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Wynton Marsalis' Congo Square

Author: ghuba
Date: 2006-05-02 00:19

Wynton Marsalis' new extended jazz piece, co-written by Ghanian drummer, Yacub Addy was premiered around the Southeast US in the past week. Congo Square celebrates the blending of African and Western Music at the only public park in the South where slaves were permitted to play African music in the early 1800s.

I was fortunate to see one of the first few performance of this work by the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra (LCJO) conducted by Mr. Marsalis supplemented by Mr. Addy's African Music troupe in Chapel Hill, NC, over the weekend. Of the hundreds of jazz performances I have seen over 30 years, this was the most powerful. It is a monumental piece in 14 movements capturing the blending of African and American music to tell stories of ordinary and special moments in human history.

The writing for the usual five-piece woodwind section is astonishing and all five "saxophonists" played at least three different instruments each. Clarinets of various kinds are prominently featured; frequently all five woodwind players play soprano clarinets as a "choir;" at other times a soprano clarinet is used to counterbalance the rest of the LCJO. At various times, all five woodwind players solo on clarinet. Many unusual combinations of woodwinds are used (within a jazz orchestra) with a mixture of clarinets and flutes often employed as well as combinations of soprano and sopranino saxophones and clarinets, etc. In certain sections, it seems as if the woodwind players change instruments almost continuously with clarinets picked up for a few bars of emphasis and then immediately switched back to a baritone or tenor saxophone followed by more notes on a soprano clarinet. The colors of the music are extremely dense, complex, and unusual. And the trumpet, trombone, and rhythm parts (not to mention the parts of the African Music troupe) are equally complex but totally complementary to one another.

This is an exceptional piece of music and attending a performance is an extremely powerful experience. There were HUGE ovations at the end of both the first and second acts on April 29. This is a piece of music which will undoubtedly be extremely well recorded by Marsalis and the LCJO, but is such a strong performance piece that it will perhaps only be full appreciated in a live concert.

If you love jazz and can get tickets, this is something special to experience.

This is a most amazing piece of jazz music for a large ensemble. The woodwind (especially clarinet) parts are just incredible.

George

Post Edited (2006-05-04 02:36)

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