Live broadcast on November 17, 2020. Part of the 10-concert subscription series.
Program
William Grant Still (1895-1978): Seven Traceries (1940)
Sir Roland Hanna (1932-2002): Century Rag
Willie “The Lion” Smith (1893-1973):
“Fading Star”
James P. Johnson (1894-1955): “Keep Off the Grass"
Wynton Guess: “J-Walking”
Duke Ellington (1899-1974): “New
World A-Comin’”
R. Nathaniel Dett (1882-1943):
“Juba Dance”
This is a program of works by (mostly) African American composers, with quite a few in what I would call the Jazz genre. Below are some of the notes I jotted down, some from what Diehl said on stage, and some from the web.
Diehl is a young (early 30s) jazz pianist with classical training at Julliard. We heard him performing with the New Jersey Symphony in December, 2018.
The piece by Still was the longest, the seven traceries being the seven attributes of God. The movements are: Cloud Cradles, Mystic Pool, Muted Laughter, Out of the Silence, Woven Silver, Wailing Dawn and A Bit of Wit. I managed to locate a webpage describing the work, which I used to follow along. Still is known as the "Dean of African American Music."
Hanna dedicated "Century Rag" to Eubie Blake, who was the founder of Eastern Ragtime, which later evolved to the "strike style" (just quoting Diehl here). Diehl proceeded to mention that the pieces by Smith and Johnson were written in that style.
Guess is a young American composer, about 24. The work "J-Walking" was commissioned by American Composer Orchestra.
Dett was an Canadian-American Black composer per Wikipedia.
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