Concerts Feature Dedication to Sam Rivers, Additional Jazz Musicians and New Work by Sarasota-based Composer Francis Schwartz
February 10, 2012 — The contemporary music series New Music New College has announced that one of its Crossroads 4 concerts will be dedicated to the memory of Sam Rivers, the late great saxophone player who was originally scheduled to perform during the two-day outdoor festival, March 2 and 3, and that two new notable jazz musicians will be coming to Sarasota to perform with the post-bop ensemble Fluid Motion.
Rivers passed away on December 26, 2011 at the age of 88 in Orlando, Fla. In his honor, the Friday, March 2 performance will be renamed “Inspiration: Fluid Motion Pays Homage to Sam Rivers.” Fluid Motion will play selections from a 2002 recording they did with Rivers as well as some of Rivers’ favorite compositions.
Adding to this year’s musical lineup will be drummer Ronnie Burrage and trumpeter Jonathan Powell, both of whom have shared the stage with Rivers in the past. Burrage and Powell will join Fluid Motion for the performances on Friday, March 2 and Saturday, March 3 at 8 pm in the PepsiCo Arcade of the Caples Fine Arts Complex, 5313 Bay Shore Road. Rounding out the Fluid Motion lineup will be Jeremy Powell (saxophone), Doug Mathews (double bass) and David Manson (trombone). Fluid Motion is a modern jazz ensemble that balances form and groove with freedom and spirit.
Burrage will also be a guest panelist for the discussion “The Politics of Race and American Experimental Music,” along with MacArthur Award-winning composer and scholar George E. Lewis and writer and theorist bell hooks. The free talk will take place Saturday, March 3 at 3 pm in the Mildred Sainer Pavilion, 5313 Bay Shore Road.
Burrage, considered one of today’s best jazz musicians, has played with Wayne Shorter, Sonny Rollins, Woody Shaw, Archie Shepp, Pat Metheny and Jaco Pastorius and is featured on more than 100 recordings. He has toured extensively all over the world. His latest productions include “Spirit Guides / Truth and Love Music” and “Blue Noise.” In addition to his career as a touring musician, Burrage teaches in the African American Studies and Integrative Arts departments at Pennsylvania State University.
Voted “Best Latin Jazz Trumpet Player of 2009” by Latin Jazz Corner, Jonathan Powell has performed and recorded with world-renowned musicians such as JT Taylor of Kool & the Gang, The Pedro Giraudo Jazz Orchestra, La Excelencia, Q-Tip, Slick Rick, Lenny White, Snoop Dogg, MK Groove Orchestra and many more. Respected in diverse musical communities, Powell’s original music draws on contrasting influences. His group, nu Sangha, recently released its debut album, “Transcend.” The ensemble wowed audiences with its unique music and showmanship during last year’s album release party at the world-famous Blue Note Jazz Club in NYC.
On Saturday, March 3, Fluid Motion will be joined by Sarasota Orchestra musicians, Principal Tubist Jay Hunsberger and Principal Bassist John Miller, and student bands, the New Ensemble and Physical Plant. It has just been announced that the finale of Saturday’s concert will feature a new work by composer Francis Schwartz, created specifically for Crossroads 4, entitled “Cooking at the Crossroads with Pauline & John.” A work for bands, solo instruments, voices and kitchen utensils, the piece is dedicated to the composers Pauline Oliveros, who will be 80 years old this year, and the late John Cage, whose birth centennial is 2012.
“There will be references from the musical canon of Western Civilization, including Bach, Beethoven and Sorabji,” comments the composer, a Sarasota resident with an international career. “Also, the attending public will be offered performance possibilities so that they, too, can be active musical celebrants. The melding of kitchen sounds with those of more traditional musical ones will yield an unusual product for contemporary consumption.”
Schwartz was Dean of Humanities of the University of Puerto Rico, where he also held major academic and administrative positions during his 33 year career at the prestigious Caribbean institution. The recipient of a doctorate from the University of Paris, he was decorated by the French government and awarded the Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et Lettres. His music is regularly performed around the world and he is particularly noted for his innovative music theater works that frequently incorporate the attending public as active participants in the performance. In June of 2011, he presented 12 of his compositions in the CLAEM Festival in Buenos Aires at the Jorge Luis Borges Cultural Center. Several of his pieces have been presented previously on the New Music New College series, a program of New College of Florida.
This is the fourth iteration of the popular rock happening under the stars and the first to be held over two days. The 2012 Festival explores the intersection of free jazz and experimental music, two approaches to music that involve improvisation and which draw on a wide range of traditions. Now in its 14th season, New Music New College was established by its director, Stephen Miles, who is currently Professor of Music and Provost of New College.
Crossroads 4 tickets are $15 (for each performance) and may be purchased online at donate.ncf.edu/events or by calling 941-487-4888. No reservations are necessary for the free panel discussion on March 3. For more information on New Music New College, visit newmusicnewcollege.org.