My partner in crime and I have been busy of late. The partner in crime I am referring to is my friend, and former business partner Wardell Montgomery, Jr. Wardell and I were business and artistic partners of the performance poetry group Creative Tradition. Wardell and I are friends, and from time to time we will call each other to perform. Such was the case for my Keith Gamble`s Art House Gathering: Poetry Night, and our performance at the U Detroit Cafe.
The Phoenix Cafe' in Hazel Park, MI was the site for my Keith Gamble`s Art House Gathering; Poetry Night. I began our evening performance with three avant-garde jazz works, starting with "My Mind and Soul". My Mind and Soul is on the Creative Tradition CD "Do I Have To Live Like This?", and is used on the CD with Wardell Montgomery`s poem entitled Give Me Back My Mind. My Mind and Soul was perform as a saxophone solo piece without spoken word at my August 11 gathering, however, Wardell and I performed both spoken word and music at our August 15 U Detroit Cafe performance to a full house. My Mind and Soul is an interesting piece that is improvised off a pentatonic scale, and provides space for the saxophone to explore and extend. After My Mind and Soul, I performed my composition "For Sarah and Sarah". A composition of a lighter texture, For Sarah and Sarah is a set theory composition based upon the name of my mom, and a former clarinet student of mine who share in common the same name - SARAH. The melody was created from the spelling of the name. For Sarah and Sarah has a very interesting blues like quality, and has no improvisation. As someone had commented about For Sarah and Sarah - it starts with the listener seeing flames, and as the composition continues it becomes exciting, and smooth at the end.
I ended my performance with "At the Hill: For Jazz/Avant-Garde Solo Tenor Saxophone". Keith Gamble`s Art House Gathering: Poetry Night, August 11, 2012 was special because this was the premiere night and performance for For Sarah and Sarah, while also the first time At the Hill was performed in order, and in the format and context the composition was composed. At the Hill is an avant-garde jazz work that is composed in four movements: I. In the Belly Of the Beast
II. Teachers
III.Oneness: Administrators
IV. Bipolar Conference
Each of the movements have been performed separately, for example, "In the Belly Of the Beast" has been performed with Creative Tradition, and used as a piece in combination with poetry. I also performed In the Belly Of the Beast with my four piece ensemble. "Oneness" and "Bipolar Conference" have also been performed separately as music for spoken word. "Teachers" is actually a be-bop piece within an avant-garde jazz composition that has been performed by Continuum Jazz Ensemble. But on August 11, these movements were performed in order, and unaccompanied for, and by the tenor saxophone as a solo work.
My motivation for composing At the Hill was because of my time spent, and experiences as a band director and music teacher at the Cherry Hill School of Performing Arts, in Inkster, MI. At the Hill is an exciting piece of work that is creating a buzz.
Wardell Montgomery, Jr. offers poetry that is a commentary to our lives in urban America. Wardell presented spoken word pieces from Do I Have to Live Like This?, and many other works. Wardell`s piece on domestic abuse is a powerful piece, and like many of his works, people cannot help but to engage in dialog that Wardell Montgomery brings to the fore. At both Keith Gamble`s Art House Gathering: Poetry Night, and U Detroit Cafe' in Downtown Detroit, Wardell and I closed with Do I Have To Live Like This? Again, Wardell gives powerful commentary, and I provide free jazz background. At both places the audience is wired and alive as we ask - Do I Have To Live Like This?
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