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Chicago's violinist Leroy Jenkins (1932), who made his name in
Anthony Braxton's Creative Construction Company (the 34-minute Muhal on Creative Construction Company of 1970), became both a virtuoso
of instrument (extending the range of the instrument to become a more versatile
source of abstract sound) and a composer/improviser of "creative music"
(with a postmodernist take on the tradition of jazz, from spirituals to bebop).
Relocating to New York in 1970, Jenkins formed the Revolutionary Ensemble with
bassist Norris "Sirone" Jones and drummer Jerome Cooper.
The political nature of their music was less important than the format and
the spirit. Revolutionary Ensemble (march 1972), also known as Vietnam, contained one 47-minute long jam that meant to depict the horror of
the war. It was soundpainting at its most dramatic and poignant, but also at
its most chromatic and dynamic. After Manhattan Cycles (december 1972),
the three pieces of The Psyche (december 1975), one by each member, and Ponderous Planets on The People's Republic (december 1975), all from the same sessions, toyed with an impressive range of textural constructions. Leroy Jenkins played violin, viola, thumb piano and flute while Sirone (also on trombone) and Jerome Cooper used all sorts of percussion techniques. Sirone and Jerome Cooper used all sorts of percussion instruments.
In the meantime, influenced by the Jazz Composers' Orchestra, Jenkins had
assembled an all-star cast (Anthony Braxton, Kalaparusha Maurice McIntyre,
Dewey Redman, Leo Smith, Joseph Bowie, David Holland, Jerome Cooper,
Charles Shaw, Sirone and others) to record
For Players Only (january 1975), two sides of avantgarde,
the second being the more experimental (a sequence of solos by the various
players).
Faithful to the AACM's aesthetic dogma of extended solo improvisations,
Jenkins contributed to the opposite end of the spectrum
Solo Concert (january 1977) and especially Legend of Ai Glatson (july 1978).
He also cut the four duets of Swift are the Winds of Life (september 1975) with percussionist Rashied Ali.
His neoclassical ambitions emerged from a number of highbrow collaborations:
the vignettes of Lifelong Ambitions (march 1977), with pianist Muhal Richard Abrams,
the 21-minute electronic improvisation (with Richard Teitelbaum and George Lewis on synthesizers) of Space Minds/ New Worlds/ Survival America (september 1978),
Quintet No 3 for violin, French horn, clarinet, bass clarinet (Marty Ehrlich), flute (James Newton), off Mixed Quintet (march 1979),
and
Free At Last on Straight Ahead/ Free at Last (september 1979) with cellist Abdul Wadud.
Jenkins reneged on that strand of his art to form the electric crossover band
Sting (Terry Jenoure on second violin, Brandon Ross on electric guitar, James
Emery on amplified acoustic guitar, Alonzo Gardner on electric bass, Kamal
Sabir on drums), whose Urban Blues (january 1984) offered a hodgepodge of
funk, pop, gospel, rhythm'n'blues and hip-hop.
But Jenkins was also composing classical works:
the dance opera Mother of Three Sons (1991),
the jazz-rap opera Fresh Faust (1994),
the cantata The Negro Burial Ground,
the multimedia opera Editorio - The Three Willies (1996).
Off-Duty Dryad,
Themes & Improvisations on the Blues and Monkey on the Dragon
appeared on Themes and Improvisations on the Blues (april 1992).
Santa Fe (october 1992) and Solo (1998) were new volumes of solo violin
and viola improvisations.
A new group, Driftwood (with Min Xiao-Fen on pipa, Denman Maroney on piano, Rich O'Donnell on percussion), recorded The Art of Improvisation (october 2004), containing:
To Live (10:46),
To Sing (18:03),
To Run (5:06),
To Believe (8:32).
Liner notes:
Min Xiao-Fen was a pipa soloist for the famed Nanjing Traditional Music Orchestra of China for more than ten years. She learned the pipa with her father Min Ji-Qian, a professor and pipa master at Nanjing University. Internationally known for her virtuosity and fluid style, she has received high acclaim for her classical, new music, and jazz performances.
Denman Maroney's music is inspired by the sound of crickets and power tools among other things and by the music of John Cage, Ornette Coleman, Henry Cowell, Charles Ives, Olivier Messiaen, Thelonius Monk, Conlon Nancarrow, and Karlheinz Stockhausen among others. Maroney approaches the piano as a stringed as well as percussion instrument. Like any string player (and unlike any piano player), he can produce slow as well as fast attack envelopes, sustain as well as decay envelopes, moving as well as fixed pitches, unequal as well as equal tempered intervals, and manifold timbres.
The multi-facets of Rich O'Donnell span 45 years as virtuoso percussionist, composer, designer and builder of percussion and electronic instruments, teacher and writer. He is director of the Electronic Music Studio at Washington University, head of the Washington University Percussion Department, and music director of New Music Circle. He was 43 years with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, most of them as principal percussionist.
Beyond The Boundary of Time (may 2005)
and Counterparts (november 2005)
were the last live performance by Leroy Jenkins
with the Revolutionary Ensemble. Their last studio recording was
And Now (june 2004) that contains Cooper's 21-minute 911-544.
The double-disc Beneath Detroit (1981) recorded by the Leroy Jenkins Creative Arts Collective concert with the New Chamber Jazz Quintet. features Spencer Barefield on classical & 12-string guitars & African harp, Faruq Bey on tenor sax, Anthony Holland on alto & soprano sax, Jaribu Shahid on bass and Tani Tabbal on drums, percussion & balafon performing Jenkins compositions (notably an extended version of For Players Only) and an Ornette Coleman cover.
Leroy Jenkins died in february 2007.
Revolutionary Ensemble's drummer Jerome Cooper, the last surviving member of Leroy Jenkins' trio, died in 2015.
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(Translation by/ Tradotto da Gioele P. Cima)
Il violinista di Chicago Leroy Jenkins
(1932), che fece conoscere il suo nome nella Creative Construction
Company di Anthony Braxton (i 34 minuti di Muhal in
Creative Construction Company del 1970), divenne allo stesso tempo un
virtuoso dello strumento (allargando la portata dello strumento fino
a renderlo una fonte più versatile di suoni astratti) e un
compositore/improvvisatore di “musica creativa” (con un
approccio postmoderno alla tradizione del jazz, dallo spirituale al
bebop).
Trasferitosi a New York nel 1970,
Jenkins formò la Revolutionary Ensemble con il bassista Norris
“Sirone” Jones e il batterista Jerome Cooper. La natura
politica della loro musica era meno importante rispetto alla
composizione effettiva dei pezzi o allo spirito.
Revolutionary Ensemble (marzo
1972), conosciuto anche come Vietnam, contiene un'unica
sessione di 47 minuti che si prefigge di descrivere gli orrori della
guerra. La trasposizione musicale dipinge lo scenario bellico nel
modo più drammatico e acuto possibile, ma anche incidendo
sugli aspetti più cromatici e dinamici. Dopo Manhattan
Cycles (dicembre 1972), le tre parti di The Psyche
(dicembre 1975), una per ogni membro, e Ponderous Planets in
The People's Republic (dicembre 1975), tutte provenienti dalla
stessa sessione, giocarono su un'impressionante repertorio di
costruzioni strutturali. Leroy Jenkins suonò il violino, la
viola, strimpellò con il pianoforte e il flauto mentre Sirone
(anche al trombone) e Jerome Cooper utilizzarono ogni sorta di
tecnica di percussione. Sirone e Jerome Cooper suonarono ogni sorta
di strumento a percussione.
Allo stesso tempo, influenzato dalla
Jazz Composers' Orchestra, Jenkins assemblò un cast stellare
(Anthony Braxton, Kalaparusha Maurice McIntyre, Dewey Redman, Leo
Smith, Joseph Bowie, David Holland, Jerome Cooper, Charles Shaw,
Sirone e altri) per registrare For Players Only (gennaio
1975), due facce dell'avanguardia, di cui la seconda più
sperimentale (una sequenza di assoli dei vari musicisti).
Fedele al dogma di dilungate
improvvisazioni soliste della AACM, Jenkins diede il suo apporto sul
finire dello spettro Solo Concert (gennaio 1977) e
specialmente in Legend of Ai Glatson (luglio 1978). Prese
parte anche ai quattro duetti di Swift are the Winds of Life
(settembre 1975) con il percussionista Rashied Ali.
Le sue ambizioni neoclassiche emersero
da diverse collaborazioni intellettuali: le vignette di Lifelong
Ambitions (marzo 1977), con il pianista Muhal Richard Abrams, i
21 minuti di improvvisazione elettronica (con Richard Teitelbaum e
George Lewis ai sintetizzatori) di Space Minds/ New Worlds/
Survival America (settembre 1978) Quintet No 3 per
vioino, corno francese, clarinetto, clarinetto basso (Marty Ehrlich),
flauto (James Newton), con Mixed Quintet (marzo 1979), e
Free At Last da
Straight Ahead/ Free at Last (settembre 1979) con il
violoncellista Abdul Wadud.
Jenkins disertò da questo filone
artistico per formare l'incrocio elettrico degli Sting (Terry Jenoure
al secondo violino, Brandon Ross alla chitarra elettrica, James Emery
alla chitarra acustica amplificata, Alonzo Gardner al basso
elettrico, Kamal Sabir alla batteria), il cui Urban Blues
(gennaio 1984) offrì un guazzabuglio di funk, pop, gospel,
rhythm'n'blues e hip-hop.
Ma Jenkins si diede anche alla
composizione di materiale classico: l'opera dance di Mother of
Three Sons (1991), quella jazz-rap di Fresh Faust (1994),
la cantata The Negro Burial Ground, l'opera multimediale
Editorio – The Three Willies (1996). Off-Duty Dryad,
Themes & Improvisations on the Blues e Monkey on
the Dragon apparirono in Themes and Improvisations on the
Blues (aprile 1992).
Santa Fe (ottobre 1992) e Solo
(1998)erano nuovi volumi di assolo di violino e improvvisazioni di
viola.
Un nuovo gruppo, Driftwood (con Min
Xiao-Fen alla pipa, Denman Maroney al pianoforte, Rich O'Donnell alle
percussioni) registrarono The Art of Improvisation (ottobre
2004).
Beyond The Boundary of Time
(maggio 2005) e Counterparts (novembre 2005) furono le ultime
esibizione dal vivo di Leroy Jenkinscon i Revolutionary Ensemble. La
loro ultima registrazione in studio concepì And Now (giugno
2004) che contiene i 21 minuti di 911-544 di Cooper.
Il doppio disco Beneath Detroit
(1981) registrato da Leroy Jenkins Creative Arts Collective concorda
con il New Chamber Jazz Quintet, che vede comparire Spencer Barefield
alla chitarra classica, a quella a dodici corde e all'arpa africana,
Faruq Bey al sax tenore, Anthony Holland al sax contralto e al
soprano, Jaribu Shahid al basso e Tani Tabbal alla batteria, alle
percussioni e al balafon esibendosi nei pezzi di Jenkins
(considerevolmente una versione estesa di For Players Only) e
in una cover di Ornette Coleman.
Leroy Jenkins è morto nel
febbraio 2007.
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