RHAPSODIES LINER AND DIRECTOR NOTES

Anthony Brown: conductor, drumset, percussion, waterphone; Will Bernard: electric guitar; Danny Bittker: bass clarinet, steel drums; Georgia Brown: Western, Asian, African percussion; Louis Fasman: trumpet, fluegelhorn; Henry Hung: trumpet, fluegelhorn; Mark Izu: bass, Chinese mouth organ (sheng); Masaru Koga: tenor saxophone, Japanese flute (shakuhachi) ; Melecio Magdaluyo: baritone and alto saxophones, flute, cajón (Cuban box drum); Dave Martell: trombone, tuba; Marcia Miget: flute, soprano and tenor saxophones; Jim Norton: clarinet, soprano sax (12), bassoon, contra alto clarinet, contra bassoon; Wayne Wallace: trombone; Hong Wang: Chinese mouth organ, flute (dizi), violin (erhu), reed trumpet (suona); Yangqin Zhao: Chinese hammered dulcimer (yangqin).

Special Guests: *David Murray: tenor saxophone (2), bass clarinet (12); Gangqin Zhao: Chinese harp zither (gu-zheng) (1), Chinese hammered dulcimer (4-6, 8, 9); Frank Martin: piano (12); Kash Killion: cello (1).

Anthony Brown’s Liner Notes to “Rhapsodies”

Prelude to The Legacy Codes (Anthony Brown) (1:18)
The musical score for The Legacy Codes was commissioned in 2003 by TheatreWorks for a fictionalized dramatization of the 1999 framing of Tawainese-American nuclear scientist Wen Ho Lee by the FBI. Playwright Cherylene Lee asked if I could compose an introductory piece combining Chinese and American musical elements that would later be choreographed for three couples. I replied, “No problem.” Producer Amy Gonzales stated that Wen Ho Lee loved classical music, especially Bach, and could I include something “baroque-ish.” I thought I could thread the piece together with fugal counterpoint and said, “I’d love to.” Then she stated, “Oh, the piece should be about a minute long.” “Ooooo,” I said — they cut the wonderful saxophone cadenza by Marcia Miget for the show.

Bread & Bowie [For Lester]* (A. Brown, trad. arr. Brown) (6:21)
This tripartite composition was commissioned by Jazz In Flight for their Celebrating the Spirit of Lester Bowie program of the 12th Annual Eddie Moore Jazz Festival at Yoshi’s in Oakland, CA. Percussionist Don Moye and Bob Stewart on tuba joined the Asian American Orchestra in an unforgettable night of joyful noise, song and drums, broadcast live on KPFA-FM, on August 13, 2001. Lester Bowie personified the fundamental characteristics of the collective motto, “Great Black Music: Ancient to the Future” — heart and soul, humor and intelligence. In his mercurial majesty, with his trumpet and in his research lab coat onstage with the Art Ensemble of Chicago and Brass Fantasy, he reigned as the heir to the legacy of the Trickster, the Eshu-Elegba-Eleggua figure of post-modern jazz. This recording features the indomitable David Murray’s signature tenor madness.

[Trombone solo: Wayne Wallace]

Self-Portrait in Three Colors (Charles Mingus) (3:17)
The original 1959 recording by Charles Mingus served as the inspiration for this rendition: the composition is through-composed with no solo features. The melody is repeated three times, each repetition adds instruments and a new accompanying theme. This is dedicated to James Newton and Red Callendar, who provided me the direct link back to the Baron and the legacy of Central Avenue, Los Angeles, wellspring of 1950’s jazz innovators including, Dexter Gordon, Teddy Edwards, Sonny Criss, Chico Hamilton, Hampton Hawes, Buddy Collette, Ornette Coleman, Don Cherry, Eric Dolphy, Billy Higgins, Howard McGee, Red Mitchell, Horace Tapscott, and many others.

Rhapsody In Blue/American Rhapsodies (Gershwin-Brown) (19:02)
In his “American Rhapsody,” George Gershwin intended to mirror the tenor of his times and a progressive attitude toward race relations in a musical vision blending the styles he knew best: European and African American. Gershwin wrote Rhapsody In Blue, the final name for his new work, to be premiered by the Paul Whiteman Orchestra on Abraham Lincoln’s 115th birthday, February 12, 1924 in New York City. In 2005, Gershwin’s classic portrait is recast in American Rhapsodies as a 21st century mural of our world’s demographic mosaic, particularly as reflected in the San Francisco Bay Area, “Golden Gateway to the East.”

[Soloists—clarinet: Jim Norton; guitar: Will Bernard; flute: Marcia Miget; Japanese flute (shakuhachi): Mas Koga; trumpet: Henry Hung]

   — Read the Director’s Notes about “American Rhapsodies”...

Take Me Out to the Ball Game (Norworth, Tilzer, arr. Mark Izu) (0:42)
The all-American song is performed by Mark Izu on the Chinese mouth organ, the sheng, the 2000 year old great, great, great... grandparent of the harmonica.

Tang (Duke Ellington) (8:05)
Duke Ellington’s extended suite, Afro-Eurasian Eclipse, was inspired by Marshall McLuhan’s claim in his seminal book, The Medium is the Massage, that “the whole world is going oriental.” During China’s 8th century Tang Dynasty, the Silk Road flourished, linking East and West as the “ancient information super highway.”

[Tenor sax solo: Mas Koga; baritone sax: Mel Magdaluyo]

Come Sunday* (Duke Ellington) (5:25)
Of the over two thousand compositions written by Duke Ellington, Come Sunday is my favorite. The 1958 recording of Mahalia Jackson performing this spiritual served as the model. Hong Wang’s plaintive 2-string Chinese violin (erhu), coupled with David Murray’s inspirited bass clarinet performance creates a duet in contrast like no other. The horn backgrounds, voiced in simulation of a choir, are adapted from Billy Strayhorn’s transcendent arrangement for the Ellington Orchestra.

Anthem/Baile de la Orisha (A. Brown) (9:17)
Anthem is the finale of M™, Shimasen! (Never Again!), an extended work commissioned in 1995 by the Asian Heritage Council to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The first bars of the melody were inspired by the folk theme in the fourth movement of the Concerto For Orchestra by Béla Bartók. The contrasting middle section, Baile de la Orisha, is from another extended composition, Incantation Suite, originally commissioned by the San Francisco Chamber Music Society in 1983.

[Flute solo: Mel Magdaluyo; soprano sax: Jim Norton]

Rhymes (For Children) (A. Brown) (1:09)
This arrangement was recorded to serve as the theme music for Pacific Time, a weekly newsmagazine produced by KQED Public Radio and heard coast to coast on Public Radio International. Rhymes is originally from an extended work, E.O. 9066, about the Japanese American internment experience of WWII, commissioned by the Rockefeller Foundation in 1996, in collaboration with San Jose Taiko Group.

Exposition (5:15)
Most of the hallmarks are retained from the original June 1924 and April 1927 recordings of Rhapsody In Blue by Paul Whiteman’s Orchestra with Gershwin at the piano. The recordings captured extraordinarily energetic performances of Gershwin’s jazz, but they do not swing. The percussion is scarcely employed to generate dance rhythms, the essence of early jazz, and most jazz since. Hence, overhauling the rhythmic sensibilities was first on the list.

Replacing the piano with an electric guitar signifies the mid-century shift in the young public’s recognition of the new “all-American” popular musical instrument.

The drumset and the electric guitar — the heart and soul of American popular music — were invented in the U.S. and characterize its influences around the globe. Even air guitar and simulated drumming are practiced the world over.

Rumba/Recap (3:07)
Gershwin, like his American predecessor, Louis Moreau Gottschalk, was greatly influenced by the music of Cuba, particularly following his visit in 1932. In fact, Gershwin “borrowed” directly from Havana singer-composer Ignacio Pineiro for his Cuban Overture. His “Latin-tinged” section of Rhapsody is now presented as a rumba, featuring the cajón, the wooden box drum originating from the ports of Havana during impromptu descargas, or jam sessions.

Gagaku (1:21)
Gagaku, the music of the Imperial Court of Japan, dates back to the 6th century AD and is the oldest continuous tradition of instrumental ensemble music in the world. Gagaku developed in Japan from various intercultural musical influences including China, Korea, India, and Vietnam. In the 1960s, this tradition was brought to California by Suenobu Togi, a member of the Imperial Orchestra and a descendent of one the original families of musicians who brought Gagaku to Japan.

Scherzando (2:27)
A blues set to drummer Bernard Purdie’s patented triplet shuffle was among the first makeovers envisioned for this project. Trombonist Wayne Wallace set the previously improvised horn backgrounds during the second take of the recording. He beautifully captures the train motif that recurs later in the Taiko Trane section.

Andantino/Adagio (3:47)
I imagined hearing this and, “United now offering nonstop flights from San Francisco to Beijing...” before I began orchestrating this classic signature theme in E major. Enroute, Will Bernard took us to Hawai’i. Again, the trombones were batting 1000: Dave Martell provided the brass backgrounds for the Adagio, after suggesting that I write them. Mahalo and Aloha.

Taiko Trane/Finale (3:01)
Taiko drumming, the hallmark of traditional Japanese festival and ceremonial music, developed in California in the 1960s. Today, hundreds of taiko groups are found in communities and colleges throughout the Western hemisphere. The train as an American icon and metaphor is complicated and profound, representing freedom and expansion to some while representing the trip to war, camps and prisons for others. The Finale is an adaptation of Billy Strayhorn’s 1962 arrangement for the Duke Ellington Orchestra. Henry Hung deftly handles the original plunger mute feature by trumpeter Cootie Williams.

The world premiere of American Rhapsodies was presented at San Francisco’s Stern Grove Music Festival on the Fourth of July, 2004, and reprised at the Monterey Jazz Festival on September 18, 2004.

Read American Rhapsodies: Wellspring Of The Fifth Stream

View Rhapsodies TRACK LIST and LISTEN TO SAMPLES