Power of 3

Musicians

• Adrian Crookston; accordion
• Brayden Schultz; blocks, triangle, congas
• César Haas; guitar, cavaquinho
• Dave Bjur; upright bass
• Evan Mulroy; electric bass
• Greg Yasinitsky; tenor saxophone
• Jake Svendsen; piano
• Kate Skinner; piano
• Tim Zilar; toms; bongos

PROGRAM

(notes below order)

Donna Lee – Miles Davis* (1926-1991)

Variations on a Ghanaian Theme – Daniel Levitan (b. 1953)

Um Tom para Jobim – Sivuca (1930-2006)

The Doctor – Greg Yasinitsky (1953)

Brasileirinho – Waldir Azevedo (1923-1980)

Dolphin Dance – Herbie Hancock (b. 1940)

¡Dale! – Doc D (b. 1963)

Freedom Jazz Dance – Eddie Harris (1934-1996)

NOTES

Perhaps the lowest common denominator of music “ensembles,” the trio puts front and center a distilled presentation of what is arguably the most elemental trio of musical elements – melody, harmony, and rhythm. At the same time, it affords all players space for creative expression without infringing upon each other. In the two-dimensional world a triangle is the most basic polygon and considered the most stable of visual forms. In the three-dimensional world (that “three” gets you height, width, and depth) a tripod is the fewest number of legs that can stand on their own. And while a physical pyramid has four sides, only three are visible and all four sides are…triangles.

This concert is a celebration of three, though not the lowest prime number (2 holds that distinction), it is arguably the most fundamental to much of human endeavor and thought.

Donna Lee

Donna Lee is one of those tunes in the canon of jazz standards that separates the men from the boys, the women from the girls, the “cans” from the “cannots” (or can’t yet), or whatever I’m-closer-to-‘there’-than-the-average-bear you want to use. It is a contrafact, that is, a newly composed melody that aligns with a preexisting harmonic progression. This particular standard was composed on the progression to “Back Home Again in Indiana,” itself becoming a jazz standard after being recorded by the Original Dixieland Jazz Band (ODJB). That was after it was originally composed as a Tin Pan Alley pop song. I should note that the ODJB (or their producers) called themselves the “creators of jazz” which was just one example on what has been a long tradition of others receiving the benefits of Black, and other, creativity.

Variations on a Ghanaian Theme

As I often discuss in my lecture classes (Black American Music and Music and Social Justice) one aspect of being a Black American is that most of us do not have any specific sense of our African heritage. That is, beyond the generalities afforded me by DNA testing, I don’t know the village, town, or region my “great greats” hail from. That also means no knowledge of any specific cultural markers, products, or traditions. So, I latch on to what I can. One such cultural construct is the symbological system called Adinkra, associated with the Akan people of current-day Ghana. The symbol Gye Nyame symbol, the most often seen symbol, holds special significance to me as a Christian. It represents the omnipotence, omniscience, and immortality of God. The symbols on the poster I designed for this concert are all from the Adinkra system and the corresponding alphabet created by Charles M. Korankye, M.D.; they spell out “Power of 3.”

Daniel Levitan, in researching (or perhaps just searching) sources for compositions, came across a recording of traditional Ghanaian drumming. He heard the master drummer play the pattern that would become the principal motif for this work. He recounted to me that he had a keen interest at the time in rhythm as an organizing element for composing and ran that rhythmic cell and its derivatives through a series of developmental techniques that have been with us since the time of J.S. Bach and before. He also employed tihai, a cadence from Indian classical music that involves repetition of a phrase three times, with specific gaps in between, in such a way that the phrase ends on “one.” There are also specific instructions for the performers towards exploiting (in a good way!) each instrument for nuance of expression. And, he purposed to write in such a way that the music would sound as if it were being created in the moment, rather than being read off of a page.

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Um Tom para Jobim

Antônio Carlos Brasileiro de Almeida Jobim, known much more accessibly as Tom Jobim, is almost inarguably the most famous and iconic Brazilian composer in the jazz world. “Garota de Ipanema” (The Girl from Ipanema) is one of the most recorded songs of all time and is the bossa nova that many use to describe or define the style. Savuca, the professional name of Severino Dias de Oliveira recorded Um Tom para Jobim (A Tone [sound] for Jobim) in 1992 on the album Pau Doido (We’ll just go with “Crazy Guy” as a translation…).

Sivuca, an accordionist, guitarist, composer, and singer made his radio debut at the age of 15. Later moving to New York, he worked with the likes of Miriam Makeba, Harry Belafonte, and Toots Thielman, among others. Having composed songs that have become standards in their own right such as “João e Maria” and “Feira de Mangaio,” “Um Tom para Jobim” amounts to a legend saluting an icon. Sivuca’s music spanned many genres, including jazz, and he often integrated the styles of his home in northeastern Brazil, having done much to popularize forro rhythms, two of which are the basis of the arrangement heard in this performance.

Moscow native Adrian Crookston has studied and performs in various genres that feature the accordion (polka, forro, zydeco, cumbia, etc.). A multi-linguist as well as multi-instrumentalist, he has founded or co-founded various projects and has performed on 4 continents.

The Doctor

Greg Yasinitsky is a WSU Regents Professor Emeritus, is in the Washington Music Educators Association Hall of Fame, composer or arranger of over 200 jazz band charts that have been performed in over 40 countries (including commissions for David Sanborn, Clark Terry, Dave Liebman and the USAF “Airmen of Note”), and an aggressively swingin’ tenor player. Dave Bjur is also an accomplished audio engineer who managed the WSU recording studio for over a decade.

Brasileirinho

“Brasileirinho” (Little Brazilian) was composed by Waldir Azevedo in 1947 and released on record two years later. It became one of the most important choro compositions of all time and is closely associated with the generally happy, upbeat genre. The 2005 documentary Brasileirinho, named after the song, presents choro as the first “genuinely Brazilian urban music, predating samba and bossa nova.“ At some point “Brasileirinho” was voted by the Brazilian edition of Rolling Stone as the 53rd greatest Brazilian song of all time.

Choro is traditionally an instrumental genre, however Ruy Pereira da Costa composed lyrics for Brasileirinho sometime after its original 1949 release. They are a celebration of choro music and a (possibly not so?) tongue-in-cheek warning about what can happen when a brasileiro (Brazilian!) hears (or plays?) the music. We’ll see what happens this time as the guitarist for the evening is none other than César Haas…Brazilian👀

César Haas is WSU’s professor of guitar and hails from Porto Alegre in southern coastal Brazil. His group Tres Mâis has featured in concerts on two continents with world renown artists such as Nelson Faria, Bobby Militello (Dave Brubeck), and Rafael Barata (Eliane Elias). Evan Mulroy is an electric bass specialist hailing from Boise, Idaho.

Dolphin Dance

When I hear people ask musicians, “Who’s your favorite X;” they are as likely as not to get a
definitive answer. After years of fielding the “favorite” question (or perhaps I should say
“least favorite question”!) I have come conceptualize “favorite” as “if I could have only
one.” So, despite not appearing on my “favorite” album (Freddy Hubbard’s Straight Life), my
favorite (I’ll stop using written quotes but please continue imagining conversational air
quotes every time I say “favorite”) musician would be Miles Davis. Why? Because if I only
listened to Miles Davis, I’d be cyclically listening to most of any other favorites I might
mention whether referring to drummers, or other instrumental musicians, which brings me to Herbie Hancock, pianist and composer. Hancock formed a group of recent Davis Quintet alums, added Freddie
Hubbard (small world for my favorites!) and recorded the concept album, Maiden Voyage,
upon which the Hancock composition “Dolphin Dance” was the last track (also a favorite).
“Dolphin Dance” is modal. That is, rather than being centered on a “home note” or key with more traditional chords (for whatever “traditional chords” is worth in jazz), it is based on modes. It is beautiful, it is gently complex, and it evokes ethereal and ephemeral images of dolphins dancing.

¡Dále!

Timbales, congas, and bongos comprise the core Cuban percussion section. Tito Puente recorded the landmark album Puente in Percussion with Mongo Santamaría, Carlos “Patato” Valdés, William “Bobo” Correa, and Bobby Rodríguez on bass. Only allowed to use the studio after midnight for the project, they created arrangements in studio based on various rhythms with the bass providing a foundation for the percussionists to play over on tracks like “Four Beat Mambo,” the inspiration for this performance’s offering. It is a descarga, having the vibe of an improvisational jam. “Dále” can be understood as “Hit it!” or “Do it!”

Freedom Jazz Dance

Music Radar writer, adjunct professor at several universities, and music blogger Ethan Hein wrote of the piece “Freedom Jazz Dance” and its composer Eddie Harris  – “As befits an eccentric yet popular song, Eddie Harris was an eccentric yet popular guy.” He also called Freedom Jazz Dance “arguably the weirdest jazz standard… in the core repertoire.” Harris had an eclectic career that included a stint in the 7^th Army Band alongside Cedar Walton, Don Ellis, Leo Wright, and Don Menza. He also experimented with inventing, creating (and performing on) the reed trumpet, saxobone, and guitorgan. Each of those combined elements, usually mouthpieces and bodies, of the instruments “portmanteau’d” into their names. His debut album featured his jazzed take on the theme to the 1960 film “Exodus,” the first jazz single to be certified gold. And he performed and/or contributed much of the music for the hit, The Bill  Cosby Show (the one that aired 1969-71).

Recordings of “Freedom Jazz Dance” have been described by different writers as proto-funk, post-bop, hard bop, funky, and soul-jazz. Beyond Harris’ original and Miles Davis’ more famous effort recorded a year later that popularized the tune, a diverse cadre of artists including icon Woody Herman, Joey Alexander (feat. Chris Potter), The U.S. Army Blues recorded the tune, with samples of Davis’ recording appearing on tracks by Ed OG and the Bulldogs, Fu-Schnikens, and The Pharcyde.

“Freedom Jazz Dance” has an angular melody over a Bb “home note” with no composed evolving harmonic progression. Those elements combine to allow freedom in the expression of the written melody as well as the style and complexity of arrangement, as can be heard in the various recordings. The arrangement heard in this concert was created for this occasion.

I should also note that “Freedom Jazz Dance” was the inspiration for the melody of my own composition “Afratin,” a student favorite over the years. Eddie Harris made a statement 5 years before his death that particularly resonates for me-

“I’m a serious musician, and I don’t shuck and jive when I pick up m y horn, but I don’t like taking myself too seriously either On stage, i t would be boring i f all I was play complex pieces for hours and hours. I like to play music that is entertaining, that tries to find new directions, and makes people open their eyes and look up.”

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