Call it good timing or a lucky alignment of circumstances. But given that very little is just pure luck anymore, I’ll suggest that composer/pianist Timo Andres and his team knew exactly what they were doing when they lined up the release of a new album on Nonesuch Records, the world premiere of his fifth piano concerto, Made of Tunes, with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and his perform with five other pianists at Walt Disney Concert Hall of the 20 etudes by Philip Glass. All in one week.

On March 19th, Andres joins fellow pianists Anton Batagov, Lara Downes, Jenny Lin and Maki Namekawa to perform Glass’ Etudes 1-20. On March 22nd, Nonesuch Records releases The Blind Banister. That’s Andres’ recording of his third piano concerto. it also includes his Colorful History and Upstate Obscura. That same day the Los Angeles Philharmonic will give the world premiere of Made of Tunes which Andres composed for pianist Aaron Diehl. John Adams conducts all three performances at Walt Disney Concert Hall.

That gave me plenty to discuss with Andres when we spoke last week. What follows are excerpts from our conversation that have been edited for length and clarity. To watch the full interview with Timo Andres, please go to our YouTube channel.

Q: Made of Tunes was commissioned by the Los Angeles Philharmonic and you composed it with Aaron Diehl in mind as the soloist. What are the qualities that Aaron Diehl possesses as a pianist that most influenced how and what you composed for him? 

That’s a great question. Whenever I write a piece for anyone, I’m trying to think of their specific qualities as a performer and how I can sort of highlight those and work with those and bring them out. In the case of Aaron, I’ve known him about a decade now. I’ve heard him play many, many times. His sound and his style was very much in my ear. And also his repertoire, because I think the music that he chooses to play and that he engages with has been as much a part of his voice as anything.

That really is kind of a broad history of American piano music going back to the earliest ragtime and the stuff that we would pinpoint as saying, this music sounds American for the first time as opposed to European. That whole tradition is very inspiring to me as well. I’ve always felt myself to be specifically an American composer.

On your website, you wrote that “Aaron’s part includes opportunities for improvisation, sections in which I pass him a tune or rhythm or harmony, and he responds with something I wouldn’t have thought of.” How much freedom does he have to improvise? Which I guess is in the tradition of cadenzas going back to Beethoven’s day.

What I’ve tried to do is a little bit trickier and a little bit, certainly rarer, in that I don’t actually have an improvised cadenza. The section that you would maybe call a cadenza is completely written out. And the improvised sections are actually playing with the orchestra. That, to me, was more interesting in a way, because it’s very much what one hears Aaron do when he’s playing with a singer or a trio or in an ensemble. It’s that responding to the other people. Not just responding to the musical cues, but responding to what else is going on in the room.

The orchestra part is totally written out. I had an idea that I would maybe be able to incorporate some improvised or aleatoric bits in the orchestra part, but it’s really just too risky in terms of portability.

The orchestra is remaining on course with the notated music. Then Aaron, I always pass him something, whether that’s a chord or a series of chords or a melodic motif or literally just verbal instructions. I’m always giving him something to go on and that is very much how improvisation typically works. It’s not this idea of total freedom. You’re using certain frameworks and then replacing the things on top of those frameworks with your own ideas. That’s the skill of a great jazz improviser and that’s what I wanted to give Aaron the opportunity to do. 

As you were composing the piece, were you allowing yourself to play with some improvisations you might come up with if you were the soloist? 

I’m not an improviser. I do improvise as part of my compositional process sometimes, but it’s not a huge part of it. I think that’s one of the things that fascinates me and that I’m slightly in awe of with Aaron and people who can who can really do that on such a high level.

Maybe one day down the road I will end up performing this piece myself. In that case, I’m not quite sure what I’ll do in those sections. I may give myself a little bit more of a written framework; leaving some flexibility for what may happen in performance. But I don’t have that kind of confidence to give myself that total freedom in front of other people.

Do you have the confidence to add sociopolitical statements in your work? The reason I ask is in the description of Made of Tunes on your website you talk about the second movement, American Nocturnal, having six variations of original theme. That was all taken from a mishmash of the notes used in “the hokey patriotic song America the Beautiful.” Is that something that allows you to hold a mirror up to who we are as a country, by taking those notes so closely associated with how we present ourselves patriotically?

It’s not something that I want to make explicit. I would say that the whole piece sounds very American to me. I think the way that the piece ends, perhaps, says more than I want to say in words about that. When you hear what happens in the end, you can draw your own conclusions. I think the final orchestral gesture basically feels apocalyptic.

I read an article an interview that you gave the L.A. Times in 2009 when the L.A. Philharmonic was giving the premiere of Nightjar. You mentioned that you were obsessed with John Adams. The title for Made of Tunes is derived from a lyric in a Charles Ives song (The Things Our Fathers Loved). Adams, who is conducting the premiere, wrote a piano concerto called Must the Devil Have All the Good Tunes? Is there a wink and a nod to John Adams built into the title? 

Absolutely. Of course, John has a piece called My Father Knew Charles Ives and I know [him] as an admirer of Ives’ songs. John’s music was, and is, a huge influence on me. We’ve both developed and changed so much as composers even over the past 15 years. I think there is an aspect that we share in this sense of Americanness and this sense of a fluidity between all of these different kinds of music that make up the American identity. I think maintaining that fluidity is very important to both of us. I think you’ll hear a kind of rhythmic drive, especially in the first movement, that I very much think of as being something I learned from John’s music.

As we’ve been working on the piece together he actually told me yesterday that there’s something in it that reminded him of a song of his called I Was Looking at the Ceiling and Then I Saw the Sky. Which is a little bit of what you might call a cult classic among John’s works. 

I that same story in the LA Times you said about the LA Phil’s commission of Nightjar, “If you would ask me what my absolute dream commission would be, I probably would have said something along those lines. I mean, it’s Los Angeles. They’re pretty much where it’s at in terms of good music.” How has your perspective evolved since that time and where you are today with this new commission from the LA Phil?

It really feels like part of the same journey in a way. That Green Umbrella commission was one of my first commissions period – from anyone. It happened when I was still in grad school which was a vote of confidence in a way.

With everything that’s happened in the past few years, it seems like orchestras might be having a little bit of a tougher time. In general I see a kind of retrenchment into a kind of artistic conservatism.

For someone like me who’s a composer and an enthusiast of anything that’s new, that can be a little bit discouraging. But I do see the commission of this new concerto as kind of bucking that trend.

It’s actually my first subscription series appearance with the Phil. And my first piece that I’ve written for the full orchestra. It’s still a dream ensemble. They’re the the most new music friendly of the major American orchestras by far, and I think the most comfortable with a lot of the more demanding things that new music in general, and my piece particularly, asks of them.

Nonesuch Records is releasing your new album, The Blind Bannister on the same day that this concerto is having its world premiere. That’s a concerto that had its world premiere in 2016. How has your relationship with that piece evolved? How did that influence how you chose to perform it?

The Blind Banister is my third piano concerto and Made of Tunes is my fifth. So it’s kind of a week of piano concertos here. The Blind Banister was also a piece that was written specifically for Jonathan Bis. I think that piece has much more to do with a kind of classical romantic lineage and how I place myself in that as a 21st century American. I just performed the piece last month; four times in Oregon.

It’s still, I think, a piece where I figured out certain things compositionally that I can mark as a tent pole in my catalog in a way. I think formally I tried some things in that piece that I had never tried before. It’s this continuous 20 minute stretch of music, which I think at the time was the longest continuous stretch of music that I had attempted to write. I think, in general, it succeeds at articulating that amount of time in a way that’s compelling and that leads the listener through a kind of journey. It has its particular demands and difficulties and sections that are tricky to put together and balance. But the rhetoric of the piece and the formal journey of it kind of explain themselves.

During your recent NPR Tiny Desk concert of Philip Glass’ Etudes you performed etudes six and five in that order. On March 19th you’re going to be performing at Walt Disney Concert Hall as one of five pianists doing Philip Glass’ Complete Etudes 1 – 20. You edited the published edition that recently came out. When you’re working on something from an editorial perspective are there new discoveries that you were able to make, new understandings, that are separate from what you understand as you’re playing a piece of music?

I’m someone who’s very grounded in notation. I think already that puts me in the minority of musicians in the world. Most music is not made via notation. Notation is not only how I deal with music most of the time, but it’s inescapably how I think about it. Like when I hear music, I’d see notation and vice versa. All the music that I interface with I understand something more of it by seeing the notation. Very often, especially when I’m playing new work, I will actually go and re-notate certain things. Not because it’s notated wrong. It’s just there’s certain opinions that I hold, esthetically or taste wise, or just from a practicality standpoint that are sort of the differential between how a composer might think of a piece, might conceive music and then the ways that a pianist might approach that music. 

With Philip, I think his notation always has a wonderful kind of clarity to it. So it wasn’t so much about clarifying anything in particular. You can read these pieces off his hand-notated manuscripts, pretty much with no problem. This was more about meeting somewhere in the middle between a totally liberalized, typesetting of those manuscripts and then reading from the manuscripts. I think there are aspects of both documents that are useful.

You posted on your website on January 4th of 2023, “Thanks to all the artists and record labels who asked me to write about their recordings. Doing so always teaches me new ways to listen and think about music.” If we fast forward 30 or 40 years and somebody is editing your work or asking to comment on them, what would you like them most to know about who you were at this particular time in your life as a person, a composer and an artist?

I’m not really someone who likes to self-mythologize. I don’t think autobiographically. It’s not really a question I’m prepared to answer. And I don’t think it’s my job to answer it. I think of myself as someone who works very hard. My life is really about all the different aspects of the work that I do. Whether it’s writing a piano concerto or playing the work of another composer, or writing about the work of other musicians, arranging the work of other musicians. All of these different ways that I can get my hands dirty with music, so to speak. I’m up for it and I don’t stop to really interrogate what my project is in a sense for or even who I am. Do any of us really know who we are?

I think when you start to think about that, you’re becoming your own publicist. In a way you’re marketing yourself. Which is a necessity in the modern world of constant pressure to be sharing content and sharing yourself online and simultaneously the complete destruction of any kind of critical apparatus in the mainstream press or any real critical discourse that goes on in the mainstream. In the field that I work in it’s tempting to try to pick up the pieces and try to do it yourself. I have a website. I have Instagram. I have Twitter. I do all these things. But I also don’t know if they truly say anything about who I am as an artist. I think I would rather leave it to the professionals to come to their own conclusions. 

Or let the music speak for itself.

It’s a little bit cliche to say, I guess, but yeah, listen to the music. If you’re curious, it’s all in there. I don’t think it says particularly anything autobiographical. I’m not that kind of composer. But, I think you can connect the dots if you really listen.

To watch the full interview with Timo Andres, please go here.

Main Photo: Composer/Pianist Timo Andres (Courtesy Colbert Artists Management)

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THIS IS THE FOURTH OF OUR BEST OF 23 REVIEW OF INTERVIEWS: If you’ve been following Cultural Attaché for even a small amount of time, you know how much I love singer Cécile McLorin Salvant. We’re happy to say we finally have an interview with this three-time Grammy Award winner (who also happens to have a nomination for Best Jazz Vocal Album for her most recent release, Ghost Song)!

Those three Grammy Awards came for three albums in a row: For One to Love, Dreams and Daggers and The Window. Might it be four-in-a-row? The New York Times called it “her most revealing and rewarding album yet.” I love the album and had the privilege of seeing Salvant in back-to-back performances at the Blue Note in New York City in September. Salvant is truly a once-in-a-generation artist.

She is currently on tour across the United States. Her next show is at Royce Hall on Thursday, January 26th as part of CAP UCLA’s season. She’ll be at the Mondavi Center in Davis on January 27th; Bing Concert Hall at Stanford on January 28th; the Stewart Theatre in Raleigh, NC on February 2nd and Knight Concert Hall in Miami on February 3rd (where her special guest is the Christian Sands Trio).

For her full itinerary, please go here.

Here is my interview with Salvant which was conducted via e-mail.

During the pandemic you were reading Marcel Proust, particularly In Search of Lost Time. In the fifth volume he writes, “The only true voyage of discovery, the only fountain of Eternal Youth, would be not to visit strange lands but to possess other eyes, to behold the universe through the eyes of another, of a hundred others, to behold the hundred universes that each of them beholds, that each of them is..” Do you agree with him and how does that perspective align itself with how you choose, hear and perform music?

I love that quote!!!! Beautiful. I absolutely agree with this.

The pandemic negated the opportunity for LA audiences to see and hear Ogresse. What does the future hold for that work and will you record it or turn it into a fully produced musical/show?

We’re making it into an animated feature length film. It’s already recorded but we’re animating it now with a team in Europe. [Salvant will be performing Ogresse on February 24th and 25th at the Walker Art Center in Milwaukee.]  

Five years ago you gave an interview to ArtsDesk.com where you said, “Visual art is the most important thing to me.” At that time you weren’t sure if that passion for visual arts influenced your music adding, “probably, but not in a way that I can tell.” Has your perspective on that changed since 2018? Do works like Ogresse and/or the art that Nonesuch released with Ghost Song provide examples of some blending of your passions?

Yes! My perspective often changes though! Lately I’ve been trying to approach making music with the same playfulness I feel when I draw.

I first became aware of you when Bryan Ferry closed for you at the Hollywood Bowl in August of 2017. It’s a night I won’t ever forget. I’ve since seen you at much smaller venues. What role does a given venue play in the concerts you give?

My favorite venues to play are clubs! I like to be really close to a small packed audience. I want it to feel like I’m spilling secrets. But it’s always exhilarating and a little bit scary to be in front of a vast crowd like at the Hollywood Bowl!

Sometimes Aaron Diehl is your pianist and other times it is Sullivan Fortner. What does each pianist bring to you and your music? Are there tangible differences for you that influence the way you make music and present it live with each of them?

There are a few others I’ve been playing with over the years. Everyone adds different elements and colors to the music, they bring their tastes, their approaches even their feel to it. It’s the same with every instrument in the band. I often unknowingly pick my repertoire based on who’s playing.

In the concerts I’ve attended there seems to be a semblance of spontaneity in the set lists. What role does fluidity play in each performance? How much does an audience play a role in what you choose to sing at a given concert?

That’s another that changes based on the band. If I’m playing duo with Sullivan there’s often no setlist and it really depends on the moment. The audience plays a bit of a role if they choose to! Some audiences feel quiet, or more reserved. They play less of a role. When they participate a bit more, are reactive, they play a much bigger role to where the set will go.

Music from Broadway musicals used to top the record charts. It’s been a long time since that happened. Yet your passion for musicals is undeniable. The first song on your first album, Cécile, comes from an obscure 1930 musical, Lew Leslie’s International Revue (Exactly Like You). You seem almost childlike in your appreciation for these songs. How and when did that passion for get ignited in you and what role will that material play as you move forward throughout your career?

I’m not sure it’s a childlike quality, it’s more that I love theater and acting. I love operas too, which to me aren’t much different from musicals. I love songs that flow from a character dealing with a specific context.

Like pianist Brad Mehldau and others, you had a background in classical music but switched to jazz (though I heard you sing Baroque music at the Blue Note in NY in September). How does your classical background inform your approach to jazz?

This is a tough question to answer because I try to get away from genres. Genres like jazz and classical are too broad in my opinion. Jazz is extremely fragmented, it encompasses so much different music. Even baroque and early music have such fragmented, different styles within them. There were differences in the music based on cities! Even tuning was based on location.

I think everything I’ve studied informs what I do in some way. In conservatory, I got to learn the aria Medea sings when she goes back and forth between wanting to kill her children for vengeance and wanting to protect them. I think learning that and other songs, learning a bit about baroque dance, studying tap dance for a month in high school, learning the basics of reading figured bass on a harpsichord, all this informs my desire to find a way to approach music in a more open way, with less boundaries.

Your mother has described you as an intellectual (The New Yorker 2017). You’ve talked a lot about your instincts. How and where do your instincts meet up with your intellect and vice-versa?

I don’t identify as an intellectual! I can be a nerd for the things that I love. And I study and research and learn about the history of those things. But following my instincts is very important to me. Sometimes too much research can get in the way of that.

In an interview with Ethan Iverson you bring up a point, this was in relation to Bessie Smith, where you said, “at first I guess it sounds very the same when you don’t know how to listen.” What is the audience responsibility in listening? How much does technology and the need for videos and photos get in the way of your ability to communicate with an audience and their ability to listen? Is the fine art of listening a dying art?

It’s changing the way we communicate. We have more access than ever to all kinds of music and yet our attention span is very low. But I think people are feeling a bit over-saturated so there might be a countercurrent to that soon. I also really admire the way this younger generation coming up can find whatever they connect with, regardless of era or popularity, online. Listening will have to change whether we like it or not! But it’s always been changing. It changed already when the first compositions were notated on paper, when people began having access to records, when music videos started to gain popularity, and so on.

Nonesuch Records alluded in an email last week to a new album coming out this spring. What can you tell me about this new recording?

It will be all in French! About a half woman half snake.

If you could talk to the teenager who had a mohawk, was listening to Dave Matthews Band and Soundgarden before moving to France, what would you say to her about the artist you’ve become and the artist you want to be as you move forward in your career?

I probably wouldn’t say anything about that if I could talk to the teenager I was!!

I’d probably just stare. But I’ll say to you that I feel really lucky for everything that I’ve been able to do, and I’m very excited to keep making my arts and crafts, which is how I like to think of what I do (otherwise you get too precious about it all).

Main Photo: Cécile McLorin Salvant at the Blue Note in New York (Photo by Craig L. Byrd)

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This is a two-disc recording in which the first half finds Sullivan performing solo piano. Each song was performed just once and there are no overdubs and there’s no editing. This part, Solo, was produced by Fred Hersch.

The second part, Game, finds Fortner making use of many of the tools artists use to perfect their recordings, but he uses them to help create music rather than correct was has been recorded. The cumulative effect of the album is to see jazz as a constantly fluid genre of music and Fortner with one foot standing on the shoulders of the legends before him and the other firmly striding forward to the future.

In early December I spoke with Fortner about Solo Game, his working with Hersch and Salvant and what he requires from his art and what his art requires from him. What follows are excerpts from our conversation that have been edited for length and clarity. To see the full interview, please go to our YouTube channel.

Q: Miles Davis is quoted as saying, “You should never be comfortable, man. Being comfortable fouled up a lot of musicians.” How do you think being comfortable fouls up audiences? I ask that because I think your album is not comfortable and challenges audiences to eliminate any preconceived ideas they might have.

For better or for worse, for an artist, I think it’s important to constantly push. And I think as an audience member, at least for me, and the people that I talked to about it, they don’t like to see people perform and be too comfortable. They like to see some sort of struggle. I think one thing that the pandemic kind of brought a little bit more to light is the idea of watching people’s processes and watching how people create. The idea of watching people go through things and figure out formulas and struggle, make a mistake and then do it over.

It brings a certain type of humanity to the art or to whatever it is that they’re creating. One of the things I try to do is I try to create real performances. If it’s a little bit too perfect, then it doesn’t seem real to me. It’s not human. You know, the imperfections are the things that make music alive and beautiful.

How much do you think an audience is aware of that struggle?

I think we give the audience a little bit less credit than than than we probably should. But I also think that if there’s a type of banter or type of communication that happens within the bandstand, then people can get that. They’re like, Oh my God, what’s getting ready to happen next? Oh, the drummer’s going crazy. Something happened. You know what I mean? The drummer just gave the bass player a look. Oh, he didn’t like him too much, you know? Stuff like that.

What is the conversation you are having between Solo and Game, and how does that give us a better understanding of who Sullivan Fortner is?

I wanted both Solo and Game to reflect Sullivan Fortner. Not so much the pianist, but the artist, the musician and the thinker. Both sides of the album were exposing me. Acoustic being, okay, I’m playing by myself, completely acoustic piano. No edits, notes, no second takes, nothing. Then the other side being, okay, now I get to play whatever it is I want to play, but on instruments that I’ve never played before. Just experimenting with limitations.

Both of them had that idea of experimenting within a certain type of parameter limitation. Both of them kind of question the idea of when we play music, do we actually play music? It underlined that word play. So when you think of that word play, you think of arcade games. Both sides of the album there are various games that are constantly being played. Both sides reflect each other. 

How important is it for you for the tradition of jazz music to evolve as it always has and as it inevitably will?

I think that it’s extremely important. I think it’s also important for jazz musicians to use the tools of the studio. I had a conversation with a great musician and great friend of mine who basically said when we go in the studio as jazz musicians, nine times out of ten, we use Pro Tools to edit a part that we don’t like. We use ProTools or Auto-Tune to correct the note or to fix whatever. They don’t use the studio and use those programs to help as an extra instrument for the music. You know what I’m saying? So what I wanted to do in this album, especially with the Game part, I wanted to use pitch correction as a part of the music and not to fix whatever I did that was wrong.

As an compositional tool instead of a correctional tool. 

You said it exactly the way I want to see it. I also think that it’s important for the musicians to not be so precious with the studio. The idea of it wasn’t necessarily be perfect. It was to be honest and show a real representation of who I am and where I am at that particular time. A lot of times, especially younger jazz musicians, we’re all so gung-ho about creating the perfect album rather than creating an honest album. This album that I created by no means is perfect. I already know, but I know that I can honestly say I’m proud of it because it’s the most me that I’ve ever created.

How long has this other side that wanted to play in the studio, that wanted to to not be afraid of the studio, not be afraid of the technology, been buried inside you?

If I’m honest COVID actually birthed that side of me. The first instrument that I grew up playing was a Hammond organ before I started playing piano. My first love was the organ. So electronics and manipulating sounds within the capabilities of an electronic instrument was something had always been in me since I was seven years old. I’d never really owned a piano when I grew up. I only owned keyboards, but I would just stick to the piano parts and try to manipulate the piano parts. Maybe there would be some times where I could record on the keyboard. I would add instruments just with keyboard patch. But that was just for fun. But the idea of actually going in the studio and doing that was inspired by COVID and Cécile McLorin Salvant.

She keeps subtly reinventing herself. That’s the thing I love about her. They’re not radical shifts. It’s not like suddenly Bob Dylan is playing an electric guitar. There are these subtle shifts and every one of them makes sense. That has to be an inspiration.

It is. Being on the side of the stage that I sit on, whenever I see her and the more I get to know her, the more I realize that she’s becoming more and more herself every album. I think that’s the most inspiring thing to watch her evolve as an individual, as a woman, as a human being on this planet and as an artist. Watching her just really step into what makes her unique and special in her eyes. That’s the most inspiring thing, just her being excited about her being herself.

I’ve seen you with Cécile multiple times. It strikes me that the two of you do not have a traditional vocalist and accompanist relationship. When I see Cécile McLorin Salvant and you’re on the stage with her, it might as well be Cécile McLorin Salvant and Sullivan Fortner, because you two are so intrinsically tied to one another musically. Does this feel like a unique collaboration that is different than what you have seen or witnessed or even experienced as a pianist and a vocalist working together?

Yeah, it most definitely has. And it was like that from the first time we played together. From the very first note, it felt like we were immediately at home. At least it felt like I was. You’re playing with somebody that has that certain type of independence where you don’t feel like they are relying on you to make something happen.

We definitely are individuals. But for the first time, I actually felt like I could play with somebody that I could grow with. You know what I mean? It wasn’t waiting on me to play catch up.

In 2016, you told the Oberlin Revue that “Music is like a drug. You’re chasing that first high….the high you got..the first time I played music and really enjoyed it. Since then, I’ve been trying to chase that feeling.” What was that feeling you were chasing with Solo Game? What was the high? 

You want the honest answer? I went in the studio nervous and Cécile said, just go in and relax. So I took an edible before I went in the studio. So that automatically relaxed [me] and that got rid of the nervousness. But I think the high that I was chasing was just that feeling that I got when I was a kid and I didn’t know anything. I was just happy to play. You know what I mean? I didn’t know. I didn’t know any complicated chords. I could only play in like four or five keys. There was not really a whole lot of harmonic sophistication. There wasn’t a whole lot of rhythmic sophistication. It was just me playing the songs to the choir. I didn’t know anything. I was just happy to play. That was the high that I was chased. 

Did it take a lot to be comfortable in the recording of this particular album? You were working with Fred Hirsch who, along with Jason Moran, complete the album with their own comments about you and this project.

Fred is not an easy person to please. He a very nice man; extremely nice. Been very kind to me. But he’s definitely particular about what it is that he likes. So whenever you’re in a room with somebody like that, you always you automatically feel this pressure of doing anything that you possibly can in order for it to sound good.

I think with Game, it’s a little bit more like I was left up to my own antics. It was fun making it. But I had to suffer when I was shopping the album around. I had a little bit of difficulty trying to find a home for it and people who actually wanted to support it, to back it up and help me put it out because it was so different and so unorthodox. 

I’m assuming you probably got a lot of offers to release the first half, Solo.

Here’s the funny part. When I shopped that around, I only shopped around Game, minus the edits and all the added sound effects. Once I found a label that was interested in that, then I gave them the acoustic album and said, Okay, I want both of these to come out at the same time as one album. They were like, we’ll put up the acoustic album, no problem. But this other one we got to wait. I said nope it is either both of them, or none of it. It took a lot of guts and I almost gave in. But, thanks again to Cécile and to Jason Moran, they were like, no, this is what you want to do. You need to do it that way.

It makes sense that Jason would be a supporter of doing that. If you look at how his career is started and what he’s doing now.

In the last two years basically every piano player, every major piano player, people who are soon to be major, in my opinion, have released solo albums. Jason Moran. Brad Mehldau. Ethan Iverson. Kevin Hays. Vijay Iyer. Fred Hersch. They’ve all released solo albums, especially during Covid, because there was nothing else to do. If I was going to do a solo album, I wanted it to stick out more than just be acoustic piano. I wanted it to be an all-encompassing solo situation. So part of it was sticking out. The other thing was I wanted to make a statement that I’m not just a piano player. I’m also someone that has an idea or a vision musically that goes beyond just the eighty eight key box.

Solo Game was recorded during the pandemic and it took a while, as you mentioned, to shop it around and find somebody who was going to release it. But that’s given you all kinds of time to develop new ideas and new ways of expressing yourself. Where are you headed with new material now?

I’m thinking about continuing along this path; especially in the studio. Going back to using the tools that are available in the studio as a part of the composition. The next project that I’m working on is a trio album. It won’t be a double album, but it will be two different trios. One trio would be with Marcus Gilmore and Peter Washington and another trio would be with Tyrone Allen and Kayvon Gordon, who are a group of guys that I’ve been playing with for the last year or two. They’re a lot of fun to play with.

That’s the next thing to try to figure out. It’ll be a mixture of originals and standards, a little bit more towards the traditional side, but with few surprises maybe. And after that, I think the next thing I want to do is a choral album which would feature just piano for the most part and vocals with my family singing. So I’m in the process of writing stuff like that. I’m trying to continue along in the vein of Game and building a catalog as opposed to creating separate worlds that each album stands in and lives in. 

I want to ask you about something Duke Ellington is quoted as saying. He said “Art is dangerous. It is one of the attractions; when it ceases to be dangerous, you don’t want it.” For you personally, what do you want most from your art today, and what do you think your art wants most from you? 

I guess the art wants from me fearlessness. Not being afraid to try and not being afraid to step out there. Being you and being confident in that. 

What do I want my art to give me? I want the art to just continue to give me what it’s already given me, which is a sense of purpose and being able to continue to help me articulate what it is I can’t say in words. To help me to discover more about myself and discover more about the world around me. Art teaches me music and art teaches me about life and learning how to get along well with others, to compromise, to live in harmony and peace and balance. That’s the stuff that art gives me and I want it to continue to. 

To see the full interview with Sullivan Fortner, please go here.

All photos of Sullivan Fortner: ©Sabrina Santiago/Courtesy Artwork Records

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An Alpine Symphony with Salonen – October 27^th – October 29^th

Any concert that offers a world premiere of a new composition by Esa-Pekka Salonen (particularly one he conducts) is definitely one to see.

Salonen’s Tiu opens the concert. It is then followed by Nico Muhly’s Shrink which is a 2019 violin concerto written for Pekka Kuusisto who performs it at these three concerts.

The program closes with Richard Strauss’ tone poem from 1915. It’s a very large work employing close to 125 musicians and runs 45-50 minutes.

Photo of Esa-Pekka Salonen by Andrew Eccles (Courtesy SF Symphony)

Dudamel Leads Khachaturian – November 4^th – November 5^th

The music of Aram Khachaturian doesn’t often get performed in concert halls. So this concert that features both his piano concerto (performed by Jean-Yves Thibaudet) and music from his ballet music for Spartacus is a welcome part of the season. 

The second half of the program includes Tower for Frank Gehry by Thomas Adés. (Much of the season is dedicated to Gehry.)

This will be the U.S. Premiere of Tower. The concert closes with Leos Janacek’s Sinfonietta.

Dudamel Leads Das Rheingold – January 18^th – January 21^st

Another program in this season’s celebration of Frank Gehry is this concert performance of the first opera in Richard Wagner’s Ring Cycle. 

As with many concert performances of operas at the LA Phil, this will be more than just people standing up and singing. Gehry is the scenic designer for the concerts; Alberto Arvelo is the director and Cindy Figueroa is the costume designer.

The cast include Ryan Speedo Green as Wotan; Raehann Bryce-Davis as Fricka; Jochen Schmeckenbecher as Alberich; Simon O’Neill as Loge; Barry Banks as Mime and the always reliable and copelling Morris Robinson as Fasolt.

Last Days – February 6^th

The last days of Kurt Cobain, as loosely presented in Gus Van Sant’s 2005 film, are the focus of this opera by composer Oliver Leith and librettist Matt Copson (who co-directs and is the art director for this concert). 

Last Days received a 4-star review from Andrew Clements of The Guardian in October of 2022 upon its premiere at the Royal Opera House in London.

As with that production, Anna Morrisey is co-director here. Also cast members Agathe Rousselle, Mimi Doulton, Henry Jenkinson and Patricia Auchterlonie return to sing their roles of Blake, Delivery Driver and Housemate; Magician and Superfan, respectively.

Most excitingly, composer Thomas Adés conducts this one-night only performance.

Ravel and Adés – February 9^th – February 11^th

If you like Adés as much as I do, you will also want to attend one of these three concerts which finds the work of Maurice Ravel paired with two works by Adés.

The program opens with The Tempest Symphony which is a 22-minute piece he created based on music from his opera, The Tempest. The work had its world premiere in Dresden in June of 2022.

That is followed by Ravel’s Piano Concert for the Left Hand with Kirill Gerstein

The second half opens with the Concert for Piano and Orchestra by Ades also with Gerstein as the soloist. The concert closes with Ravel’s La valse. Best of all you get to hear Adés conduct his own music.

Mälkki Conducts Brahms – February 23^rd – February 25^th

Two of these three concerts will feature the U.S. Premiere of Fett by Enno Poppe (the “Casual Friday” concert does not include this work). Susanna Mälkki conducted the world premiere with the Helsinki Philharmonic in May of 2019. It’s a 25-minute work and is at the podium for these concerts.

Each program opens with the Academic Festival Overture by Brahms and it closes with the composer’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with soloist Daniil Trifonov at the piano. (Reason enough to see this program if you ask me!)

Philip Glass: The Complete Etudes, 1-20 – March 19^th

Four pianists team up to perform all 20 etudes by composer Glass. They are Timo Andres, Anton Batagov, Jenny Lin and Maki Namekawa. What else do you need to know? 

John Adams’ City Noir – March 22^nd – March 24^th

John Adams will be leading the LA Phil in this concert that opens with Stravinsky’s Song of the Nightingaleand closes with Adams’ City Noir which was commissioned by the LA Phil. The 35-minute work had its world premiere with Gustavo Dudamel and the LA Phil on October 8, 2009.

In between these two pieces is the world premiere of a new piano concerto by Timo Andres. It was composed specifically for pianist Aaron Diehl.

This is certain to be a fascinating performance.

Recitals – various dates

Okay, so this is probably cheating a little bit. But there are three recitals (even though they are all good this year) well-worth your time and money.

James McVinnie, an amazingly talented musician, has a solo recital playing the organ and piano on November 12^th. He’ll be performing works by Bach, inti Figgis-Vizueta, Philip Glass, Meredith Monk, Nico Muhly and Gabriella Smith.

On May 1^st Víkingur Ólafsson will perform Bach’s Goldberg Variations. His long-anticipated recording of this work is being released on Deutsche Grammophon on Friday, October 6^th.

A solo recital by Yuja Wang is something I won’t miss and neither should you. She performs on May 12^th. The program hasn’t yet been announced.

Dudamel Leads Mozart and Strauss  – May 2^nd – May 5^th

These performances (except the Casual Friday date) begin with the world premiere of a new work by Andreia Pinto Correia. The concerts all feature pianist Maria João Pires performing Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 9, “Jeunehomme.” Pires doesn’t often perform in Los Angeles, so this is a great opportunity to see one of the world’s best.

The last composition on the program in Richard Strauss’ Don Quixote. It’s a 40-minute work inspired by Miguel de Cervantes’ 17^th-century novel.

There’s plenty more to choose from throughout the season. These are my picks of the 10 LA Philharmonic concerts not to be miss during the 2023-2024 season.

Main Photo: Gustavo Dudamel (Photo ©Stephan Rabold/Courtesy Fidelio Arts)

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Our top pick of the best of what’s New In Music This Week: September 22^nd is:

CLASSICAL:  AMAZÔNIA – Camila Provenzale, Philharmonia Zürich, Simone Menzes – Alpha Classics

Floresta Do Amazonas, an 11-movement suite by Heitor Villa-Lobos and Metamorphosis 1 (from Aguas da Amazonia) by Philip Glass tell you right away what the theme is on this incredible album: the Amazon rainforest.  

Of course, any album that has a “cause” is only going to be effective if the music is good. This isn’t just good, this is a great recording. I hadn’t heard anything Menzes had done before, but if this is any indication we’re destined for a lot of great and thoughtful music in the years ahead.

As an added bonus the liner notes include a selection of photographs by Sebastião Salgado. If you don’t know his work, this is a great introduction to his gorgeous photography. 

Here are my other selections for New In Music This Week: September 22^nd:

CLASSICAL: ZODIAC SUITE – Aaron Diehl & The Knights – Mack Avenue Records

Composer Mary Lou Williams composed this 12-movement suite to reflect each of the astrological signs with each movement dedicated to a friend of hers born under that sign. It is perhaps best known as a work for a trio, but Williams also arranged a version for piano and ensemble in 1945.

Pianist Diehl has been performing the work in concert and now has recorded the full work in this first-ever professional recording of Zodiac Suite in this configuration.

Fans of mid 20^th-century American music will definitely want to check this out. You’ll also want to hear if the music composed for your astrological sign in any way mirrors who you might be.

CLASSICAL:  BACHEANDO – Plínio Fernandes – Decca Gold

This beautiful solo guitar album finds Fernandes playing works by Mario Albanese, Sérgio Assad, Johann Sebastian Bach, Paulinho Nogueira and Heitor Villa-Lobos. The mix of Brazilian composers with music by Bach may not sound like it makes sense on paper, but the arrangements make a convincing argument of the logic of this pairing.

Bacheando is a refreshing take on Bach’s music as well. I thoroughly enjoyed Fernandes’s playing and plan to listen to this album many more times.

CLASSICAL: FLORENCE PRICE: SYMPHONY NO. 4 – The Philadelphia Orchestra/Yannick Nézet-Séguin – Deutsche Grammophon

This is a live recording from the Philadelphia Orchestra who have been passionate advocates for Florence Price’s music. This symphony in D minor was composed in 1945 but never received a performance in her lifetime. 

Also on this digital only release is William Dawson’s Negro Folk Symphony which was composed in 1934 and revised in 1952. There are three movements:  The Bond of Africa; Hope in the Night and Oh, Le’ Me Shine, Shine Like a Morning Star!

This is not the first album of Florence Price’s music recorded by the Philadelphia Orchestra and one hopes it won’t be the last.

CLASSICAL: RACHMANINOFF, A REFLECTION – Yekwon Sunwoo – Decca Classics

With so many celebrations of Rachmaninoff’s 150^th this year, I expected this to be a recording of the usual works by the composer. The only commonly performed work on this record is the Prelude in C-Sharp Minor. The rest are much lesser performed works.

These include the 23 Variations on a Theme of Corelli and the 10 Variations on a Theme of Chopin. Yekwon Sunwoo plays them all beautifully and it’s nice to hear music that, for the most part, is less-performed than the rest of Rachmaninoff’s works.

CLASSICAL:  MI PAÍS: SONGS OF ARGENTINA – Federico De Michelis and Steven Blier – NYFOS Records

We are accustomed to hearing art songs from the northern hemisphere, but this album allows us to explore those songs from well below the equator. In this case, a selection of music from Argentina.

Bass-baritone De Michelis is not someone with whom I was very familiar. His singing on this album will make me want to seek out more of his work. He’s joined by pianist Biler (who is also Artistic Director of New York Festival of Song) and at times Shinjoo Cho on bandoneon, Pablo Lanouguere on double bass; Sami Merdinian on violin and tenor César Andrés Parreño.

Amongst the composers whose work is performed on this album are Carlos López Buchardo; Carlos Gardel; Carlos Guastavino, and lest you think every composer Is named Carlos, there are also works by Mariano Mores; Astor Piazzolla; Ariel Ramírez and Héctor Stamponi.

CONTEMPORARY CLASSICAL: A PRAYER TO THE DYNAMO Iceland Symphony Orchestra, Daníel Bjarnason – Deutsche Grammophon

You can argue that this is mostly made of Jóhann Jóhannsson’s music written for films (The Theory of Everything/Sicario), but this is such a beautiful recording that if you didn’t know those details, it wouldn’t even occur to you these were film scores.

In the hands Bjarnason and the ISO, this is more than a soundtrack compilation or collection. Jóhannson was one of the most interesting composers of his time. Sadly he passed away in 2018 at the age of 48.

The last work on the album, A Prayer to the Dynamo, is not from a film score. This marks the first-ever recording of that 30-minute suite.

JAZZ:  DYNAMIC MAXIMUM TENSION – Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society – Nonesuch Records

This incredible album was actually released on September 8^th, but only recently was I introduced to it. This nearly two-hour work is massively ambitious and that ambition pays off from the opening moments of Dymaxion and never lets up until Mae West: Advice closes out the album.

Argue has incredible ability to write for a big band and his ensemble returns the favor with incredible playing. The album takes its name from the three words R. Buckminster Fuller used to create “dymaxion” a concept related to improving daily life.

Argue collaborated with Cécile McLorin Salvant on the song cycle Ogresse which I hope to one day see and hear. (You can hear here on the last track of the album). In the meantime, Dynamic Maximum Tension is an album I’ve already listened to several times and I am certain it will be at the top of critics lists at the end of the year. 

JAZZ:  WITNESS TO HISTORY – Eddie Henderson – Smoke Sessions Records

At 82 years young, trumpeter Henderson is still making great music. Witness to History, his latest album, comes half a century after Realization, his 1973 album that marked his first recording as a leader.

Joining him for the 8 tracks on this wonderful album are pianist George Cables, bassist Gerald Cannon, alto saxophonist Donald Harrison and drummer Lenny White. Mike Clark, also a drummer, joins for the opening track Scorpio Rising, which was composed by Henderson.

Eddie Henderson how not just been a witness to history, but part of it. This album continues him on that path.

MUSICALS: OKLAHOMA! COMPLETE ORIGINAL SCORE – Sinfonia of London – Chandos Records

Nathaniel Hackmann (currently appearing as Biff in Back to the Future: The Musical) sings Curly; Sierra Boggess sings Laurey; Rodney Earl Clarke (multiple roles in productions of Porgy and Bess) sings Jud Fry; Jamie Parker (now appearing in Next to Normal at Donmar Warehouse) sings Will Parker and Louise Dearman (first actress to play Elphaba and Glinda in Wicked) sings Ado Annie in this studio recording of the full score from Rodgers & Hammerstein’s musical.

John Wilson conducts the Sinfonia of London Orchestra in this wonderful recording that offers fans of this musical nearly 100 minutes of music. This recording of Oklahoma! is much more than just OK.

OPERA: LA DIVINA: MARIA CALLAS IN ALL HER ROLES – Maria Callas – Warner Classics   

Is it too early to suggest holiday gifts? Because this embarrassment of riches is perfect for the Maria Callas fan in your life. This is a 131-CD box set that offers studio recordings, live recordings and staged performances. All in this has at least one recording of each of the 74 opera roles she performed over the course of her career.

This includes two studio recordings each of Bellini’s Norma; Donizetti’s Lucia Di Lammermoor; Ponchielli’s La Gioconda and Puccini’s Tosca. But don’t fret, there are live performances of those and many more.

The reason for this extraordinary collection is the 100^th anniversary of Callas’ birth on December 2, 1923. One wonders what the former Maria Anna Sophia Cecilia Kalogeropoulos would think of all this attention. (Of course she’d love it!)

MUSICAL/OPERA (adjacent): FRANK’S WILD YEARS / RAIN DOGS / SWORDFISHTROMBONES – Tom Waits – Island/UMe

In 1990 Tom Waits collaborated with director Robert Wilson on a play/musical/opera entitled The Black Rider. I saw it at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles in 2006. So forgive me for indulging my passion for Tom Waits by including the first three of five re-issues of albums by Waits in this week’s list.

Waits is one of our most fascinating and talented artists and these three albums serve as an excellent example of what makes him so incredible. These three titles were released on streaming and CD on September 1st, but I’m including them this week timed to the release of the new vinyl versions of each record.

Waits and his collaborator Kathleen Brennan oversaw the remastering of these releases. Two more albums, Bone Machine and The Black Rider will be released on vinyl on October 6th. Great news for Tom Waits fans! Obviously I’m one of them!

That’s the full list of New In Music This Week: September 22nd.

Enjoy the music! Enjoy your weekend!

Main Photo: Part of the album cover of Swordfishtrombones by Tom Waits

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Dan Tepfer/Aaron Diehl Two Piano Concert – July 15th – 3:00 PM EDT/12:00 PM PDT

Strictly speaking this is not going to be just a jazz concert. The program by these two pianists will include original compositions by each musician, works by Philip Glass and György Ligeti, plus selections from the Great American Songbook.

I’ve written about Diehl before. He’s equally comfortable playing classical music and playing jazz. I’ve seen him as a soloist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and as part of Cécile McLorin Salvant’s band.

Dan Tepfer I wasn’t familiar with before hearing about this online concert. But a quick review of his recordings makes it easy for me to say he’s a very good musician whose ability to create complex arrangements that still fully let the theme of a given song stay out front makes him quite interesting.

Diehl and Tepfer have performed two-piano concerts before. This will be the first time they do it virtually from separate locations.

Tickets for the concert are $5 and must be purchased in advance in order to get the link to the live event.

Dezron Douglas, Cyrus Chestnut & Victor Lewis Live at Smalls – July 15th – 7:45 PM EDT/4:45 PM PDT

Bass player Dezron Douglas reunites his one member of his trio from the 2012 Venus Records album Walkin’ My Baby Back Home. That trio included pianist Cyrus Chestnut and drummer Lewis Nash. Drummer Victor Lewis will be joining Douglas and Chestnut as they perform live from New York jazz institution Smalls on Wednesday, July 15th.

Douglas, who has long been a member of Cyrus Chestnut’s band, is an in-demand bass player. He has four recordings of his own that have been released. Additionally he has performed and recorded with such artists as Pharoah Sanders, Ravi Coltrane, Mulgrew Miller, Lewis Nash, Kevin Mahogany, Kenny Garrett, Eric Reed and The Marsalis Family.

I first became aware of Cyrus Chestnut when I picked up his 1996 album Earth Stories. I’ve been a fan ever since. In addition to his 22 albums under his own name, he’s performed with Gerald Albright, Kathleen Battle, Dee Dee Bridgewater, James Carter, Elvis Costello, Roy Hargrove, Bette Midler, Jimmy Scott and many more.

Lewis has four albums as a leader. He has performed with countless other musicians including Chestnut, John Abercrombie, Andy Bey, James Carter, Stan Getz, Dexter Gordon, Abbey Lincoln, Cedar Walton and more people than could be listed here.

All three musicians also teach. No doubt they’ll teach us a few things with this performance. The performance is free, but does require registering your e-mail and opening an account with Smalls.

Billie Holiday’s “Lady in Satin“ – Jazz Record Art Collective – July 16th – 7:00 PM EDT/4:00 PM PDT

1958’s Lady in Satin proved to be the next to last recording made by Billie Holiday in her lifetime. How one perceives the album is predicated on their view of Holiday and her life. Either the album reflected her status as a broken woman whose finer singing days were behind her or it is viewed as an album where she puts every ounce of pain and tragedy into her vocals.

The track list on Lady in Satin includes “I’m a Fool to Want You,” “For Heaven’s Sake,” “You Don’t Know What Love Is,” “I Get Along Without You Very Well,” “For All We Know,” Violets for Your Furs,” “You’ve Changed,” “It’s Easy to Remember,” “But Beautiful,” “Glad to Be Unhappy” and “I’ll Be Around.”

On Thursday, July 16th, Mardra and Reggie Thomas will perform live the complete Lady in Satin album. Mardra is a vocalist who has portrayed Holiday in concert and in staged productions. Reggie Thomas is an acclaimed pianist and organist. They won’t be working with a full orchestra and Ray Ellis’ wonderful arrangements. It will be interesting to hear how they approach this album that has critics and fan sharply divided.

The performance will take place on Jazz Record Art Collective’s Facebook page.

Jazz Stream is a new feature at Cultural Attaché. I will be posting weekly jazz updates for you under this name. Weekend events will still be part of Best Bets at Home. I hope you enjoy!

Photo of Dezron Douglas courtesy of his website.

Update: This post has been updated to correct the name of the drummer playing with Dezron Douglas. It is not Lewis Nash, but rather Victor Lewis. Cultural Attaché regrets the error.

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July 10th: Tony Bennett

Does anything else really need to be said beyond his name? Less than one month prior to his 93rd birthday, this legendary singer returns to the Hollywood Bowl for another evening of standards interpreted like no other.

There are certain performers who cannot imagine not performing – regardless of age. Amongst them are Chita Rivera, Ben Vereen, Angela Lansbury and Tony Bennett. For Bennett he just keeps singing – and aren’t we all the better for it?

Though he left his heart in San Francisco, he finds his home every couple years at the Hollywood Bowl. If you’ve never seen and heard Bennett – and even if you have – this is a concert you don’t want to miss.

July 12th & 13th: Cécile McLorin Salvant

If you look at the schedule for the Hollywood Bowl, this concert is listed as Cyndi Lauper with Orchestra. Not exactly jazz. Look at the second billing and you’ll see why this concert is listed amongst your best bets: Cécile McLorin Salvant returns to the Hollywood Bowl as an opening act. (She previously opened for Bryan Ferry in 2017.)

If you read Cultural Attaché on a regular basis, you know how much I am a fan of Salvant and her singing. She takes songs you know and turns each one into a master class of interpretation.  She is a three-time Grammy Award winner with her most recent win coming earlier this year when she was awarded Best Jazz Vocal Album for The Window.

Salvant will be joined by the Aaron Diehl Trio. You might recall we spoke with this talented pianist when he performed earlier this season with the LA Philharmonic. He told us then about Salvant:

“She’s a special artist because what she does that most people can’t do is make connections. And not just between Duke Ellington and say Herbie Hancock, but connections between art and human relations to that art and culture. She points things out – anything you can think about – she can make all kinds of associations. That’s so rare. That’s another level of artistry.”

When Lauper takes the stage she will be joined by the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra under the direction of Thomas Wilkins.

August 14th: Ivan Lins and Friends: A Journey to Brazil

This evening will be an all-Brazil evening with two different ensembles taking the stage.

Opening the evening will be Lee Ritenour’s World of Brazil. Joining the Grammy Award-winning guitarist (who has long celebrated the music of Brazil) will be composer and pianist Dave Grusin, vocalist Luciana Souza, percussionist Paulinho Da Costa, harmonica stylist Gregoire Maret and guitarist/composer Chico Pinheiro.  That’s a very impressive line-up for an opening act.

The headliner of this concert is the Ivan Lins Quartet. Lins, who was born in Rio de Janeiro, is a master of Brazilian music. He’s a songwriter whose songs have been performed by such artists as Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Barbra Streisand, Sting and Michael Bublé. He’s also written music for Brazilian films and soap operas.

Lins will not only perform with his quartet, but also with his big band which will be conducted by John Beasley.

For this concert he will also be joined by special guests singer Dianne Reeves, four-person vocal ensemble New York Voices and guitarist Romero Lubambo.

August 21st: Herbie Hancock: Next Generation R+R=NOW

For those who like their jazz with more edge, this concert is for you. Herbie Hancock, who truly needs no introduction, has always been on the forefront of jazz. He’s also been a keen shepherd to those who have come, and are coming up, behind him.

This past January he celebrated the Edge of Jazz at Walt Disney Concert Hall with world premieres of works by Hitomi Oba, Vijay Iyer, Billy Childs, Kamasi Washington, Tyshawn Sorey and Hermeto Pascoal.

At this concert you will get to hear Hancock play some of his best known and most inventive compositions. But remember, he’s there as a mentor. So joining him for this Next Generation concert will be some very talented artists.

R+R=Now is a Blue Note Records ensemble that was put together by Robert Glasper. Glasper will be on keys with Terrace Martin on synthesizer and vocoder, Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah on trumpet, Derrick Hodge on bass, Taylor McFerrin on synth and beatbox and Justin Tyson on drums.

Joining the concert is Noname, a poet, rapper and producer from Chicago. Earlier this year she released her new record, Room 25. Also from Chicago and on the bill is vocalist, producer, instrumentalist Phoelix. He’s collaborated with Noname and also Saba and Smino. In 2018 he released his second record, Tempo. A new song, BBS, was released in May.

September 12th: An American in Paris

This isn’t truly a jazz concert. Honestly it falls into the category of live music performed to a screening of the Academy Award-winning Best Picture of 1951. The Los Angeles Philharmonic will be playing the glorious George Gershwin music under the direction of Brett Mitchell.

George Gershwin always straddled the line between jazz and classical music. An American in Paris is most commonly found, as are his other major compositions like Rhapsody in Blue, in the concert hall. But Gershwin’s roots were always in jazz. An American in Paris is no exception.

And unlike films today, this Vincente Minnelli classic lets the music live front and center. From the classic songs performed throughout the film to Oscar Levant’s ego-nightmare brilliantly set to Gershwin’s Concerto in F to the staggeringly beautiful ballet choreographed and directed by Gene Kelly – this is a movie that knew where to put the emphasis.

The only other concert likely to include Gershwin this season will be Tony Bennett. Which brings us full circle.

For tickets to these concerts, go here.

Main photograph: Tony Bennett.  Unless otherwise noted, all photographs courtesy of the LA Philharmonic Association.

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“They are both very much a part of my musical DNA and influences,” he says. “I have to reconcile the fact that I need to find the way to combine the best of both worlds in my music. Both genres speak and resonate heavily with me.”

Diehl, who has a new trio album due out this fall and often plays with recent Grammy Award-winner Cécile McLorin Salvant, finds himself fronting the LA Philharmonic this weekend for performances of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue on Saturday and the composer’s Second Rhapsody on Sunday. This is part of the celebration of the music of William Grant Still and the Harlem Renaissance. Thomas Wilkins conducts both concerts.

When we discussed the upcoming concerts yesterday, it was just after a rehearsal with the LA Philharmonic. And it was clear the jazz/classical line was going to be straddled for these concerts.

“With the Rhapsody in Blue, I’m doing some improvisations in the cadenzas and that’s difficult,” he reveals. “It’s got to feel like it is a seamless part of the piece, but on the other hand it should have some feeling of improvisation and freedom in the phrasing and the content and the ideas. It’s really making sure there’s a nice balance between the improvised and the written material.”

From Diehl’s perspective at the piano, the greater challenge can be found in the Second Rhapsody.

“It was written for a film called Delicious in 1931 and it’s less of a piano concerto. Even though the piano is clearly out front, it’s really embedded in the ensemble. The challenge in playing that piece is really figuring out how to weave the material together as a soloist because there is a lot of back and forth between the ensemble and piano. The mystery lies in how to connect the dots of the piece and not just let it be a series of motifs.”

Walking the line between jazz and classical, music as written and improvised music, is something Diehl has given a lot of thought. He also thinks that maybe we’ve gotten a little too precious with classical music performances.

“Even though there is a lot of scholarship and practice, it’s my firm belief we don’t really know how Chopin or Liszt sounded. We don’t have recordings of classical music like we do jazz musicians like John Coltrane or Louis Armstrong. I’d be really interested to get a time machine to see how these guys and women performed their music. There’s a part of me that thinks it could be radically different than the way we interpret or perform today. I bet it was more raggedy, a lot more rawness. If Beethoven was improvising a cadenza it was, at times, a bit raw and edgy – certainly for the time.”

Since the concerts in which Diehl is appearing also include William Grant Still’s music, it was important for the pianist to discuss how amazing Still’s accomplishments were.

“You have to talk about race,” he says. “The fact that this is a man who was an African-American who made a career in classical music as a composer and conductor. That was quite a feat for the early 20th century. It’s quite a feat even now in classical music. He had a vision of wanting to incorporate the African-American folk tradition, meaning the blues specifically, and the syncopations of African-American folk music. This music was seen as either primitive or simply a novelty to be exploited. Just to see a man like him have even a modicum of success in getting major orchestras to play his pieces, that’s incredibly encouraging and inspiring.”

Diehl believes it is vitally important that we continue to acknowledge and support artists like Still and pianist Hazel Scott who received a shout-out from Alicia Keys during last weekend’s Grammy Awards.

“Wow, she could play. Play their music! The music just has to be heard. I’m a big advocate of John Lewis who was the music director of the Modern Jazz Quartet. Whenever I get the opportunity in concerts, I play his music. For artists with a platform it’s important to be rooting for those artists and composers who could be forgotten if people don’t play their music. Sometimes it takes larger institutions to really keep these people in the consciousness of the greater public.”

Or it might take an artist like Cécile McLoran Salvant who brilliantly bridges the past while moving jazz vocals forward. Diehl is regularly found on the piano for both her recordings and concerts.

“She’s a special artist because what she does that most people can’t do is make connections. And not just between Duke Ellington and say Herbie Hancock, but connections between art and human relations to that art and culture. She points things out – anything you can think about – she can make all kinds of associations. That’s so rare. That’s another level of artistry.”

Which takes us back to Gershwin. When asked if he agrees with the composer’s statement that “Life is a lot like jazz…it’s best when you improvise,” Diehl pauses for a moment before responding.

“Ah…maybe I should slightly alter that. Gershwin was a very YOLO type of guy. [You only live once] For me it’s life is a lot like jazz if you improvise and you also have a plan. If you have a generic structure of what you’re doing and then you can work within that framework. Even when I’m soloing, I’m not ‘off the cuff – I have no idea the next note that follows.’ A lot of time I’m thinking on a macro scale – how will this all fit together. It’s not random.”

No more than his playing classical and jazz music is.

Photos of Aaron Diehl by Jaime Kahn/Courtesy of the LA Philharmonic

Photo of George Gershwin by Alfredo Valente/Courtesy of the NY Public Library

The post Aaron Diehl Plays Rhapsodies in Deux appeared first on Cultural Attaché.

The first concert finds his Symphony Number 1 (“Afro-American”) on a program with Ellington’s Come Sunday from Black, Brown and Beige, George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, and Ellington’s Harlem. This first symphony had its premiere in 1931.

The second concert will feature his Symphony Number 4 (“Autochtonous”) sharing the program with Ellington’s Three Black Kings,  Gershwin’s Second Rhapsody and the world premiere of Still Holding On by Adolphous Hailstock. Still’s 4th symphony dates to 1947. Hailstock’s piece is written in celebration of Still.

Much like Gershwin, Still incorporated blues and jazz elements into his compositions. In 1936, Still conducted two of his works with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl. It marked the first time an African-American conductor lead a major orchestra in this country.

Leading the LA Philharmonic for these concerts is Thomas Wilkins. Aaron Diehl is the soloist for both of the Gershwin rhapsodies.

Photo of William Grant Still by Maud Cuney-Hare

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