Comment on William Grant Still and Television Theme for “Perry Mason”

[Africa: Piano Music of William Grant Still; Denver Oldham, piano; Koch 3 7084 2H1 (1991)]

Earlier today, AfriClassical posted “Works of William Grant Still and Carlos Chavez Presented in Long Beach on Sunday, June 29”. The concert program includes this statement: “Some other notable achievements include two Guggenheim Fellowships (1944, 1961), the theme song for New York’s World Fair (1939), and the themes for television’s Perry Mason and Gunsmoke.” The composer's daughter, Judith Anne Still, preserves his legacy with a business called William Grant Still Music as well as a website, http://www.williamgrantstill.com/ She comments: “Thanks for the newest blog. Did it say that WGS composed the theme for PERRY MASON? He didn't compose the theme--only a great deal of the background music.”

Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson (1932-2004), African American Composer & Conductor

[Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson (1932-2004): A Celebration; Chicago Sinfonietta et al.; Paul Freeman, Conductor; Cedille 90000 087 (2005)]

The African American composer and conductor Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson was born on June 14, 1932. Prof. Dominique-René de Lerma is a specialist in African heritage in classical music, and has kindly made his research file on Perkinson available to AfriClassical.com: “Prior to his entrance in New York’s High School of Music and Art in 1945, he exhibited an interest in dance, studying with Pearl Primus and Ismay Andrews. Mentored in high school by his teacher Hugh Ross, he came to meet Igor Stravinsky. By the time of his graduation in 1949, when he won the LaGuardia Prize for music, he had begun composing.” Perkinson's 1948 composition And Behold won the High School for Music and Art Choral Competition.

Prof. De Lerma continues: “He majored in education for two years at New York University (1949-1951), then transferred to the Manhattan School of Music in 1951 (B.M., 1953; M.M., composition, 1954) where he was a composition major under Charles Mills and Vittorio Giannini, and conducting with Jonel Perlea.” “His interest in jazz was stimulated while enrolled at the Manhattan School of Music in association with classmates Julius Watkins, Herbie Mann, Donald Byrd, and Max Roach. He has been engaged as arranger and/or music director for Marvin Gaye, Lou Rawls, Barbara McNair, Donald Byrd, Max Roach (as pianist in the Roach Quartet, 1964-1965), Melvin Van Peebles, and Harry Belafonte.”

“In the summer of 1954 he studied conducting at the Berkshire Music Center. This was supplemented with additional study with Earl Kim at Princeton University from about 1959 to 1962. During his student days, he roomed with his good friends, Arthur LaBrew and Noel DaCosta. For three summers (1960, 1962, and 1963), he studied in the Netherlands with Dean Dixon and Franco Ferrara in conducting at the Netherlands Radio Union in Hilversum, spending part of the 1960 summer at the Mozarteum. He also studied with Dimitri Mitropoulos, Lovro von Matacic, Franco Ferrara, Dean Dixon and Clarence Williams.”

Perkinson also wrote the themes for the television shows Room 222 and Get Christie Love! Perkinson co-founded the Symphony of the New World, which he conducted from 1965-70 and directed for the 1972 season. Prof. De Lerma lists some of the many teaching, conducting and performing positions he held in his career: “1959-1962 Conductor, Brooklyn Community Symphony Orchestra; Faculty, Brooklyn College; 1961-1963 Conductor, New York Mandolin Orchestra; 1964-1965 Pianist, Max Roach Jazz Quartet; 1965-1970 Co-Founder and Associate Conductor of the Symphony of the New World (serving as its Director for the 1972-1973 season); 1966-1967 Music Director, Jerome Robbins’ American Theater Lab; 1968-1969, 1978 Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater; 1997-1998 Indiana University”.

From 1998 until his death in 2004, Perkinson was affiliated with the Center for Black Music Research at Columbia College Chicago. In the year following the death of Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson, a wide-ranging overview of his music was issued on Coleridge- Taylor Perkinson (1932-2004): A Celebration, Cedille 90000 087 (2005). Paul Freeman conducts the Chicago Sinfonietta and members of the New Black Music Repertory Ensemble. The works include Sinfonietta No. 1 for Strings (15:17), Grass: Poem for Piano, Strings & Percussion (16:08), Quartet No. 1 based on “Calvary” (Negro spiritual) (17:04), Blue/s Forms for Solo Violin (7:26), Lamentations: Black/Folk Song Suite for Solo Cello (15:38), Louisiana Blues Strut (A Cakewalk) (2:49) and Movement for String Trio (3:56). The compositions are in chronological order, beginning with a work written in 1954-55 and ending with one produced in 2004.

New York Times On Gabriel Banat, Biographer of Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges (1745-1799)

A Swashbuckling Violinist, Fresh From the 1700s
By Roberta Hershenson
Published January 6, 2008
Dobbs Ferry

ONE of the most fascinating figures of the 18th century was the Chevalier de Saint-Georges, a composer, violinist, fencing champion and military hero whose fame spanned continents. That he was black, born in 1745 to a white planter and his slave mistress in Guadeloupe, not only shaped his life in France but has fed a growing interest in him today.

Though Saint-Georges’s life reads like a Hollywood screenplay, it was his musical talent that most interested Gabriel Banat, a concert violinist and musicologist whose biography, “The Chevalier de Saint-Georges: Virtuoso of the Sword and the Bow,” was published by Pendragon Press in 2006.

“He’s not a Mozart, but his innovative violin technique makes him a bridge between Italian virtuosos like Vivaldi and Locatelli and Beethoven in his violin writing,” Mr. Banat said in an interview in his home here. “He did a lot for the violin in bringing Italian virtuoso technique to the great masters.”

Full Article

Duke Ellington: “The Afro-Eurasian Eclipse: A Suite in Eight Parts”

[The Afro-Eurasian Eclipse: A Suite in Eight Parts; (38:00); Duke Ellington; Original Jazz Classics (1991)]

Earlier today, AfriClassical published a post on the Jan. 15 broadcast by WHPK-FM host Sergio Mims of Duke Ellington's The Afro-Eurasian Eclipse: A Suite in Eight Parts; (38:00); Original Jazz Classics (1991). We decided to find a review which would shed some light on this unusual composition:

Review by Scott Yanow, All Music Guide
“This CD reissue brings back one of Duke Ellington's most intriguing works from his later years. 'Acht O'Clock Rock' actually shows the influence of rock while some of the other selections hint at both African folk music and more advanced areas of jazz. However the familiar Ellington sound was still very much intact in 1971. The main soloists include Harold Ashby and Paul Gonsalves on tenors, baritonist Harry Carney (featured on 'Didjeridoo') and altoist Norris Turney; the versatility of drummer Rufus Jones really helps the colorful music.”

The tracks are: Chinoiserie, Didjeridoo, Afrique, Acht O'Clock Rock, Gong, Tang, True, Hard Way. The distinctive cover art is sold as a poster at http://www.AllPosters.com

Thomas Wilkins & Detroit Symphony Orchestra Perform “Exegisis” by Augustus Hill

Classical Roots Celebration VIII will take place Saturday, February 23, 6:00 p.m. with Denyce Graves, mezzo-soprano, and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra led by its Resident Conductor, Thomas Wilkins.

Since 1978, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra’s annual Classical Roots Concert has been a celebration of African-contributions to classical music and a proud partnership with Detroit’s own Brazeal Dennard Chorale. The Celebration also honors select African-American composers, musicians and educators for lifetime achievement, with proceeds supporting the DSO’s African-American music and musician development programs.

This year, joining DSO Resident Conductor and crowd favorite, Thomas Wilkins, for the Classical Roots Celebration VIII concerts is acclaimed mezzo-soprano, Denyce Graves. The program will feature Exegisis, a work by African-American composer Augustus Hill, Berlioz’s Cleopatra and Detroit’s own Brazeal Dennard Chorale.

For more information, please call 313-576-5072 or e-mail cdodd@dso.org

New York Historical Society Celebrates 250th Birthday of Lafayette With Music of Francis Johnson

[The Music of Francis Johnson & His Contemporaries: Early 19th-Century Black Composers; Honor To The Brave: Gen. Lafayette's Grand March (3:57); Diane Monroe, Violin; The Chestnut Brass Company and Friends; Tamara Brooks, Conductor; Music Masters 7029-2-C (1990)]

NEW YORK, NY - History comes to life for the whole family at the New York Historical Society in celebration of the 250th birthday of our French Founding Father - Lafayette.

An engaging, uplifting, interactive exhibition, French Founding Father: Lafayette's Return to Washington's America allows people of all ages to see, touch and experience history. Start by picking up a free brochure filled with fun activities for kids to complete as they go through the exhibition.

Don't miss the fireworks display in the Great Hall in front of the mural recreating the hero's welcome Lafayette received upon his arrival in New York. Kids will recognize in the mural the harbor of today's New York and the round building of Castle Clinton that still stands in Battery Park, near where the Statue of Liberty Tour boats debark. In that very place over 6,000 elegantly dressed guests danced the night away to welcome the aging hero.

As you progress upstairs, listen to celebratory band music by Francis Johnson, a black composer who was the first major bandleader in the U.S. Full Article

[Francis B. Johnson composed Honor To The Brave: Gen. Lafayette's Grand March (3:57) and is profiled at AfriClassical.com]

Letter to the Editor of The New York Times from Dominique-René de Lerma

The post “Nadine Gordimer on Beethoven: Review by Dominique-René de Lerma” is an article which accompanied a Letter to the Editor of the New York Times from Dr. De Lerma:

Sirs:

Your book review for December 16, 2007 (Beethoven's birthday, incidentally) carried a review of Nadine Gordimer's Beethoven was one-sixteenth Black, by Siddhartha Deb. It was very clear this is a book for fictional short stories, but there remain many individuals who will regard this as fact. The writing may be quite excellent and I am not complaining about that, but I hope this will not be thought additional ammunition for those who still feel he was a composer with African heritage.

Dominique-René de Lerma
Professor of Music
Lawrence University
Appleton WI 54914

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David N. Baker (b. 1931), African American Jazz & Classical Composer With 2000 Works

[Basically (David) Baker; Buselli/Wallarab Jazz Orchestra; GM Recordings 3049]

Dr. David N. Baker is a renowned composer of both jazz and classical music. He is Composer-in-Residence for the 2007-2008 Season for the Ritz Chamber Players of Jacksonville, Florida. As an instrumentalist Baker first played trombone and later switched to cello. The author of 60 books and 400 articles, he has received commissions from over 500 people and groups; he has composed 2,000 jazz and classical works.

Baker's compositions appear on at least 65 recordings, including several conducted by the African American conductor Paul Freeman. One such CD is African Heritage Symphonic Series, Vol. III, which includes his Cello Concerto (1975) (19:56). Katinka Kleijn is cello soloist; the Chicago Sinfonietta is conducted by Dr. Freeman; the CD is Cedille 90000 066 (2002). Dr. Dominique-René de Lerma writes in the liner notes:

His original intention to become an orchestral trombonist was short lived – orchestral work was more or less out of reach for African Americans at the time – so Baker entered the jazz world. He enjoyed rapid success, performing and rcording in the U.S. And Europe with several jazz legends including Quincy Jones, George Russell, Maynard Ferguson, and Lionel Hampton. An accident put an end to Baker's trombone playing in 1962. He began studying the cello, first with Leopold Teraspulsky and later with Janos Starker. In 1966, he joined the faculty at Indiana and began training a new generation of jazz musicians.

Dr. Baker's website includes this Biography:

David Nathaniel Baker, Jr. was born December 21, 1931 in Indianapolis, Indiana. He is Distinguished Professor of Music and Chairman of the Jazz Department at the Indiana University School of Music in Bloomington, Indiana, as well as conductor and artistic director of the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra (visit: David Baker's Oral History - Smithsonian Jazz). A virtuoso performer on multiple instruments and top in his field in several disciplines, Mr. Baker has taught and performed throughout the USA, Canada, Europe, Scandinavia, Australia, New Zealand and Japan. He is also the conductor and musical & artistic director of the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra.

Mr. Baker received both bachelor's and master's degrees in music education from Indiana University and has studied with a wide range of master teachers, performers and composers including J.J. Johnson, Bobby Brookmeyer, Janos Starker, George Russell, William Russo, Bernard Heiden, and Gunther Schuller, among others. A 1973 Pulitzer Prize nominee, Mr. Baker was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1979, and has been honored three times by Down Beat magazine -- as a trombonist, for lifetime achievement, and as the third inductee to their Jazz Education Hall of Fame.

Mr. Baker has received numerous awards, including the National Association of Jazz Educators Hall of Fame Award (1981), President's Award for Distinguished Teaching from Indiana University (1986), the Arts Midwest Jazz Masters Award (1990), the Governor's Arts Award of the State of Indiana (1991), the Indiana Historical Society’s Living Legend Award (2001), the James Smithson Medal from the Smithsonian Institution (2002), the American Jazz Masters Award from the National Endowment for the Arts (2000), and an Emmy Award (2003) for his musical score for the PBS documentary For Gold and Glory. He has received honorary doctorates from Wabash College, Oberlin College, and the New England Conservatory of Music. In 2007 he will be honored by The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts with their Living Jazz Legend Award.

As a composer Mr. Baker has been commissioned by more than 500 individuals and ensembles, including Josef Gingold, Ruggerio Ricci, Janos Starker, Harvey Phillips, the New York Philharmonic, the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Beaux Arts Trio, the Fisk Jubilee Singers, the Louisville Symphony, the Ohio Chamber Orchestra, the Audubon String Quartet, the International Horn Society, the Indianapolis Symphony, the Chicago Sinfonietta, and the Plymouth Music Series. His compositions total more than 2,000 in number, including jazz and symphonic works, chamber music, and ballet and film scores.

Mr. Baker's service in music organizations is wide-ranging and includes membership on the National Council on the Arts; board positions for the American Symphony Orchestra League, Arts Midwest, and the Afro-American Bicentennial Hall of Fame/Museum; and past chairs of the Jazz Advisory Panel to the Kennedy Center and the Jazz/Folk/Ethnic Panel of the National Endowment for the Arts. He is past president and past vice president of the International Association for Jazz Education, and past president of the National Jazz Service Organization. He currently serves as senior consultant for music programs for the Smithsonian Institution. He has served a number of times on the Pulitzer Prize Music Jury and is Chair of the Jazz Faculty of the Steans Institute for Young Artists at the Ravinia Festival in Chicago, IL. He has more than 65 recordings, 60 books, and 400 articles to his credit.