In The Belly Of The Beast

     Back in 2007, I completed and submitted for copyright my composition titled "At The Hill: For Jazz/Avant-Garde Solo Tenor Saxophone". At The Hill is a four movement avant-garde jazz work that is intended for unaccompanied tenor saxophone, but can also be performed with ensembles. Each of the four movements of At The Hill has been performed in group settings. Movements one, three, and four have been performed on stage with performance poetry ensemble Creative Tradition. Creative Tradition featured urban folk poet Wardell Montgomery Jr., and myself on tenor saxophone. Teachers (the second movement) has been performed and recorded by Continuum Jazz Ensemble (CD not available at this time). I performed At The Hill for the first time as an unaccompanied composition with all four movements at the Phoenix Cafe, in Hazel Park, MI, during my August 11, 2012, Keith Gamble`s Art House Gathering: Poetry Night.

     In The Belly Of The Beast is the first movement of At The Hill. In The Belly Of The Beast is an aggressive two phrase a-tonal piece that goes into French style improvisation. My motivation for writing At The Hill was my time spent as a band director and music teacher at the Cherry Hill School of Performing Arts, in Inkster, MI. In The Belly Of The Beast was written to symbolize the chaotic transition of students going from class to class. While on hall duty a colleague teacher and I would joke that "we`re in the belly of the beast". Of course the two of us would chuckle at saying this, and we would continue with our responsibility of keeping order in the hallways, and getting students into their classes for the next period.

     In The Belly Of The Beast reflects a broken and dysfunctional Black and urban American educational system. Not all Black and urban American educational systems are broken; not at all! We cannot simply generalized this topic, because there are many Black and urban schools that work and serve students, families, and communities at-large to the fullest. The Cherry Hill School of Performing Arts served many students, and many have gone to further their education, serve our nation, and become contributors to our national economy, and American way of life. The bigger picture are issues of public policies, family structures that do not value the importance of education, and industries that profit off those of us in our communities that are at-risk.

     Students, parents, teachers, and the Black community is in the Belly Of The Beast with a culture that promotes drugs, alcohol, sexualization of our girls, and youth violence. People and corporations are exploiting us and profiting off our pain and misery. Unfortunately, many of us will continue to slide further in The Belly Of The Beast by making choices that will place us further into the margins of society, and dimming many of our hopes for a brighter future, economic prosperity, and a better quality of life. Let` get out of The Belly Of The Beast.