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Shades of Blue represents the rich, imaginative and varied scope of contemporary Black artists' landscapes and musical horizons. The composers, who represent various voices in style, generation and compositional approaches contained within the African American artistic experience, handle the cultural materials in ways that are not only cohesive but eloquent. These efforts further illuminate the attempt of contemporary artists to broaden, stretch, and expand the languages and forms of the modern orchestral culture.
Videmus has been advocating the work of African American and women composers for over a decade. With this recording, we are expanding our commitment to this music by presenting our first orchestral offering. This partially live recording of the Prague Radio Symphony and Washington Symphony Orchestra, captures the essence of African American contemporary sacred and secular life through music. This recording does a great service to what composer T J. Anderson calls, "the duty of the composer to document the culture." This is what we have done in broad, luscious, diverse and textured shades of the many hues of blue. We are very proud to present to you, Shades of Blue.
-- William Banfield, Louise Toppin, and Julius Williams
Directors of Videmus' Visionary Records
November 2000
ARTISTS
JULIUS PENSON WILLIAMS, conductor, was educated at Hartt School of Music and Lehman College (CUNY). As a composer Williams has written for dance, musical theater, opera and movies. His works have been performed by the New York Philharmonic, Dallas Symphony and the Cleveland Orchestras among others. His composition instructors included Ulysses Kay, Fred Norman, Coleridge Taylor Perkinson and John Corigliano. He has been the recipient of several grants including ASCAP, Astral Foundation, and the Aspen Music Festival (Professional Studies). Williams served on the faculties of: Wesleyan, Hartford, Skidmore College, University of Vermont, and Shenandoah University and Conservatory. He is
presently Professor of Composition and Conducting at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. His first CD of African American symphonic music was released to critical acclaim by Albany in 1993 and is entitled Symphonic Brotherhood. He is currently Music Director and Conductor of the Washington Symphony Orchestra and one of the directors of Videmus' Visionary Recordings.
American baritone RICHARD TAYLOR appeared in Houston Grand Opera's United States and European tours of George Gershwin's Porgy and Bess and has performed with the Michigan Opera Theatre, the Long Beach Opera, and the Southbend, Bakersville, Michigan, Grand Rapids and Canton Symphony orchestras. A native of Michigan, he received both his Bachelor and Master's degrees in voice from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. In addition to his vocal talents, he is an accomplished professional jazz bass player Mr. Taylor has worked extensively in Europe during the period in which he resided in Switzerland and performed as "jazz master" bass player and opera singer on both sides of the Atlantic. His discography includes Love Spoken Here (Jamlor Music) and Fare Ye Well (Videmus).
THE PRAGUE RADIO SYMPHONY is drawn from members of the parent organization, the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra. The orchestra was formed in 1923 and expanded to a full time ensemble in 1929 to interpret the mighty body of works for broadcast. The ensemble has performed countless works for broadcast and has been led by many major conductors of the world.
THE WASHINGTON SYMPHONY, Warren Cecconi, Executive Director. In 1934 Baily F Alart believed that there were enough skilled musicians in Washington, D.C. to form the Washington Civic Symphony. Under the direction of Maestro Kurt Hetzel, the Washington Civic Symphony expanded to 130 members by the late 1930's and was compared in quality to the city's younger orchestra, The National Symphony Orchestra. After undergoing several name and mission changes, the symphony became in 1993 the Washington Symphony Orchestra. Julius Williams was named the new Music Director in 1999.
COMPOSERS
DAVID NATHANIEL BAKER was born in Indianapolis, Indiana in 1931. He is currently Distinguished Professor of Music and Chairman of the Jazz Department at Indiana University School of Music, where he received both the B.Mus.Ed. and the M.Mus. Ed. Degrees. He has appeared as a performer (trombone and cello) and/or composer with the Boston and Indianapolis Symphony Orchestras and the New York Philharmonic, and with such jazz artists as Stan Kenton, Lionel Hampton, Maynard Ferguson, Quincy Jones, and George Russell. He is Co-Conductor and Joint Musical Director of the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra. Works have been commissioned by the New York Philharmonic, Saint Paula and Ohio Chamber Orchestras, Western Arts and Beaux Arts Trios, Audubon Quartet, as well as by such distinguished individuals as Janos Starker, Josef Gingold, Harvey Phillips, and William Warfield. Baker has in his catalogue of works over 2,000 compositions, over 60 books, and more than 150 articles. Well respected for his numerous abilities and many accomplishments, he received Down Beat's Lifetime Achievement Award (1987), a Pulitzer Prize Nomination (1973), a Grammy Award Nomination (1979), the Indiana Governor's Arts Award (1991), and membership on the National Council on the Arts (appointed 1986).
Shades of Blue was commissioned by and written for the Roanoke Symphony (Roanoke, VA), which premiered it in 1993 under conductor Victoria Bond. The commission specified an orchestral work with a strong jazz influence but not requiring outside soloists. There is no rhythm section per se - only piano, which is treated in a traditional orchestral manner. Shades of Blue pays homage to the blues, and each of its four movements presents a different stylized representation of the many varied types of blues. Among the characteristics of the blues I used as reference points in creating this work were the traditional blues form of 12, 16 or 24 measures; the concept of the blues as a feeling, a mood, an attitude; the blues and pentatonic scales; and the musical gestures that, over the years, have become synonymous with the blues.
Movement I "Blues for a Dancer"; has a riff-like melody and rhythmic feel much like that of the music of the hard bop movement in jazz in the later 1950s.
Movement II, "Melancholy Blues"; suggests in its melody and mood what a listener might hear in an after hour joint where the lights are low and the listener laid back and mellow
Movement III, "Blues Waltz"; is reminiscent of the gospel music at a revival meeting where the Hammond B-3 organ, piano, and tambourine join with the singing, swaying, and handclapping of the impassioned participants.
Movement IV "Boogie", is a stylized version of the piano style known as boogie woogie. It was also called fast western, juke music, or rent party music, and flourished in such urban areas as Chicago, New York, and Kansas City,
-David Baker
Best known for his opera, Blake, his art songs and choral writing, made significant contributions to the genres of instrumental music. Currently a full-time composer living in Cleveland, Ohio, Adams' music has earned him national attention. Born in 1932, Cleveland, Ohio, his early training included piano lessons and private voice. Adams completed a Bachelor of Music degree at Oberlin College Conservatory of Music in 1955, where he studied voice, piano, conducting and composition (with Herbert Elwell and Joseph Wood). Following private compositional study with Robert Starer in 1959 and Vittono Giannini in 1960, Adams studied composition with Leon Dallin and Robert Tyndall at California State University at Long Beach (now Long Beach State University), receiving a Master of Music degree in 1967. Ohio State University awarded his Ph.D. in 1973, where he studied with Marshall Barnes. Major orchestras including the Iceland Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, Minneapolis Symphony and Buffalo Philharmonic have performed his works. Metropolitan Opera artists have performed his vocal works internationally Adams is listed in Groves Dictionary of Music (2000), Who's Who in America; Contemporary American Composers: A Biographical Dictionary and Who's Who in Classical Music: on International Dictionary of Black Composers (1999) among many other reference works.
Ode to Life, a concert overture, is one of H. Leslie Adams' most popular orchestral works. The Cuyahoga Community College of Cleveland, on the occasion of its Fifteenth Anniversary commissioned it. The single movement unprogrammatic work was completed on January 3, 1979, and may be described as "a celebration of life itself." Since its first performance in 1979, the Minneapolis Symphony, the Indianapolis Symphony, the Springfield Symphony, the Buffalo Philharmonic Symphony, the Rockford Symphony, the Oakland-Pontiac Symphony, and many others have performed it.
This 12-minute, tonal work is in five sections, with varying tempos. All of the "sections" flow together without pause, and the entire single movement emerges as an organic whole. The opening (Allegro) begins quietly in the winds, and grows increasingly more rhythmic throughout the orchestra. The second section (Allegro moderato) introduces a two-part theme - which recurs throughout the work - at first combined with the previous material, then gaining independence. The third section (Moderato con vivo) consists of four parts: I) an energetic fugato is played first by the strings, followed by a secondary theme: 2) motivic development from the immediately preceding material is heard in the brasses and strings, then in the full orchestra; 3) a brief lento passage continues to develop this material; and 4) the fugato returns, this time sounded in the woodwinds, then joined by the strings, percussion and brasses. A modified recapitulation of the opening material (Tempo I) comprises the fourth section. Finally, after reaching a full tutti climax, a codetta (Allegro Vivace) brings the work to a festive end.
-H. Leslie Adams.
STEPHEN MICHAEL NEWBY (b. 1961) composer, conductor, gospel/jazz vocalist and pianist, is a native of Detroit, Michigan. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in vocal music education and flute performance from Madonna College in Livonia, Michigan and a Master of Music in jazz composition and arranging from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. There his studies in composition were under the supervision of Robert Sutton, Frederick Tillis, Jeff Holmes and Robert Stern. In 1994 he completed his Doctorate of Musical Arts in composition at the University of Michigan, where he studied with William Albright, Leslie Bassett, William Bolcom, Michael Daugherty, Fred Lerdahl, and George Wilson. A composer of many musical traditions, including West African, western European, jazz, and gospel, his works have been performed by the Seattle Symphony, the Ann Arbor Symphony, the Canton Symphony Orchestra, and the Savannah Symphony Orchestra. He taught composition and computer arts at the University of Michigan. His compositions have earned him awards such as The Distinguished Dissertation of the Year Award at the University of Michigan in 1995 for his "Symphony" Let Thy Mercy Be Upon Us: A Tribute to Martin Luther King, Jr. He is the Co-Founder and Music Director of Gospelfest Music for Reconciliation, and served as program coordinator/featured composer with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra/UNISYS African American Composers Symposium. He is currently the Pastor of Worship Arts at Antioch Bible Church in Kirkland, Washington, and Music Director of the Antioch Symphony Orchestra.
Gospel Quintet for Baritone and String Quartet was composed at the request of my good friend and mentor Willis Patterson. It is a compilation of four gospel songs. The first piece is an arrangement of "Jesus is on the mainline." This piece functions as a devotional, which is to encourage the listener to cast all cares upon God. It is believed that if one tells Jesus about their problems, He will give relief from those burdens and will replace them with joy. The second piece is entitled "You Ought to Tell Somebody" The premise here is to testify what the Lord has done for you. The third piece is a love song to God entitled "It's You." The last work is "God Has Everything in the Palm of His Hands." It is my intent to arrange the strings in such a manner as to emulate a "gospel piano style performance practice."
-Stephen Michael Newby
The title of the piece was changed to Gospel Songs for Baritone and String Orchestra at the request of Videmus for a 1999 concert celebrating the history of African American composers with the Canton Symphony Orchestra in Canton, Ohio. It is that version that appears on this recording.
-Videmus
SONG TEXTS
JESUS ON THE MAINLINE
Jesus on the mainline
Tell Him what you want
Tell my Jesus what you want
Call him up.
YOU OUGHT TO TELL SOMEBODY
You ought to tell somebody
What He's done for you
You ought to tell your story
Give Jesus all the glory
Let the heart of them rejoice who seek the Lord
Great and marvelous are thy great works
Thank you Lord
Let me lift the name of Jesus
He's my Lord
You ought to tell somebody
Go on and testify
The grace of God is nigh
in what He's done for you.
Alleluia thank you Lord now, thank you Lord
Let the heart of them rejoice who, seek the Lord
IT'S YOU
Father it's you that I love
Jesus it's you that I seek
May all that I do
Be pleasing to you
Father, I love you
My Lord I love you
I cannot live without you
So let your love overflow within my heart
I'll never depart
Father I love you
Jesus my soul loves you my purpose is you
My reason is you my whole life is you
Unto thee, Oh Lord
Do I lift up my soul
May all that I do be pleasing to you
I love you
Show me thy ways Lord
Teach me thy paths
Lead me in thy truth
My soul loves you
God has everything in the palm of his hands
Oh my God now has everything yes sir
In the palm of his hands
Oh God has everything yes Lord in the palm of his hands
Look now you don't have to worry 'bout nothing.
I'm gonna wait until, wait till my change comes
Look now you don't have to worry 'bout nothing
Look now chile
Bed' git it right now,
You don't have to worry 'bout it
You don't have to worry
You don't have to fret
My God's got everything
Praise God in His hands
You don't have to wor' bout nothing now
CREDITS
This recording was made possible by generous grants from Videmus, Inc. and J. P Williams Music. Special thanks for funding gifts: Dr Rick Barrett, Arnold and Conella Brown, Gwyneth Crysler, Erwin Dieckmann, Earl Gaston, Curtis Griggs, William Johnson, Richard Kaufmann, James Luce, Howard and Grace Mims, Judy Montfort, Betty Ozanne, Juanita Robinson, James and Louise Savage, Jewel Snowden, James and Ruth Richey
Special thanks to soloists: Dr Jack Jarret, pianist on David Baker's Shades of Blue and Dr Linda Lister, celeste for Leslie Adams' Ode to Life. Dr Jarret is a Professor of Composition and Conducting at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. Dr. Lister is an instructor of voice at Greensboro College.
This recording was produced by Videmus' Visionary Recordings and distributed by Albany Records.
Visionary Recording Directors: William Banfield, Louise Toppin. Julius Williams
Executive Producers: Julius Williams & Louise Toppin
Recorded: Ode to Life and Shades of Blue: November 24-28, 1997 Prague Radio Studio, Prague, Czech Republic
Gospel Songs: August 18,1999, Catholic University, Washington. D.C.
Recording Engineer: Alan Wonneberger Prodigital, Wheaton, MD
Mastering: Will Spencer of Solid Sound Studio, Ann Arbor MI
Graphic Design & Photography: Brandie Knox-Kirkman, BK2 Visual Communication, Greenville, NC
Publishing information: Stephen Michael Newby's Gospel Songs for Baritone and String Orchestra is published by Newby's Witness Music (ASCAP), Everett, Washington. David Baker's Shades of Blue is published by MMB Music in St. Louis, Missouri. H. Leslie Adams' Ode to Life is published by Art Source Publishing (BMI), 9409 Kempton Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio.
(c) 2000 ALBANY RECORDS
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WARNING: COPYRIGHT SUBSISTS IN ALL REDCORDINGS ISSUED UNDER THIS LABEL.
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