On Tuesday, October 23rd (tomorrow night), I will be leading an ensemble as part of James Carney's long-running Konceptions Series at KORZO Restaurant in Brooklyn (see details below), but with a different approach, and for the following reason(s)...
During the past eight months, I have been doing a bit of research and composing (I decided to take a break on my endeavors as a bandleader and...
[read more] On Tuesday, October 23rd (tomorrow night), I will be leading an ensemble as part of James Carney's long-running Konceptions Series at KORZO Restaurant in Brooklyn (see details below), but with a different approach, and for the following reason(s)...
During the past eight months, I have been doing a bit of research and composing (I decided to take a break on my endeavors as a bandleader and focus specifically on composition), as well as teaching and performing in several ensemble contexts, residencies, recordings, and venues throughout Europe, Canada, and the US. Conversely, this performance represents a time for a brief recess in my compositional/research activities, and functions as a sort of "celebration..." :)
In other words, this set of music will NOT be one where I focus on my own music, but the music of those whom have been a great inspiration to my development as an artist. As exercised by many of the great creative musicians of the past, the inclusion of material by their contemporaries in concert was another way of learning the particulars of that material, and more importantly the language of improvisation/composition from manifold perspectives. In following this tradition, I've decided to lead a program of my own that deals with this principle - since I hardly ever have the chance to perform in such contexts anyway (it would be nice, someday, to perform some standards also - but again, the opportunities to do so are scarce), and I find that we live in an era where it is necessary to play each other's music to help further develop our appreciation and study of the creative music of our time. The logic in presenting such a concert posits that while the musics from before the tin pan alley era up until the late 60's - 70's are important to investigate, the music of the past 30 years is just as significant for all to hear and perform - live in concert, or even in jam sessions...at home or in public. I argue that the non-neoclaccisist creative music created during the past 30 years has seen tremendous progress, calling for the musicians of today to be aware of the constant modifications in the compositional/improvisational language for their perusal, as well as how this further influences one's aesthetic choices - for this also extends one's knowledge of the evolution of the creative music ensemble in the United States during the past 100+ years (and then some...).
As you know, much of my work as an artist involves performing original music composed either by the bandleaders with whom I'm playing, conducted improvisation, or spontaneous composition from solo to group formats. NOT MY MUSIC is not that much different - but the only difference is that I will not perform any of my own music during this set. Nor will you hear any "arrangements" of these artists' pieces done by me. The compositions will be performed, as they are, with minor changes in form to feature the instrumentation. This is a sort of "contemporary standards" ensemble, if you will, and it is my hope to develop this project further for future performances. Eventually, there will be some arrangements of the said repertoire, but for me, it is important to first consider the particulars of the music proposed by these artists themselves before attempting to re-arrange it. The performance will feature works by composers such as John O'Gallagher, Vijay Iyer, Greg Osby and a couple of others whose work I feel is timeless, questioning, and it is vital to the progression of creative music.
I do hope to see you, and I thank you very much for your continued support!
Tuesday October 23rd - ONE SET ONLY @ 10:30 p.m. - $10 donation
NOT MY MUSIC project, featuring:
Ralph Alessi - trumpet
Mark Mommaas - tenor saxophone
Yayoi Lina Ikawa - piano
Carlo De Rosa - bass
Tyshawn Sorey - drum set
@ KORZO Restaurant
667 5th Ave.
(between 19th St & 20th St)
Brooklyn, NY 11215
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