30 SEP 2018 VICTORIA CONCERT HALL
P E R FO R M E R S
PERCUSSION
JAZZ PIANO
BASS
Mark Suter
Nate Shaw
Tony Makarome
www.silkroad.org/artists/mark-suter
brooklynmusicfactory www.brooklynmusicfactory.com
tony_makarome
PERCUSSION
PERCUSSION
PERCUSSION
NARRATOR
Zhu Zheng Yi
Eugene Toh
Wang Shan
Gulnara Mashurova
zhengyizzy
wangshan_percussion
PROGRAMME
Weavings for any number of Caxixi Weavings explores the caxixi, a Brazilian instrument made from woven baskets with gourd bases filled with small beads, as vehicles to express the boundless possibilities of the instrument family known as shakers, which appear throughout the world’s cultures. The piece flows through many time signatures and at least two improvisations with a closing section inspired by the music of guitar virtuoso Pat Metheny. It is a physical work that requires the body to become an extension of the instrument. —MARK SUTER
PERFORMERS
Mark Suter, Zhu Zheng Yi, Eugene Toh INSTRUMENTATION
Caxixi /Soundscape COMPOSED BY
Mark Suter
(Cycles) America Antonín Dvořák arrives in New York City in 1892, famously claiming that American music should draw inspiration from what is unique to the nation. In the same year the “deathbed” edition of Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass is published. In one of the annexes appears: America Centre of equal daughters, equal sons, All, all alike endear’d, grown, ungrown, young or old, Strong, ample, fair, enduring, capable, rich, Perennial with the Earth, with Freedom, Law and Love, A grand, sane, towering, seated Mother, Chair’d in the adamant of Time. Remarkably, an Edison gramophone recording of America, purportedly with Whitman himself reading the work, survives (although the last two lines are missing). Every day at 5 p.m., the Largo of Dvoř ák’s 9th Symphony, From the New World, broadcasts over local community centers throughout Japan, announcing that it’s time to go home. One can trace the near century-long path of the Largo from the New York Philharmonic premiere to modern suburban Tokyo through the 1922 art song arrangement by William Arms Fisher, championed later by Paul Robeson in his notable 1958 performance at Carnegie Hall, titled “Goin’ Home.” Joe Gramley asked me if I could write a piece for him for a program of new works by those connected to New York City. Happening to be on Long Island’s coasts around that time, my path in this piece started in Montauk and followed through Whitman, 1892, America, Dvořák, his 9th Symphony, Bernstein’s 1962 recording of it with the New York Philharmonic, Robeson’s Carnegie Hall performance of Fisher’s “Goin’ Home,” and a leap to my old Tokyo neighborhood. Both the vibraphone part and the underlying material (based on the Bernstein recording) are derived from a retrograde reinterpretation of Dvoř ák’s work, metaphorically reaching back in time, while the gramophone noisily rolls Whitman’s voice forward in periodic loops loosely tied to the four-mallet arrangement for vibraphone with spinning motor. Framing all of this are electronically-enhanced sounds of incoming/crashing and receding waves from the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans (recorded near Montauk, NY and Newport Beach, CA), speaking possibly to how the optimism and uniqueness in the America observed by both Whitman and Dvoř ák ebbs and flows over time. — K O J I R O U M E Z A K I
PERFORMERS
Mark Suter, Gulnara Mashurova INSTRUMENTATION
Bass Drum, Cymbals, Vibraphone, Electronics COMPOSED BY
Kojiro Umezaki kojiroumezaki www.kojiroumezaki.com
WORLD PREMIERE
Doubtful Sound for Solo Frame Drum Doubtful Sound is inspired by a recent trip to New Zealand. A 50th birthday present from, and with, my loving wife Kathryn Lockwood and daughter Surriah. Our journey through Doubtful Sound, a fiord in the far south west of New Zealand, was utterly spectacular and jaw dropping. From the seal colony at the mouth of the sound, the rough and jagged razor-backed mountains and its serene inner passages, this piece seeks to capture and recreate a journey from the sea inward. This work was written for my good friend Mark Suter and is highly influenced by 25 year of work with my teacher Glenn Velez.
PERFORMERS
Mark Suter INSTRUMENTATION
Frame Drum COMPOSED BY
Yousif Sheronick framedrumschool yousifsheronick
—YOUSIF SHERONICK
WORLD PREMIERE
Diluvio arranged for Five Percussionists Diluvio is inspired by a rainstorm in the tropics and the simple marvels that it entails: the gradual growth of a few scattered raindrops into a full-fledged downpour, the hypnotic quality of the constant aural and physical presence of the rain, and the notion that something so powerful as a flood can result from simple drops of water. The piece draws largely on vocabulary from Guarapachangueo rhythms of the Cuban rumba tradition (a style with a natural power and fluidity of its own), and also takes inspiration from the trance-like interlocking parts of Baka Pygmy music. — E D W A R D P E R E Z
PERFORMERS
Mark Suter, Zhu Zheng Yi, Eugene Toh, Wang Shan, Nate Shaw INSTRUMENTATION
Congas, Marimba, Glockenspiel, Clave, Log COMPOSED BY
Edward Perez edwardperezbass www.edwardperez.com
WORLD PREMIERE
Tausendfussler for Drum Set and Electronic Tape Tausendfüssler is German for “1,000 legs” or “Centipede” – whose flattened elongated body is composed of many segments, each bearing a single pair of legs. It is commissioned by Mark Suter, who is Swiss American, hence, the origins of the name title. The work involves the use of all four limbs, working in sync and out of sync in contrapuntal fashions which in composite junction form intricate beats, rhythms and grooves weaving around and over bar lines to an electronic track of mixed sounds: 6-string fretless electric bass guitar, FX 1 rain, piano and tape sampler keyboard. The piece is reminiscent of prog-rock, jazz instrumentals and explores these genres rhythmically and musically. — S H A N N O N W O O D
PERFORMERS
Mark Suter INSTRUMENTATION
Drum Set, Electronics COMPOSED BY
Shannon Wood malletshopcom shannonvwood malletshop
ASIAN PREMIERE
Dane Lane
Written on a piano that my great grandmother moved into a living room heated only by fireplace in the early part of last century, the piece was composed over a week’s time. Every year for my 48 years, I have made a pilgrimage to this living room and played this piano. The home is located in Door County Wisconsin, USA. It was built by my great-grandfather in 1908 and sits atop a bluff overlooking Lake Michigan. The piece tries to capture family in all its beauty, turbulence, joy and sadness. — N A T E S H A W
PERFORMERS
Nate Shaw, Tony Makarome, Mark Suter INSTRUMENTATION
Piano, Bass, Berimbau COMPOSED BY
Nate Shaw
ASIAN PREMIERE
Who’s To Blame Nate: This multi-movement piece is glued together by a meditative opening and close. It is meant to be minimal in its melodies and harmonies with the momentum coming from the shifting grooves. The composition was featured on the final recording by the New Power Trio and highlights the group’s movement away from world music and towards through-composed works. Kevork: The piece will be in my city-scape style and is about not learning from our mistakes. We are constantly destroying what we have and then needing to rebuild. This idea of collapsing and rebuilding occurs three times over and then leads to a reflourishing of the city. — N A T E S H A W A N D K E V O R K M O U R A D
PERFORMERS
Nate Shaw, Tony Makarome, Mark Suter INSTRUMENTATION
Piano, Bass, Surdo, Congas, Cymbals, Mini Snare Drum COMPOSED BY
Nate Shaw and New Power Trio VIDEO BY
Kevork Mourad kevork_mo www.kevorkmourad.com
We Never Left Written for this concert, the piece honors friendship and cooperative creative pursuit. It tackles the simple idea that there is no beginning, middle and end to friendships or the pursuit of art. Life moves in chapters and we must stay open to the opportunities within each. —NATE SHAW
PERFORMERS
Nate Shaw, Tony Makarome, Mark Suter INSTRUMENTATION
Piano, Bass, Wood Bongo, Cajon COMPOSED BY
Nate Shaw
UPCOMING CONCERTS 5–7 OCT
Baroque Festival
13-14 OCT
Borodin Quartet
23 OCT
Master of Violin: James Ehnes
17 NOV
A New World: intimate music from FINAL FANTASY
AT VICTORIA CONCERT HALL