★ (masterpiece) rating by
Downbeat Magazine.
Today, Mr. Newsome, in addition to being assistant professor of jazz studies at Long
Island University’s Brooklyn Campus, continues to tour, record and develop new
ways to explore the soprano saxophone's sonic terrain.. He has already begun writing
new music for his third solo outing, on which he will explore the music of Steve Lacy.
Fantasy for Violin and Electronics (7:00) James Aikman
The Fantasy for Violin and Electronics is in 5 short sections ranging from lyric and
expressive to boldly virtuosic. It owes a bit of a debt to John Eaton. I was one of his
electronic music assistants and our ensemble united with the orchestra and singers for
performances of his operas at Indiana University. He, by the way, was the first to give
a live performance of electronic music in the late 50's and early 60's in Rome while he
was at the American Academy. He is currently a MacArthur Fellow and Professor of
Music at the University of Chicago and has formed his own chamber opera company.
Anyway, I learned to greatly appreciate the beauty of his music, and specifically, his
use of quarter-tones.
I used quarter-tone inflections in the tape part as everyone will hear.
Snippets of the "live" violin music were sampled, digitally edited and used to provide
the bulk of the tape dialogue. I address three basic styles of instrument and tape
techniques:
The first is antiphonal music where the soloist and tape alternate passages. The
second involves synchronous music where the soloist does his or her best to stay with
the tape. The slight inaccuracies which occur are not specific to instrument and tape
music - they happen in just about every concerto I've seen where the conductor has
one idea of the "correct" tempo while the soloist is busy projecting a varied
interpretation. The third instrument and tape technique of composing involves a
loosely unified, free interplay where exact synchronization is not intended.
In spite of the aforementioned, this piece has its share of trouble spots but overall, it
seems to work. Recent performances, in geological time, include The 1996 Chicago
20th-Century Music Series, The Contemporary Directions Concert Series at the
University of Michigan, festivals, university settings and a computer executives'
gathering in silicon valley.
James Aikman, (b. 1959, Indianapolis. Principal teachers: Michael Schelle, Earle
Brown, Frederick Fox, Donald Erb, Harvey Sollberger and Louis Andriessen.)
Each new piece evokes a particular musical image, with its own distinct, emotive
effect. The intentional strict limitation and control of musical materials enables
stylistic unity within individual pieces. It also allows for maximizing contrast
between sections of large-scale, multi-movement works. His music has variously been
described as, “richly sonorous,” “fascinating,” “plaintively beautiful,” “consciously
eclectic,” “exciting, inventive and fresh.“ “It was intense.”
With a distinguished catalogue of music for orchestra, chamber ensembles, voice, and
electronics, composer James Aikman received his musical and academic training at
Butler University, The Jacob’s School of Music of Indiana University (M.Mus.,
D.Mus.) and through the Royal Conservatory in Holland. Post-graduate, James
Aikman earned a Fulbright in Amsterdam then a Fellowship at The University of
Michigan, where he serves on the faculty. Aikman’s music has been consistently
awarded and honored during the past twenty-five years and has been heard at
prestigious festivals and venues, including Amsterdam's Gaudeamus Musicweek,
France’s Festivals International de Musique, London's Wigmore Hall, the Aspen
Music Festival, the OJAI Festival in Los Angeles, Tanglewood, Merkin Hall, and
Carnegie Hall.
Many extraordinary musicians, including Dawn Upshaw, Gilbert Kalish, Alexander
Kerr, Taimur Sullivan, Charles Wetherbee, Mihaela Martin, Zeyda and Hidetaro
Suzuki, Lisa Leonard, Davis Brooks and Joshua Bell have performed Aikman’s music.
His larger works have been played by the New World Symphony in Miami, Denver’s
Lamont Symphony Orchestra and Chorale, The Civic Orchestra of Chicago, The
University of Michigan Symphony Band, The Michigan Chamber Symphony, The St.
Louis Symphony Orchestra, The Indiana University New Music Ensemble, The St.
Petersburg State Academic Chamber Orchestra, and The National Gallery Orchestra
led by notable conductors Michael Morgan, David Loebel, John C. Whitney,
Christopher Russell, David Wiley, H. Robert Reynolds, David Dzubay, Kenneth
Kiesler, Nan Washburn, Lawrence Golan, and Vladimir Lande.
Davis Brooks comes from a diverse musical background as soloist, pedagogue,
orchestral musician, studio musician, concertmaster on Broadway, conductor, and
chamber musician. His teaching experience has included faculty appointments at
Baylor University, Wayne State University, the University of Wisconsin at Eau Claire,
and Bucknell University. He is currently Professor of Violin at Butler University in
Indianapolis.
In addition to his present position as Associate Concertmaster of the Indianapolis
Chamber Orchestra, Dr. Brooks was a member of the Mostly Mozart Orchestra at
Lincoln Center for ten years, and for nineteen years, the New York Chamber
Symphony, which produced over 20 critically acclaimed recordings during his tenure
with them. Dr. Brooks has been concertmaster of the Chamber Orchestra of New
England, the Harrisburg Symphony, and the Waco Symphony. He performs
frequently with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra and is concertmaster of the
Fishers Chamber Players. In addition, he is active in the many recording studios in
the Indianapolis area and has recently released two solo cds, one of music for violin
and electronic media entitled Violin and Electronics and one of music by composer
C.P.First. Both are available on iTunes and eMusic.
At Yale University, where he received a master's degree in violin performance, Dr.
Brooks studied with Broadus Erle and Syoko Aki. His doctorate, also in violin
performance, is from the State University of New York at Stony Brook. Other
important teachers with whom he has worked include Joyce Robbins, George
Neikrug, Russell Hatz and Raymond Page; he has studied chamber music with Julius
Levine, Josef Gingold, Aldo Parisot, and members of the Tokyo, Alard and Guarneri
Quartets.
Chamber music is his first love. He is currently a member of the Indianapolis
Chamber Players, and has been a member of the Commonwealth and Landolfi
Quartets, as well as the Meridian and Essex Piano Trios. In addition, Dr. Brooks'
special interests include both the performance of music by contemporary composers
and performance on original instruments, particularly the music of the Baroque
period. He is a founding member of both the Chicago 21st Century Music Ensemble
and the Indianapolis Baroque Orchestra. Other recordings include, Reflection on a
Hymn of Thanksgiving by Frank Felice, With every Leaf a Miracle by Mark Schultz,
and Manunya by Frank Glover. Please visit my web site at davisbrooksviolin.com for
more details
Sleight (12:00) N. Cameron Britt
A note about the instrument: The EMvibe is a computer-controlled
electromagnetically actuated vibraphone that I have been developing over the past
several years. The instrument’s actuators allow the computer to “bow” the bars
electromagnetically. The EMvibe truly blends the electronic and the acoustic: the
electronic aspect affords the instrument new capabilities, yet the sound remains
purely acoustic. The new capabilities afforded by the electronics invite new ways of
interacting with, and controlling the vibraphone.
For as long as I have been working with it, I have felt like there's something magical
about the EMvibe. It is, after all, an acoustic instrument that has the potential to play
itself without any moving parts or obvious intervention on the part of the performer.
At the same time, I believe this quality is one of the instrument’s drawbacks: Because
the actuating force is invisible, the audience must take on faith that the sounds are
coming from the instrument itself and not from speakers hidden somewhere in the
performance space.
This quote, attributed to Houdini, is apropos to how I approached Sleight: “What the
eyes see and the ears hear, the mind believes.” In composing this piece I tried to think
about ways of interacting with the instrument that would draw a connection between
gesture and sound, and make visible the invisible. But like a magician, I was also
interested in exploiting the possibility that these connections may only be in the
audience’s mind.
N. Cameron Britt (b. 1974) is a percussionist, composer, and instrument builder. As a
percussionist he has performed with many orchestras throughout the Southeast
including the North Carolina Symphony, Charleston Symphony Orchestra, and
Alabama Symphony Orchestra. He is active as a creator and interpreter of new music
and performs with cellist Tom Kraines in the free improvisation duo Dithyramb. His
works have been performed by the Brentano String Quartet, So Percussion, Ensemble
Klang, janus, NOW Ensemble, and the electronica duo Matmos. He has worked with
the laptop ensembles Sideband and PLOrk and is interested in creating performable
electronic instruments in both hardware and software. The EMvibe (an
electromagnetically actuated vibraphone), combines his interests in composition,
electronic music, instrument design and performance. He is currently teaching
percussion at Duke University and will complete his PhD in Composition at Princeton
University later this fall.
Knives of Spain set: (15:00) Gwen Young
Most of my musical ventures prior to knives of spain have been in an instrumental
context, performing as a flutist in classical settings, jazz groups, traditional Middle
Eastern and Hindustani classical ensembles, and in free improvisation. But over the
years I’ve been fortunate to acquire, from friends, family and flea markets, a host of
instruments on which I’ve experimented and adapted to my needs. A few years back
I began writing songs with these instruments and using my voice, as well. Although
at first I contemplated piecing together a band to perform with, I eventually realized a
personal goal of undertaking every single aspect of this project on my own – from
composing and performing, to recording and releasing my own works.
Because I am a soloist infatuated with eclectic instrumentation, I have chosen to go
beyond the conventional singer/songwriter set up in live performances. For knives of
spain to function as one-woman band, I expand my sound range to include backing
tracks on which I play analog synths, flutes, percussion, melodica, accordion, guitar,
or whatever else I can get my hands on, and mix these tracks with vocals and live
sound. This allows me the freedom to vary the texture of my songs, to perform on a
variety of instruments, and to creatively combine acoustic and electronic mediums.
knives of spain is 21st-century trobairitz music from North Carolina-based multi-instrumentalist
Gwen Young. Her eclectic folk/pop features Crumar analog
synths, electrified and acoustic classical guitar, flutes, hand percussion, bells,
accordion, melodica and voice. Sometimes she plays all these at once. Since forming
her one-woman band in 2010, she has self-produced a full length LP, Opening
Sequence, and an EP, knives of spain, both available at knivesofspain.com. Gwen is the
recipient of a 2012 Regional Artist Grant from the United Arts Council of Greensboro.
The UNCG New Music Festival would like to thank our
generous sponsors
