This is a playlist dedicated to the black composers who made history and who are making it now. If you would like more playlists of black composers, check out my four from last year (linked below!) You will see some repeat names on this new playlist, but I’ve made sure to include different works by those composers. You can’t not listen to musical giants like George Lewis and Pamela Z.
Why black composers and why February? February is Black History Month and its origins began in 1915 with a single event to celebrate the achievements of black Americans. This expanded into a week-long event (the week in Feb. that aligned with both Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln’s birthdays) and was recognized by President Ford in 1975. The next year, the celebration was expanded into the full month of February. Our listening and performance of the works of black composers should not be siloed to February, but we can use this month dedicated to celebrating the achievements of black Americans to reignite that practice and also (say it with me) find your next favorite music maker.
PLAYLIST 11: Songs I wish I heard in School
I give this playlist a 7/10 Difficult Listening Hour Rating.
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Composition 189 Primary by Anthony Braxton. Album: Duo (Bologna) 2018
From Wikipedia, “Anthony Braxton (1945) is an American experimental composer, educator, music theorist, improviser, and multi-instrumentalist who is best known for playing saxophones, particularly the alto sax. He grew up on the South Side of Chicago and was a key early member of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians.”
Blinding, Joyous, Fearful by Nick Dunston. Album: COLLA VOCE
From the composer’s bio, “Nick Dunston is an acoustic and electroacoustic composer, improviser, and sound artist. Called an “indispensable player on the New York avant-garde” (New York Times), his performances have spanned a variety of venues and festivals across North America and Europe. His work explores notions of ancestral memory, materiality, embodiment, decolonization, and Afro-surrealism.”
Monochromatic Light (Afterlife) by Tyshawn Sorey. Album: Monochromatic Light (Afterlife)
Julie’s Aria from Omar by Rhiannon Giddens. Album: Omar
Les Exercices Spirituels: Solos by George E. Lewis. Album: Les Exercices Spirituels
From the liner notes, “Composer, scholar, computer wizard and trombonist extraordinaire George Lewis is one of the world’s most distinguished musicians, and Les Exercices Spirituels is one of his greatest and most ambitious CDs to date. Featuring three new chamber compositions (two from 2010) performed by three brilliant New Music ensembles the music blends composition, improvisation and electronic processing into a dynamic and compelling new aggregate. The title piece is one of Lewis’ true masterpieces, a colorful and dynamic composition with a philosophical base that moves from moment to moment with elegance and endless fascination.”
Source Code by Jessie Montgomery. Album: Strum
From the composer’s bio, “Jessie Montgomery is a GRAMMY® Award-winning composer, violinist, and educator whose work interweaves classical music with elements of vernacular music, improvisation, poetry, and social consciousness, making her an acute interpreter of 21st-century American sound and experience.”
Encounter by Tomeka Reid. Album: Geometry of Phenomena
“She’s quickly become a definitive figure on the 21st century jazz scene. As composer, arranger, improviser… she embodies jazz’s progressive ethos.”
— JazzIz
A Piece of Π by Pamela Z. Album: a secret code
From the composer’s bio, “Pamela Z is a composer/performer and media artist making works for voice, electronics, samples, gesture activated MIDI controllers, and video. She has composed scores for dance, film, and chamber ensembles (including Kronos Quartet and Eighth Blackbird). Her awards include the Rome Prize, Berlin Prize, Foundation for Contemporary Arts, MIT McDermott Award, the Guggenheim, and the American Academy of Arts and Letters.”
After-Were(l)ds by Jessie Cox. performed by International Contemporary Ensemble with Steve Schick. Available on YouTube
Gay Gorilla by Julius Eastman. Album: Three Extended Pieces for Four Pianos
From Wikipedia, “Julius Eastman (October 27, 1940 – May 28, 1990) was an American composer. He was among the first composers to combine the processes of some minimalist music with other methods of extending and modifying his music as in some experimental music. He thus created what he called “organic music”. In compositions like Stay On It (1973), his melodic motifs were not unlike the catchy refrains of then pop music.”
Introspection by Laraaji. Album: Bring On The Sun
From Wikipedia, “Laraaji is an American multi-instrumentalist specializing in piano, zither and mbira. His albums include the 1980 release Ambient 3: Day of Radiance, produced by Brian Eno as part of his Ambient series.”
To Anacreon in the US by Anthony R. Green. Available on YouTube.
From the composer’s bio, “The creative output of Anthony R. Green (b. 1984; composer, performer, social justice artist) includes musical and visual creations, interpretations of original works or works in the repertoire, collaborations, educational outreach, and more. Behind all of his artistic endeavors are the ideals of equality and freedom, which manifest themselves in diverse ways in a composition, a performance, a collaboration, or social justice work.”
Telekinesis: TK1_Overshare by Tyondai Braxton. Album: Telekinesis
From the composer’s bio, ” Tyondai Braxton is an American composer and electronic musician who has been writing and performing music under his own name and collaboratively since the mid-1990s. Having recently completed a residency at Public Records in Brooklyn, Braxton incorporates electronic and modern orchestral elements into his music, which ranges in scale from solo pieces to large-scale symphonic works. The former front man of experimental rock band Battles, Braxton has focused on his own work since 2010, including his critically acclaimed album Central Market, which has been performed by world-renowned orchestras such as London Sinfonietta, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the BBC Symphony Orchestra and HIVE, a multimedia project for three percussionists and two modular synthesizer performers which premiered at the Guggenheim in NYC.”