EMBERS: A Jazz Opera in Poems

Wednesday, January 21, 2009
01:05:15
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Episode Summary
A female boxer, a madwoman stuck in Purgatory, and an irreverent angel meet across space and time to explore redemption and forgiveness in this concert reading of a work-in-progress adapted from Wolverton's novel-in-poems. Cherry plays keyboards and conducts a jazz quartet to accompany the actors who will bring to life the poetry and song.

Performed by: D'Lo, Marisol de Jesus, O-Lan Jones, Phil Meyer, Cesili Williams and David Ornette Cherry with Organic Roots: Justo Almario, reeds; Ollie Elder Jr., bass; Don Littleton, drums, percussion.

Participant(s) Bio
David Ornette Cherry, winner of the "2003 ASCAP-Chamber Music America Award for Adventurous Programming of Contemporary Music," is composer, arranger, and band leader. The ambient music streaming through his childhood was generated by the early collaborations of his dad, Don Cherry, with Ornette Coleman and the musicians who visited his parents' Mariposa Avenue home in Los Angeles. Cherry studied music composition at Bishop College in Dallas and concentrated on world music at California Institute of the Arts. While jazz remains both the root and sustenance of his sound, he often incorporates the sounds of the world in what he calls "multi-kulti" music. His background includes performances with Don Cherry, Ed Blackwell, Charlie Haden, Billy Higgins, Nana Vasconcelos, Olatunji, Hassan Hakmoun, Carlos Ward, Jim Pepper, Collin Walcott, Wadada Leo Smith, and Justo Almario.

www.davidornettecherry.com


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