The Imani Winds swept through the NewMusic@ECU Festival on February 24 and 25, capturing the respect and affection of students and faculty during master classes and student composition readings, and displaying warmth and virtuosity at their concert at the A.J. Fletcher Recital Hall on Thursday night, February 25.

The first work on the program, “Red Clay and Mississippi Delta” (2009), composed by group founder and flautist Valerie Coleman, showcased the good humor, camaraderie, and considerable abilities of the group. The audience snapped their fingers to a New Orleans jazz-inspired theme led by clarinetist Mariam Adam while Monica Ellis, bassoonist and daughter of late jazz saxophonist Clarence Oden, navigated brilliant scalar passages, all of which elicited enthusiastic applause.

“Homage to Duke” (2002), a work spun from Ellington’s “Come Sunday,” was written by horn player Jeff Scott. Throughout the evening he leaped technicalities at a single bound, but in this work he showed a lyrical side, presenting the melody with beauty and sensitivity. Scott artfully set Duke’s motives in varied contexts, polyphonically and over chord clusters, yielding a fresh approach that was thoughtfully interpreted by the ensemble.

Oboist James Roe, although appearing only temporarily with Imani while Toyin Spellman-Diaz is on maternity leave, is an ideal match for the group’s generous spirit and talents. Roe introduced Karel Husa’s Five Poems (1994), a charming work that revolves around the life of birds, whose outer movements frame inner sections that highlight clarinet, oboe, and horn.

The audience returned from intermission to Elliott Carter’s Woodwind Quintet (1948), and surely the elder statesman of present day composers would have approved of the spirited and impeccable performance of his work.

The final work, Wind Quintet No. 2 (1994) by Miguel del Aguila, calls for extended techniques such as oboe and flute off-stage and the pairing of instruments with textless voice. Taken as a whole these procedures were effective, with a few possible exceptions. The A.J. Fletcher Hall did not yield a markedly altered sound for the off-stage oboe. And while the vocalizing was performed in good faith and with impeccable intonation, the effect that Aguila aims for may not be completely achieved by this particular procedure. On the other hand, the somewhat burlesque “In Heaven” was the most aurally novel of the movements, and perhaps the most enjoyable for that reason. By unique and various means each instrument begins as a source of percussive rhythmic sound, and only slowly does pitch emerge to eventually overtake the texture.

Imani Winds gave a spectacular performance, and the audience responded with enthusiasm. The standing ovation was rewarded with a fun and fleeting klezmer postscript featuring clarinetist Mariam Adam, and the evening closed with a convivial reception.

Posted by Lorin Wilkerson at 12:18 PM

http://www.granlibakken.com/packages.php#package_20

The new CD of Jazz legends will feature special commissioned works by Paquito D’Rivera, Jason Moran and Wayne Shorter. Special guest artist Paquito D’Rivera on clarinet and Alex Brown on piano! Some of the newest and most amazing works to be added to the chamber music wind repertoire.

Imani Winds, a wind quintet whose stylish grace and charm match the high quality of sound produced from their instruments, hold a substantial pedigree among fellow artists, audiences, and critics alike.

Imani Winds

These are musicians for whom artistic risks are to be taken cautiously and, once taken, followed through with abandon. At the very least, this type of conviction garners respect, but being in top form while you do it is special stuff. Add to this ensemble the collaboration of Stefon Harris — one of the world’s premier vibraphonists, known for his deft musicianship and his engaging performances — and this pedigree increases fourfold, one for each mallet Harris wields.

Sunday’s concert at Herbst Theatre in San Francisco, featuring the Winds, who were joined by Harris in the second half, had a warmth and ebullient charm that made clear how much these musicians loved playing with each other, and how much they loved performing for their audience. The quintet, always decked in elegant dress and infectious smiles, is something of a living, breathing example of the cultural diversity that is American music, which they champion. Harris, a previous member of the SFJAZZ Collective and formerly a five-year artist in residence for San Francisco Performances, complements the Winds in this regard; equally trained in classical music and jazz as a student at the Manhattan School of Music in the 1990s, he himself makes a strong case for what American music both looks and sounds like.

In fact, the only composition on display that was not penned by an American composer — specifically, an American composer present on stage that evening — was the Quintette by the 20th-century French composer Jean Françaix, which paled in comparison to the other three pieces on the program. This is not to slight Françaix’ writing, which has its own charm and was executed flawlessly by the quintet, but rather to speak of the special quality of music written specifically for Imani Winds.

The first two such pieces were composed by members of the quintet: Red Clay and Mississippi Delta and Homage to Duke by flautist Valerie Coleman and hornist Jeff Scott, respectively. Coleman’s work is a whimsical toe-tapper (or finger-snapper, as Coleman herself demonstrated) that showcases the clarinet, played by Mariam Adam, brilliantly. Scott’s piece pays deference to Duke Ellington’s profoundly beautiful Come Sunday with savory clustered dissonances, bassoon ostinatos (carried expertly by Monica Ellis), and contrapuntal moments that crystallized the already heightened sense of group interaction.

Defiantly Out of the Box

The centerpiece of this concert, which came in the second half along with Harris, was actually a box — literally and metaphorically. Harris explained that though he usually does not take commissions, the opportunity to write for Imani Winds was one he couldn’t pass up, and how to write for such a unique ensemble was, interestingly, both the initial challenge and, ultimately, what generated the content for his original Anatomy of a Box (A Sonic Painting in Wood, Metal, and Wind).

Stefon Harris

The box in question is an eight-tone log drum: a wooden box with slits carved into one of its sides, forming tongues of different pitches that when struck resonate within the body of the box. Harris turned to this instrument in a moment of compositional exasperation away from the piano, where he composes. The warm resonance of those eight pitches provided for Harris a way of thinking, well, outside the box and, as his piece developed further, also a way of coming up with the elementary pitch material for an impressive array of chordal harmonies.

Anatomy of a Box oscillates between improvised and prewritten sections (sometimes occurring simultaneously), tension and release, imitative propulsion and choralelike restraint, chaos and organization. Harris, a preeminent improviser, created space for members of Imani Winds to spontaneously create melody, as well. The piece may be thought of as being divided into three sections: one where the ensemble players play off each other, the second where they play on top of an electronic drone (introduced and controlled by Harris), and the final where the eight notes of the log drum are looped electronically, which serves as a foundation for captivating ensemble playing and the most interesting and fulfilling moments of the composition.

Harris was right when he told the audience that what he set out to create with Anatomy of a Box was “American chamber music,” which is not necessarily classical or jazz but certainly a mix of both. Except what Harris said really applied to the entire concert: a testament that, after it was all said and done, was like preaching to the choir.

By John Kenyon

With all due respect to the entire history of classical woodwind music, rarely does someone utter phrases like “lit a fire” or “scary” or “stretched to the edge of our imagination” when discussing it.

That, then, is the first indication that Friday’s concert featuring Imani Winds and vibraphonist Stefon Harris will not be your typical night of polite chamber music.

Anyone familiar with Imani Winds already knows this. The quintet formed in part because its members wanted to show that African-Americans and Latinos could excel when performing classical music. A recent New York Times article about the group cites a survey by the League of American Orchestras that show “blacks make up less than 2 percent of professional American orchestra musicians, while Latinos make up less than 3 percent.”

The group is composed of Valerie Coleman on flute, Toyin Spellman-Diaz on oboe, Mariam Adam on clarinet, Jeff Scott on French horn and Monica Ellis on bassoon.

Other groups have followed Imani Winds down that path, making it less unique from that standpoint. But its repertoire — and most important for audiences in Iowa City, its choice of composers — continue to set it apart.

The quintet is in the midst of what it calls the Legacy Commissioning Project, a five-year effort to celebrate its 10th anniversary with commissioned works from 10 composers of diverse backgrounds. Already it has worked with Alvin Singleton, Robert Sierra, Jason Moran and others. Its concert Friday with Harris marks the debut of his commissioned piece, “The Anatomy of a Box: a sonic painting in wood, metal and wind.” The piece was co-commissioned by Hancher Auditorium.

The performance takes place at 7:30 p.m. Friday at City High School’s Opstad Auditorium. Tickets, ranging from $10 to $28, are available by calling (319) 335-1160 or 800-HANCHER, at the Hancher box office on the first floor of the Old Capitol Mall next to Sweets & Treats, or online.

Those who know Harris’ work — he has performed often in the Corridor in recent years — know he has a strong improvisational streak. Improvisation and classical music don’t often intersect, making this collaboration all the more exciting for the performers, Coleman says.

“Every time we collaborate, we learn something new,” she says. “He has a technique he uses. He believes using this technique, any musician can improvise. Around that, this piece he wrote, it’s epic, I gotta tell you.”

Harris describes the piece as “a live demonstration of a sonic painting in which we experiment with blending the textures of our instruments. We will blur the lines between improvisation and composition, and in turn between classical and jazz.”

Coleman says composers like Harris, Moran, Wayne Shorter and Paquito D’Rivera, all of whom have worked with Imani Winds, are able to merge the worlds of jazz and classical together. She adds that the group members become innocent bystanders to the process.

“Contemporary music has so many different sounds to it, and there are so many people that are bringing their own voice to it, an esoteric side, a dissonant side,” she says. “Others are sticking to other sounds. Jazz musicians do cross over into classical music when it comes to their own writing. To ask a jazz musician like Stefon and like Jason and like Wayne to write a classical piece, they’re going to bring the most cutting edge sounds to it.”

She says each composer the group has worked with has continued its evolution into better improvisers.

“As a classical musician, you don’t really think about it,” she says. “They make us think about it. They’ve made us hungry for it. As a group, we have talked about it all the time. One by one, we each came aboard with the desire to improvise.

“We like to improvise,” she adds. “I don’t think we’re great improvisers yet. But all of the information we have gathered for the last 10 years is stewing in our brains. If we stopped playing music today, we have enough to think about for our lifetimes.”

Coleman and Scott also compose for the group, and each has a piece on Friday’s program. The group will world premiere Coleman’s “Red Clay and Mississippi Delta,” and perform “Homage to Duke by Scott and “Quinette” by Jean Francaix.

Coleman says her piece, which is about five minutes long, “popped into my head back in May. When things pop into your head, you’ve got to write them down, because just as quickly as they come, they go.”

She says one could call it a scherzo, and that it deals with triplets and how they swing. More specifically, it recalls her mother’s side of her family, which hails from Jacksonville, Miss. Her relatives on that side have skin that is chocolate brown with red overtones resembling clay, she says.

“I had in mind the juke joints, casinos, the blues sounds I grew up with courtesy of my Mom,” she says. “Don’t be fooled, though. The piece is classical music.”

The notions of jazz and swing continue with Scott’s piece, which pays tribute to Ellington’s sacred music (coincidentally enough, Harris performed some of Ellington’s sacred music with the Turtle Island String Quartet at Hancher in 2008), and the Francaix piece, which Coleman says is a “type of French piece that shows the American-based invasion of jazz. It has a touch of impressionism with chords reminiscent of Ravel.”

Imani Winds is scheduled to work with other composers through 2012 as part of the Legacy Commissioning Project, including Simon Shaeen and Danilo Perez. Its collaborations won’t end there, Coleman says.

“We can’t stop with the 10th composer,” she says. “It has lit a fire for us, taken us in directions we didn’t anticipate.” Describing a recent meeting with Shaheen, she says, “Our brains and hearts were stretched to the edge of our imagination.

“We see the possibilities, and that is a thrilling prospect,” she adds. “(Classical music) is an art that is full of rich culture and the music is glorious. I think this new way of possibilities will help us to get outside of what it means to be a wind quintet. It’s scary, but exciting.”

Over a five-year period from 2007-2011, Imani Winds will commission, premiere and tour the new works, written for woodwind quintet. The project is ambitious, as each new work will bring together influences from many traditions and cultures. Elements being explored embrace African and Afro-Cuban traditions, Asian and Middle Eastern culture, and jazz. Mixed media will be included in live performance, incorporating electronic music and the visual arts; and instrumentation will encompass the string quartet, choir, and percussion in an expanded chamber ensemble scoring with the woodwind quintet.

The composers are Alvin Singleton, Roberto Sierra, Jason Moran, Stefon Harris, Jeff Scott, Simon Shaheen, Tania Leon, Danilo Perez and Billy Childs

In the 2007-2008 season Imani Winds celebrated its first decade of pushing the boundaries, definition, and performance of contemporary American chamber music. The LCP seeks to continue this exploration of musical frontiers while addressing the growing needs of cultural diversity within America’s concert halls.  Ultimately, LCP will involve chamber music audiences, presenters and composers in an important dialog about the direction of music in the 21st century, while creating an important, broad, and inclusive body of literature for the currently limited woodwind quintet repertoire.

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Upcoming Legacy Commissioning Project composers include Simon Shaheen, internationally acclaimed Oud player. Also a new recording coming out in Fall 2010 of commissioned works by Wayne Shorter, Paquito D’Rivera and Jason Moran!

Members of Imani Winds to collaborate with the Borromeo String Quartet in New York City at Merkin Hall to benefit MUSICIANS4HARMONY, helping young musicians in Iraq keep music in their lives, featuring a World Premier by Mohammed Fairouz.

IMANI WINDS IN THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

Listen online to Imani Winds on American Public Media’s Performance Today.

Catch us on Facebook &  YouTube. Watch us on Second Life, a virtual reality interview!

Artists for Health Care Reform!

May 13, 2009

Say “chamber music” to most people, and the string quartet is probably the first image to spring to mind. Far less familiar is the string quartet’s counterpart, the wind quintet. The former is made up of two violins, a viola and a cello. On the other hand the wind quintet normally consists of four woodwinds — flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon — and that most subtle of brass instruments, a French horn, whose timbre lends warmth and weight to the overall texture.

As an instrumental grouping, the wind quintet has its roots in the late 18th-century wind ensembles that provided suitable background music for outdoor entertainments, especially those at the Viennese court of Emperor Josef II after 1782. Called Harmoniemusik, the ensemble, which consisted of pairs of oboes, clarinets, horns and bassoons, exploited contemporary developments in the construction of wind instruments — especially the clarinet — while exploring wind treatment of the musical ideas being advanced by the string quartets of Mozart and Haydn.

The transformation of the outdoor pairings into the chamber music ensemble of five solo winds was firmly established by a set of 24 wind quintets composed by Anton Reicha beginning in 1811, and another set of nine wind quintets written by Franz Danzi between 1820 and 1824. However apart from a set of three wind quintets (1852) by the unjustly neglected Anglo-French composer Georges Onslow (1784-1853), the 19th century generally ignored the possibilities offered by this refreshing combination of instruments. It remained for 20th-century composers to turn their attention to polychrome sonorities and contrapuntal possibilities of the wind quintet. But while Hindemith, Schoenberg, Milhaud, Barber and Stockhausen made admirable contributions, thet repertoire still remains relatively small compared to that of the string quartet.

One ensemble that has risen to the challenges and rewards offered by this situation is the Grammy-winning Imani Winds, a youthful, New York-based quintet gaining a prominent place in the Aeolian pantheon. On Sunday they will be performing (and narrating) Bruce Adolph’s new “Zephyronia” with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.

The name Imani means “faith” in Swahili, and subtly reflects the African-American and Latin American ancestry of the ensemble’s five members: flutist Valerie Coleman, oboist Toyin Spellman-Diaz, clarinetist Mariam Adam, French hornist Jeff Scott, and bassoonist Monica Ellis.

Ms. Coleman, a noted composer in her own right, explains that she initially conceived of the idea to found a professional wind quintet during her first year of graduate school at the Mannes College of Music in New York. “I wasn’t thinking of just any wind quintet,” she says, “but of a group of virtuoso musicians of color who would join together to change the conventional view that classical music is somehow ‘exclusive’ and too stuffy to be accessible.” Each of the future members already had impressive free-lance reputations while still pursuing their graduate studies variously at Juilliard, Manhattan School and Stony Brook, so Ms. Coleman tracked them down by phone. Thereupon they agreed to “meet for a sight reading session just for the fun of it. And 12 years later, we are still together.”

Ms. Spellman-Diaz adds that when they started out, the Imani members were inspired by successful wind quintets like the New York-based Dorian Wind Quintet and the Berlin Philharmonic Wind Quintet. “However it really was important for us to look beyond the wind quintet per se, beyond the traditions of chamber music, in order to connect our music to the world at large.” Having achieved that, she says, “we are proud of our ability to intermingle different styles of music within the classical umbrella. We can swing like jazz musicians (at least think we can), we have experimented with different types of Caribbean, Central and South American musics, and we can bring the style back home to the classical genre within a few musical beats. This next year we will also be working with Simon Shaheen, the great Palestinian-born musician, and learning more about Middle Eastern music.” Indeed, a sampler on their Website — www.imaniwinds.com — contains brief selections that reveal this kaleidoscopic approach to musical styles, not to mention their crackerjack virtuosity as an ensemble of soloists, and their proclivity for joining forces with percussionists and vocalists.

This ability to turn on a dime from producing a melded sonority of organ-like concords to a scintillating aural tissue highlighting each instrumental voice is at the heart of wind-quintet performance. Ms. Coleman observes that “unlike the four instruments of a string quartet, each instrument in a wind quintet has its own unique sound, but because they don’t automatically create a homogenous sound when played together, scoring for the ensemble can be so tricky that some composers shy away from it.”

The quintet has collaborated with such jazz luminaries as the Brubeck Brothers and Wayne Shorter and plays a lot of new music with a jazz orientation. But Mr. Scott, who is one of the ensemble’s resident composers and its arranger as well as its hornist, notes that “although we are not jazz musicians per se, the more comfortable we become with certain compositions, the more jazz-style improvisation we incorporate when we perform them.”

Expanding the quintet repertoire has been Imani’s goal from the start, because as Ms. Adam explains, “a chief misconception about wind quintets is that they play a handful of pieces all the time.” To address this, Imani established its five-year Legacy Commissioning Project in 2007. Through 2011, the group is commissioning new works from established and emerging composers of color, including Alvin Singleton, Roberto Sierra, Jason Moran, Stefon Harris, Mr. Scott, Mr. Shaheen, Tania León, Danilo Perez and Billy Childs. Composers are encouraged to incorporate musical influences of their various personal backgrounds, including African and Afro-Cuban traditions, Asian and Middle Eastern culture, and jazz. And to move even further beyond the wind quintet itself, the new works are free to explore mixed media, electronic music and the visual arts, as well as expanded chamber scoring combining the quintet with the string quartet, choir and percussion. Ms. Ellis says, “In many instances, we have sought out composers who have not written for the wind quintet before, so that they approach the writing without any preconceived notions about the ensemble. Once the new works are premiered, we want to keep them for ourselves for a while, in order to give them ample promotion and exposure. But we definitely want other quintets to play them down the road.”

As Ms. Adam puts it, “Classical musicians don’t often get the opportunity to combine so many disparate musical and even visual elements into a performance. So we like to plan each program like a five-course meal. Sometimes it’s all a form of tapas, but mostly it has a structure that opens the ears of new listeners and hopefully prepares them for all different sounds they can hear along the way.”

link to WSJ