|
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,
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).
Leroy Jenkins died in february 2007.
|
(Translation by/ Tradotto da xxx) Se sei interessato a tradurre questo testo, contattami
|
