Isaiah Jackson Calls Attention To Premiere of Carman Moore's 'Concerto for Ornette'

[Carman Moore]

On Oct. 10, 2011 AfriClassical posted: “Bay-Atlantic Symphony Chamber Orchestra in William Grant Still's 'Panamanian Dances' 7 PM, Oct. 16.” The post also reported on the career of the conductor Isaiah Jackson, who led the Berlin Symphony in its performance of the Panamanian Dances of William Grant Still on the Koch International Classics label in 1993.

We had not been in touch with Isaiah Jackson, but Julius P. Williams is his colleague on the faculty of the Berklee College of Music and he was kind enough to provide contact information. We forwarded the blog post to Prof. Jackson, and invited him to alert us to news of composers of color. Today we were delighted to hear from him by email:

“Dear Judge Zick,

Thank you for your gracious message and for your continuing interest in my work. Having traded in the podium for the lectern, I especially appreciated your shout-out. You probably read recently of the premiere in NYC of Carman Moore's Concerto for Ornette. When something else interesting happens in these parts, I'll let you know. I very much appreciate all that you do for the cause.

Yours,

Isaiah Jackson”

An Oct. 2 post by on Jazz Loft Project Blog says this of the premiere:

“Last week the Times reviewed a performance of Carman Moore's Concerto for Ornette. It’s good to see this composition getting the life it deserves. The idea of it being performed by the NY Phil with Ornette is exciting.

“Carman was one of Hall Overton’s favorite students and he was a weekly visitor to 821 Sixth Avenue. A couple of years ago Carman took me and JLP Research Associate Dan Partridge to visit Coleman and he brought along a recorded sketch of the Concerto. He played the piece and Coleman picked up his saxophone and improvised along with it for about fifteen minutes. It was one of those moments that made me feel grateful to be doing this work

.

“Last week’s performance was by the New Juilliard Ensemble led by Joel Sachs. When we paid homage to Overton with a public program in NYC, Carman and Joel participated, along with Steve Reich, and Ethan Iverson. The idea of some kind of Overton-related concert or recorded set, with performances of Overton’s music and/or performances by Overton’s students and associates, has come up often in the past. I’d still like to see that happen.

-S.S.”