SUN FEB 18 2018 / 7PM
The Jazz Epistles: Abdullah Ibrahim with guest
Terence Blanchard
CHAN CENTRE FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS AT UBC
“Music has no timeline…
it is contemporary in the sense that everything is always evolving. We must always renew things, and we must never repeat.” – Abdullah Ibrahim (The Telegraph, 2017)
“Music and art have
the power to change hearts and souls” –Terence Blanchard
The Jazz Epistles: Abdullah Ibrahim with guest Terence Blanchard PRESENTED BY THE CHAN CENTRE FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS
Pre-show Talk 6:15pm, Royal Bank Cinema
From a Jazz Messenger to a Jazz Epistle with Nou Dadoun
Concert 7:00pm, Chan Shun Concert Hall Abdullah Ibrahim piano Terence Blanchard trumpet, flugelhorn Ekaya Noah Jackson cello, bass Will Terrill drums Cleave Guyton alto saxophone, flute, clarinet Lance Bryant tenor saxophone Andrae Murchison trombone, trumpet Marshall McDonald baritone saxophone Set list to be announced from the stage. There will be no intermission.
Please remember to turn off your phones, and note that photography and recording are not permitted. Thank you!
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Abdullah Ibrahim Abdullah Ibrahim is South Africa’s most distinguished pianist and an internationally respected musician. Born in 1934 in Cape Town, his early musical memories were of traditional African Khoi-san songs, Christian hymns, gospel tunes and spirituals which he learned from both his mother and grandmother. Cape Town was a melting-pot of cultural influences, and the young Ibrahim (aka Dollar Brand) was exposed to American jazz, Cape Malay music, as well as classical music. Out of this blend of secular and religious, traditional and modern, he developed a unique distinctive style which was rich in harmony and rhythm. Ibrahim began piano lessons at the age of seven and made his professional debut at fifteen. He was at the forefront of bebop in South Africa, playing with a distinct Cape Town flavour, and in 1959 he formed his groundbreaking ensemble, the Jazz Epistles, with saxophonist Kippie Moeketsi, trumpeter Hugh Masekela, trombonist Jonas Gwanga, bassist Johnny Gertze, and drummer Makaya Ntshoko. The group made history by recording the first South African jazz album, Jazz Epistle Verse 1. Following the Sharpeville massacre of 1960, jazz became the symbol of resistance in South Africa, making it more dangerous to play. After Nelson Mandela was imprisoned in 1962, Dollar Brand, Gertze, and Ntshoko left the country and took up a three-year contract at Club Africana in Zürich. It was there where they managed to gain the audience of Duke Ellington, resulting in a recording session – Duke Ellington presents the Dollar Brand Trio – and invitations to perform at European festivals, on television, and on radio shows. In 1965, Ibrahim moved to New York with his wife, vocalist Sathima Bea Benjamin. He was invited to substitute as leader of the Ellington Orchestra, and received a Rockefeller Foundation grant to attend the Julliard School of Music. During his time in the USA, he met with many progressive musicians, including Ornette Coleman, John Coltrane, Cecil Taylor, and Archie Shepp. Dollar Brand converted to Islam in 1968, taking the name Abdullah Ibrahim. After years spent searching for spiritual harmony, using music and martial arts to reinforce spiritual discipline, Ibrahim returned to Cape Town with his family. There he recorded “Mannenberg – ‘Is where it’s happening,’” which became an unofficial national anthem for black South Africans. After the Soweto student uprising in 1976, he and his family left for America where Ibrahim founded the record company Ekapa with his wife. The 1980s saw him involved with a range of artistic projects including the formation of his septet Ekaya. When Mandela was freed from prison, he invited Ibrahim to come home to South Africa where memorably performed at the President’s 1994 inauguration. For more than a quarter-century, Abdullah Ibrahim has toured the world extensively, appearing at major concert halls, clubs and festivals, giving sell-out performances, as solo artist or with other renowned artists (notably, Max Roach, Carlos Ward, and Randy Weston). As a musician and a tireless initiator of new projects, it’s no surprise that his discography runs to well over a hundred album credits. When not touring, Ibrahim now divides his time between Cape Town and New York City. In addition to composing and performing, he has started a South African production company, Masingita (Miracle), and established a music academy, M7, offering courses in seven disciplines to educate young minds. He is also a martial arts black belt with a lifelong interest in zen philosophy. In 2006, he spearheaded the historic creation of the Cape Town Jazz Orchestra, an eighteen-piece big band, which is set to further strengthen the standing of South African music on the global stage. 5
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Terence Blanchard Terence Blanchard has defined a place for himself in contemporary culture that extends well beyond jazz’s reach. Born in 1962 in New Orleans, Louisiana, Blanchard began to play the piano at the age of five, only to switch to trumpet three years later. While studying jazz at the Rutgers University in New Jersey, he toured with Lionel Hampton’s orchestra. In 1982, he joined Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers as lead soloist and music director, replacing his childhood friend, Wynton Marsalis. During this time he also mentored several musicians who have gone on to have significant recording careers of their own, including Lionel Loueke, Aaron Parks, Kendrick Scott, and Fabian Alamzan. In the 1990s, Terence embarked on his solo recording career, producing many adventurous and provocative acoustic jazz compositions for various documentaries and movies – in fact, Blanchard has written the score for every Spike Lee film since 1991, including Jungle Fever, Malcolm X, Clockers, and Inside Man. His expansive collection of film compositions prompted Entertainment Weekly to credit Blanchard with a central role in the “general resurgence of jazz composition for film.” With over 40 scores to his name, Terence Blanchard is one of the most sought after jazz musicians to ever compose for film. Over his diverse career, Blanchard has recorded more than 30 albums that have often defied genre. A top-tier jazz trumpeter, he has worked with many prominent players, including Herbie Hancock, Stevie Wonder, Bill Lee, and Jeff Watts. In 2000, Blanchard became artistic director of the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz at the University of Southern California where he worked with students on composition, arranging, artistic development, and career counselling. In 2008, he was recognized for his commitment to jazz education by the Monterey Jazz Festival, where he was Artist In Residence for their 50th anniversary season. As a multi Grammy-winning composer and musician, Terence Blanchard extends a jazz tradition that embodies the work of Louis Armstrong and is grounded in their shared hometown of New Orleans. The Wall Street Journal has called Blanchard’s sound “advantageous without losing its grip on creativity.” His individuality as both performer and composer can be heard across many mediums, including film scores, two Broadway plays, dance collaborations, commissions for the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and for the Los Angeles Philharmonic, as well as music for his 2013 opera, Champion. Most recently, Terence Blanchard has travelled into another realm of jazz with his new quintet, the E-Collective – an exciting zone of groove fusion teeming with funk, R&B, and blues. Their 2015 album, Breathless, is a response to police violence and is dedicated to Eric Garner, who was fatally injured in an altercation with police. Motivated by the healing impact that this music has had on their audiences, the E-Collective’s next album, tentatively titled Caravan, will be recorded live in cities around the country that have been similarly impaired by racial tension.
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Pre-show Talk: From a Jazz Messenger to a Jazz Epistle with Nou Dadoun 6:15pm: Royal Bank Cinema, Chan Centre The policy of legislated racism known as apartheid in South Africa allowed few opportunities for black creative expression. However, when the rich history of South African music like kwela and marabi met the hard bop of North American jazz from groups like Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, a new hybrid was produced in the late 1950s group The Jazz Epistles. Dollar Brand (soon to be Abdullah Ibrahim), Hugh Masekela, Jonas Gwangwa, Kippie Moketsi, Johnny Gertze and Makaya Ntshoko recorded a single album in 1959 – The Jazz Epistles: Verse 1 – which became a legendary recording of Township Jazz. Most of the ensemble’s members left South Africa to become respected international musicians who brought their own flavours of South African music to their art. Almost 60 years later, Ibrahim decided to revisit the legacy of that music born in struggle. This talk by Nou Dadoun, host of Vancouver Co-op Radio’s A-Trane program, will give the context of the music of The Jazz Epistles, some of the South African tradition which fed into it, and the state of jazz in South Africa in the 50s and 60s. It will also touch on how its members have contributed to the rich world music now known as South African Jazz.
UBC School of Music Fanfares The fanfare that was performed in the lobby prior to this concert (6:30pm and 6:45pm) was commissioned by the Chan Centre from UBC student Carolyn Quick as part of an ongoing partnership with the UBC School of Music.
Azura Quartet Eric Toombs - Soprano Saxophone; Mo Miao - Alto Saxophone; Haley Heinricks - Tenor Saxophone; Mia Gazley - Baritone Saxophone Carolyn A. Quick (b. 1994) is a Vancouver-based composer finishing her Masters of Music in Composition at the University of British Columbia. Since entering university in 2012, she has studied with many composers including David Crumb, Stephen Chatman, and Jocelyn Morlock. She is currently a student of Dorothy Chang. Painting with Fire
This piece evokes the vivid, militaristic imagery within Sara Teasdale’s work “In a Garden.” Drawn from a line in her poem, Painting with Fire employs jazz-like syncopations and colourful harmonies to highlight the juxtaposition of the calm Connecticut hills and the clamorous soldiers that traverse them. 8
Exploring the role of the arts and artists in society. chancentre.com/connects
TOMORROW!
A Conversation with Abdullah Ibrahim Monday February 19, 2018 at 7:30pm Vancouver Community College Auditorium 1155 East Broadway, Vancouver
FREE Presented by the Chan Centre in association with the Vancouver Community College School of Music One of the remaining legends in modern jazz, South African pianist and composer Abdullah Ibrahim talks with CBC Music’s Michael Juk about his career, journey as an artist, and decision to re-visit the iconic Jazz Epistles catalogue. This free event is open to the public and takes place at the Vancouver Community College Auditorium (1155 East Broadway at Glen Drive). Seating is limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis.
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Remembering Hugh Masekela On January 23, 2018, brilliant musician and passionate activist Hugh Masekela passed away in Johannesburg at the age of 78 following a battle with prostate cancer. His family released the following statement:
“Our hearts beat with profound loss. Hugh’s global and activist contribution to and participation in the areas of music, theatre, and the arts in general is contained in the minds and memory of millions across six continents and we are blessed and grateful to be part of a life and ever-expanding legacy of love, sharing and vanguard creativity that spans the time and space of six decades.” A founding member of The Jazz Epistles, South African trumpeter Hugh Masekela was originally scheduled to perform tonight alongside Abdullah Ibrahim before the devastating news of his illness broke in October of last year. Hugh last performed in Vancouver at the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts on March 12, 2011. Before his concert, he gave a compelling talk to a full house at UBC’s Robson Square. The subject of the talk was activism, and Hugh talked about the importance of not just recognizing injustice, but taking action against it. “Everybody in this room and all the people that you know should be sensitized to the fact that wrong is wrong. Whether you’re a musician, an athlete, a dancer: injustice is wrong” he said, “it’s just taking the next step and doing something about it. People can organize quietly for things that they object to. It doesn’t have to be big, as long as it’s felt. As long as it’s felt, then it’ll inspire other people.” He went on to stress that activism was for everyone. “It’s not just for certain people from certain segments of society” he noted, “It’s up to all of us to try to make change.” You can listen to more clips from Hugh’s 2011 talk at chancentre.com/news.
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Celebrating 20 Years The Chan Centre for the Performing Arts opened its doors in 1997, and this season we’re celebrating 20 years! Visit our anniversary archives at chancentre.com for memorable events, stories and never-before-seen photos from two decades of world class performance.
A Lush Landscape By Jennifer Van Evra When the Chan Centre was in its earliest planning stages, people initially assumed the site would be cleared to make way for the new building and open up sweeping views to Howe Sound. Architect Bing Thom, however, had a different vision: to design the building around the trees. The picturesque site featured more than 50 towering coniferous trees that were planted as an experiment by UBC forestry professors in the early 20th century, as well as more than 200 mature rhododendrons and azaleas, many of them over 60 years old. Thom worked with legendary landscape architect Cornelia Oberlander to achieve two key ends. First, because many of the trees were more than 100 feet tall, nestling the Chan Centre within them would make the eight-storey building more discreet and less imposing. Second, it would also give visitors views to the trees and the lush plantings, whether they were there in the daytime or at night, in winter or summer. “You can always design a concert hall or a performing arts centre in an urban setting. Seldom do you have a forest setting. Why not play up the forest?” remembered Thom in a 2002 interview. “Why not light the forest at night so that when you come out of the concert hall, you actually feel you’re in a forest? I realized that this would be quite a unique experience.” The azaleas and rhododendrons were moved offsite to the university nursery for safe storage, while the trees were carefully protected during excavation. Miraculously, not a single mature tree was cut down during the building process. Now that forest, which was named the Dorothy Somerset Grove after the inspiring founder of the UBC Department of Theatre, is one of the building’s most beloved and talked-about features, and the view from the lobby continues to make jaws drop. The centre also neighbours the spectacular UBC Rose Garden, and is moments away from the winding trails of Pacific Spirit Regional Park and the rocky shores of Tower Beach. “So many architects just concentrate on the buildings, but I concentrate on the landscape,” said Thom in an interview shortly after the building was completed. “I think if you do well on the landscape, the buildings will take care of themselves.” As part of the 20th anniversary of the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts, we have commissioned 20 stories from writer Jennifer Van Evra – just a glimpse into all that has shaped who we are as an organization today. Read more at chancentre.com or pick up your printed copy of The Chan 12 Centre for the Performing Arts at 20 at our ticket office.
The Chan Centre for the Performing Arts at UBC Joyce Hinton Co-Managing Director Cameron McGill Co-Managing Director Carl Armstrong Events & Customer Service Manager Wendy Atkinson Programming & Rentals Manager Lloyd Balser Head Audio Technician Laura Busby Rentals & Programming Assistant Kara Gibbs Marketing & Communications Manager David Humphrey Production Manager Flora Lew Financial Coordinator Glenda Makela Financial & Programming Clerk Trevor Mangion Ticket Operations Manager Chloe Martin-Cabanne Operations Clerk Veronica Maynard Administration & Finance Clerk Caitlin McKee (on leave) Artistic Presenting Manager Claire Mohun Marketing & Communications Coordinator George Pereira Production Clerk James Perrella Assistant Head Audio/Stage Technician Andrew Riter Assistant Technical Director & Head Lighting Technician Nadia Roberts Events & Front of House Coordinator Lyndsey Roberts Ticket Office Supervisor Jennifer Sorko Artistic Presenting Manager Members of Cupe 2950 Front of House, Stage, and Ticketing Staff Valentina Acevedo Montilla Programming Assistant, Undergraduate Student Janice Lew Artistic Presentations Assistant, Work Learn Student Taryn Plater Marketing & Communications Assistant, Work Learn Student Administration Office
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Graphic Design by Copilot Design Media Relations by Murray Paterson Marketing Group The Chan Centre would like to thank our 2017/2018 series sponsors: The Chan Endowment Fund and the UBC Faculty of Arts
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Upcoming Events at the Chan Centre Full details at chancentre.com
Feb 24 at 7pm: Voice of Passion – Winter Music Gala 2018 Presented by Kevin Li, North Star, and West Coast Symphony Orchestra
Mar 2 at 7pm: Animenz Live 2018 Vancouver Presented by Animenz Productions Ltd Mar 3 at 7pm: 24th Annual Spring Gala Presented by the UBC Faculty of Medicine Mar 4 at 3pm: Marc-André Hamelin, piano Presented by the Vancouver Recital Society Mar 7 at 7:30pm: Goldberg Variations – Angela Hewitt Presented by Early Music Vancouver Mar 9 at 8pm: UBC Symphony Orchestra – Concerto Competition Winner Presented by the UBC School of Music
Mar 10 at 8pm: Lila Downs Presented by the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts Mar 15 at 2pm: UBC Symphonic Wind Ensemble Presented by the UBC School of Music Mar 16 at 6:30pm: UBC Opera Ball Fundraiser Presented by the UBC School of Music Mar 16 - 18 at 7:30: Tanya Tagaq and Laakkuluk Williamson Bathory Presented by the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts
LILA DOWNS
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CHAN CENTRE PRESENTS SERIES Lila Downs I MAR 10 Daymé Arocena and Roberto Fonseca I APR 15 Circa: Opus I APR 28
BEYOND WORDS SERIES Tanya Tagaq and Laakkuluk Williamson Bathory I MAR 16,17 + 18 Laurie Anderson
I APR 23
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DAYMÉ AROCENA
LILA DOWNS
TANYA TAGAQ
ROBERTO FONSECA
CIRCA: OPUS
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