Chicago Tribune: 'Marcus Roberts travels back in time' to Music of Scott Joplin, James P. Johnson & Duke Ellington

[Marcus Roberts (Jazz.com)]

Chicago Tribune
Howard Reich
Arts Critic
Marcus Roberts travels back in time
April 21, 2011
“On Friday evening, Roberts will reach for another personal milestone: his first performance with the Count Basie Orchestra — which is why thoughts of Basie are flickering in his memory. 'Basie gave an amazing concert at Florida State when I was a student … and he actually spent his entire intermission talking with me,' recalls Roberts, still marveling at his good fortune at being received backstage by the legendary musician.”

"'All you have to ask yourself is: What do you want your musical identity to be informed by? Whose expertise can help you understand who you are?' In Roberts' case, the list of influences is long, including ragtime master Scott Joplin and jazz pioneer Jelly Roll Morton, stride-piano genius James P. Johnson and iconic pianist-bandleader Duke Ellington, keyboard virtuoso Fats Waller and bebop-era revolutionary Thelonious Monk.

“But Roberts never has mimicked these inimitable players. Instead, he has incorporated into his work the New Orleans sensibility of Morton, the hypervirtuosity of Johnson, the ebullience of Waller, the rhythmic and harmonic inventiveness of Monk, and so on.” [Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington (1899-1874), James P. Johnson (1894-1955) and Scott Joplin (1868-1917) are profiled at AfriClassical.com]

James P. Johnson shares 'Jazz Nocturne' CD with Harry Reser, George Gershwin & Dana Suesse on Naxos 8.559647

[Jazz Nocturne - American Concertos of the Jazz Age; Hot Springs Music Festival Symphony Orchestra; Richard Rosenberg, conductor; Naxos 8.559647 (2011) (Cover painting: Piano Etude by Hugh Dunnahoe)]

Naxos says in the liner notes of this CD: “Arkansas' Hot Springs Music Festival pairs world-class mentors with talented pre-professional apprentices on full scholarship; the two groups play side by side in orchestral, chamber music, solo recital, vocal, choral and opera repertoire. For two weeks, these musicians form a unique community, presenting twenty concerts and over 250 open rehearsals for music lovers from across the globe. Over 20,000 people attend Festival events each year, and recordings from its concerts are broadcast nationwide via National Public Radio.”

The distinctive repertoire performed at the Hot Spring Music Festival and recorded in the Naxos American Classics series has been of great help to AfriClassical.com. The releases of the music of Edmond Dédé (1827-1903), Charles Lucien Lambert, Sr. (1828-1896) and Lucien-Leon Guillaume Lambert, Jr. (1858-1945) have made it possible to add each of the three composers to the website.

Richard Rosenberg conducts the Hot Springs Music Festival Symphony Orchestra in James P. Johnson's Yamekraw: A Negro Rhapsody, orchestrated by William Grant Still, the opening work on the CD Jazz Nocturne: American Concertos of the Jazz Age; Naxos 8.559647 (2011). He writes in the liner notes:

“This disc marks the première recording of the complete, final orchestral version of the work. As one of the first successful large-scale musical works by an African-American composer, Yamekraw thus played an important rôle in the development of American music in the twentieth century.”

The full-throated rendition of Yamekraw, in the final version orchestrated by William Grant Still, conveys the throbbing vitality of the Jazz Age. Harry Reser's Suite for Banjo and Orchestra provides a noticeable change of instrumentation. George Gershwin's A Rhapsody in Blue is the next work. The disc ends with the two works of Dana Suesse, a rarely-heard composer of the era whose presence is a reminder that the Jazz Age belonged to women composers as well as men.

Essay 'Classic Jazz' by Scott Yanow Highlights Roles of James P. Johnson & Duke Ellington

[Victory Stride: The Symphonic Music of James P. Johnson; The Concordia Orchestra; Marin Alsop, Conductor; Music Masters 67140 (1994). The Definitive Duke Ellington; Sony 61444 (2000)]

James P. Johnson and Duke Ellington are profiled at AfriClassical.com, which focuses on their classical works such as Johnson's Yamekraw: A Negro Rhapsody and Ellington's Harlem and Suite from The River. Today we present excerpts from an essay on their role in the development of jazz by Scott Yanow:

AllMusic-Biography

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Classic Jazz (Essay) (Scott Yanow)

“However classic New Orleans jazz was soon overshadowed by the rise of the great soloists. James P. Johnson, called 'the father of the stride piano,' was a brilliant pianist whose complex left-hand patterns ('striding' up and down between bass notes and chords) inspired youngsters such as Fats Waller and often scared away his potential competitors. His first recorded piano solos were in 1921 and even now few listeners probably realize that this multi-faceted talent composed 'Charleston.'”

“As far the rhythm section went, James P. Johnson's followers and contemporaries at nightly jam sessions included Fats Waller, Willie 'The Lion' Smith, Earl Hines (in Chicago) and the young Duke Ellington.”

“By the end of the 20's, jazz was a major part of popular music and Duke Ellington's innovations with his Cotton Club Orchestra were leading the way towards the future. Jazz, although hardly considered respectable by the middle class, was being utilized at least to a small degree by nearly every commercial dance orchestra and it was the vocabulary of talented musicians at after-hours jam sessions who indulged in freewheeling dixieland-oriented solos and of territory bands from outside the major metropolitan areas. In addition, the spontaneity of jazz by 1927 had become the soundtrack of the freewheeling 1920's.”

James P. Johnson, African American Composer & Stride Pianist, Born Feb. 1, 1894

[Victory Stride: The Symphonic Music of James P. Johnson; The Concordia Orchestra; Marin Alsop, Conductor; Music Masters 67140 (1994)]

The African American composer and pianist James Price Johnson was born on Feb. 1, 1894 in New Brunswick, New Jersey. He is profiled at AfriClassical.com. His biography is James P. Johnson: A Case of Mistaken Identity by Scott E. Brown. Brown also wrote the liner notes for the CD Victory Stride: The Symphonic Music of James P. Johnson, Music Masters 67140 (1994). Pianist Leslie Stifelman and The Concordia Orchestra are led by Marin Alsop, conductor. Dr. Dominique-René de Lerma of Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin has specialized in Black composers for four decades, and has made his research available to this website.

In his liner notes for Victory Stride, Scott E. Brown points out that James P. Johnson was called the Father of Stride Piano. Brown also emphasize the importance of James P. Johnson's Carolina Shout, saying it "...is considered by many to be the first recorded jazz piano solo (1921)." Scott Brown continues: "As a composer, he scored all or part of at least 16 musical revues during the 1920s. Out of his 1923 Broadway production Runnin' Wild came the tune and dance most closely associated with the entire decade, the 'Charleston.'”

Prof. Dominique-René de Lerma wrote the liner notes for the CD Got the Saint-Louis Blues: Classical Music in the Jazz Age, Clarion CLR907 (2004), which includes a performance of Johnson's Yamekraw: A Negro Rhapsody (15:49) by pianist Paul Shaw and the VocalEssence Ensemble conducted by Philip Brunelle. Dr. De Lerma relates that Johnson's music studies with Bruto Giannini were followed by piano lessons from Eubie Blake. He continues: "Toward the end of the 1920s, Johnson began devoting time to the study of orchestration, counterpoint, and harmony." Prof. De Lerma explains that Yamekraw was written to celebrate an African American community in Georgia. He also provides details of the work's orchestration and premiere: "Written in celebration of a black community on the outskirts of Savannah, Yamekraw: A Negro Rhapsody (1927) was first performed by Fats Waller in a Carnegie Hall concert organized by William C. Handy. It seems most likely that Johnson's relative inexperience in orchestral writing prompted him to ask William Grant Still to rework the score in 1928."

In February 2009, shortly after Johnson's birthday, The New York times reported that a film on the composer's career was being shown in New York: “Murray Roth’s 'Yamekraw' (Tuesday and Wednesday), a one-reel vision of African-American history, based on James P. Johnson’s composition and filmed in 1930 at Warner Brothers’ Brooklyn studios.” On Oct. 5, 2009 AfriClassical posted: "New York Times: 'Raising Roof and Headstone for Pioneering Pianist' James P. Johnson." Ben Ratliff wrote: "A definition of righteousness: about 75 people, crammed into the West Village club Smalls, watching a series of pianists play James P. Johnson on a grand piano in a benefit concert to buy a headstone for his grave. Like all the other stride-piano soloists of the teens and 1920s, Johnson has been lodged in a historical second tier, probably because he’s not known for band music and didn’t tour sufficiently. But he’s the truest passageway from pre-jazz to jazz-as-we-know-it. He was a pioneering and powerful solo pianist, a composer of short sketches (including 'The Charleston,' his era-defining hit, and 'Carolina Shout,' his finger-buster étude) and extended orchestral works."

James P. Johnson & Duke Ellington On 'Romare Bearden Revealed' By Branford Marsalis Quartet

[Romare Bearden Revealed; Branford Marsalis Quartet; Marsalis Music (2003)]

The African American composers James P. Johnson and Duke Ellington are profiled at AfriClassical.com and are represented on a CD dedicated to the African American artist Romare Bearden, who wrote one of the songs himself. Sample audio can be heard at Rounder.com:

Rounder.com
On Romare Bearden Revealed, Branford Marsalis celebrates the life and works of the artist Romare Bearden. The subject of a major upcoming exhibit by the National Gallery of Art in Washington, Bearden (1911-1988) took constant inspiration and several titles for his paintings from various jazz masterpieces. In this recording, Branford Marsalis reinterprets several classic compositions that inspired Bearden, as well as Bearden's own "Sea Breeze." Features the Branford Marsalis Quartet plus guests Harry Connick, Jr., Wynton Marsalis, Doug Wamble and the Marsalis Family band. Includes compositions by jazz legends such as Duke Ellington, James P. Johnson and Jelly Roll Morton.

BranfordMarsalis.com
Romare Bearden Revealed
September 9, 2003
Tracks
"I'm Slappin' Seventh Avenue" Duke Ellington, Irving Mills, Henry Nemo (ASCAP)
"Jungle Blues" Ferd "Jelly Roll" Morton (ASCAP)
"Seabreeze" Fred Norman, Larry Douglas, Romare Bearden
"J Mood" Wynton Marsalis (ASCAP)
"B's Paris Blues" Branford Marsalis (ASCAP)
"Autumn Lamp" Doug Wamble (ASCAP)
"Steppin' On the Blues" Lovie Austin, Jimmy O'Bryant, Tommy Ladnier
“Laughin' & Talkin' (with Higg)” Jeff "Tain" Watts (BMI)
“Carolina Shout” James P. Johnson (ASCAP)

First Recordings of James P. Johnson's 'De Organizer' & 'The Dreamy Kid'

[Victory Stride: The Symphonic Music of James P. Johnson; The Concordia Orchestra; Marin Alsop, Conductor; Music Masters 67140 (1994)]

Conductingmasterclass.wordpress.com

“KENNETH KIESLER has been Director of Orchestras and Professor of Conducting at the University of Michigan since 1995. As Music Director of the Grammy Award winning University Symphony Orchestra, he has conducted many premieres, major choral-orchestral works, and operas. He just led the orchestra’s highly successful tour, ending with an acclaimed performance of Mahler’s Fifth Symphony in Carnegie Hall. The current catalogue includes 10 acclaimed CDs Kiesler has recorded with such groups as the BBC Singers and Orchestra (London), Third Angle New Music Ensemble (Portland, OR), and the University of Michigan Symphony Orchestra.”

He has led premieres by Steven Stucky, Gunther Schuller, Leslie Bassett, James P. Johnson, Aharon Harlap, Gabriela Lena Frank, Steve Rush, Robert Sirota, Evan Chambers, and Paul Brantley. At the age of 19, he unearthed and conducted the first performance since 1925 of Gershwin’s original jazz-band score of Rhapsody in Blue. With the University Symphony Orchestra, he led the U.S. premiere of Mendelssohn’s Third Piano Concerto, world premiere of James P. Johnson’s The Dreamy Kid and the first performance since 1940 of Johnson’s blues opera, De Organizer. Kiesler’s premiere recordings of the Johnson works are soon to be released.” [James Price Johnson (1894-1955) is profiled at AfriClassical.com]

See Film Version of James P. Johnson's 'Yamekraw: A Negro Rhapsody' February 10 & 11

[Victory Stride: The Symphonic Music of James P. Johnson; The Concordia Orchestra; Marin Alsop, Conductor; Music Masters 67140 (1994)]

NewYorkTimes.com

“Murray Roth’s 'Yamekraw' (Tuesday and Wednesday), a one-reel vision of African-American history, based on James P. Johnson’s composition and filmed in 1930 at Warner Brothers’ Brooklyn studios”

Prof. Dominique-René de Lerma of Lawrence University in Wisconsin explains the origin of Johnson's neglected classical work Yamekraw: A Negro Rhapsody, “Written in celebration of a black community on the outskirts of Savannah, Yamekraw: A Negro Rhapsody (1927) was first performed by Fats Waller in a Carnegie Hall concert organized by William C. Handy. It seems most likely that Johnson's relative inexperience in orchestral writing prompted him to ask William Grant Still to rework the score in 1928.” Dr. De Lerma adds: “His first stroke in 1940 did not prevent him from presenting a concert of his own works at Carnegie Hall in 1944, but a much more serious stroke occurred in 1951, confining him to bed until his death.” James Price Johnson (1894-1955) and William Grant Still (1895-1978) are profiled at AfriClassical.com

JazzLives on Composer James P. Johnson: “'CALL 1-800-STRIDE' RIGHT AWAY!”

[Victory Stride: The Symphonic Music of James P. Johnson; The Concordia Orchestra; Marin Alsop, Conductor; Music Masters 67140 (1994)]

Jazz Lives

January 28, 2009

“What’s all this? Scott E. Brown wrote a wonderful book about our man James P. Johnson, A Case of Mistaken Identity: The Life and Music of James P. Johnson (Scarecrow Press, 1986). Johnson, as many of you will know, taught Fats Waller, composed 'Charleston,' 'Runnin’ Wild,' 'If I Could Be With You One Hour Tonight,' 'Mule Walk,' and many others. To my ears, he is the most satisfying of the great Stride players. But he also wrote longer works, including an opera, DE ORGANIZER, with libretto by Langston Hughes — 'Third Stream' works bridging jazz and classical music. His more ambitious compositions received insufficient notice, and he may well have died a disappointed man. Scott is up here in New York for a few days to do research at the New York Public Library, and he is looking for people who saw James P. play. That’s not an impossibility: James P. was at the keyboard in 1950 and perhaps beyond. If you have any information for Scott (a pile of acetates in the kitchen cabinet, perhaps) email him at jpjstride@aol.com, or call him at 443-528-1444 (cell).” [Full Post]

Prof. Dominique-René de Lerma of Lawrence University in Wisconsin explains the origin of Johnson's best-known and underappreciated classical work Yamekraw: A Negro Rhapsody, “Written in celebration of a black community on the outskirts of Savannah, Yamekraw: A Negro Rhapsody (1927) was first performed by Fats Waller in a Carnegie Hall concert organized by William C. Handy. It seems most likely that Johnson's relative inexperience in orchestral writing prompted him to ask William Grant Still to rework the score in 1928.” Dr. De Lerma adds: “His first stroke in 1940 did not prevent him from presenting a concert of his own works at Carnegie Hall in 1944, but a much more serious stroke occurred in 1951, confining him to bed until his death.” James Price Johnson (1894-1955) was born on Feb. 1 and is profiled at AfriClassical.com