On a recent afternoon at David Geffen Hall, the violins of the New York Philharmonic began playing an ensemble pizzicato pattern under a turntable scratch solo by artist DJ Logic. I couldn’t help but laugh.
That satisfying moment came during the Lincoln Center’s commission of jazz trumpeter Etienne Charles’ “San Juan Hill” for the Philharmonic Orchestra. It was a fusion of music, executed amazingly well in an amazing space.
It may be unusual for Lincoln Center, but it’s no shock to New York as a whole.Between Charles’ new work and the Philharmonic Orchestra 1997 “Skys of America” Performance — a collaboration with composer and saxophonist Ornette Coleman and his Prime Time ensemble — a broad artistic network has opened new avenues for American composers. Different styles of language can draw energy from classical traditions, jazz-influenced improvisations, and beatwork. of funk and hip hop.
And beyond large venues like Lincoln Center, musicians have done this in smaller spaces. As an example, just before the Philharmonic premiere of “San Juan Hill,” Brooklyn’s Roulette gathered the National Jazz Orchestra with saxophonist and composer Steve His Lehmann and artistic director Frederick His Maurin. hosted a concert.
The composition was by Riemann, who performed in the ensemble, and Morin, who conducted. In addition to his fifteen acoustic players who were regular members of Lehman’s ensemble, like trumpeter Jonathan Finlayson and artists in Morin’s group, both composers also hired another electronic musician. I was. French electronic music center founded by Pierre Boulez in the 1970s.
Ircam ticked the box for cutting-edge classical music. Acoustic improvisers told the history of jazz performances. And in the rhythms of the half-dozen scores Lehman contributed to the concert, I saw the nodding sounds of experimental hip-hop.
Roulette posted the concert on YouTube. And from the beginning of Lehmann’s music, which begins with “Los Angeles Imaginary,” about 11 minutes into the video, the keyboardist plays two different manuals (one acoustic, his other electronic) in a complex ostinato. pattern. The riff is clearly not danceable. But when a percussionist comes along, providing a steady syncopation with the keyboard, her late 1990s underground New York hip-hop vibe rears its head.
Next is the addition of the acoustic bass. But when Riemann triggers the leads and brass, the work really blossoms with a grainy spectral wash of electronic sounds coming from laptop artists embedded within the orchestra. Saxophone by Riemann, 44. His solo adds texture that he honed on alto instruments. Namely, the oblique method that I developed with formal training and time in the New York scene. As an undergraduate at Wesleyan University, he studied with saxophonists Anthony Braxton and Jackie McLean, while Yannis Xenakis. while working on his Ph.D. On his Colombian compositions, he collaborated with French spectral composer Tristan Murail and American experimentalist George Lewis.
In a recent interview, Lehman recalled studying with Murail and focusing on the limits of complexity that listeners can comprehend. Riemann was preoccupied with questions such as: Or when do electronics start to sound acoustic? Or when do they sound in-tempo and out-of-tempo?”
Lehman added that ever since that time with Muragl, he has always tried to “utilize these transitions to make music that is meaningful or exciting to listen to.” He has written chamber music for his Grossman ensembles and large-scale works for his American Composers orchestra, and has achieved wide-ranging success in that field.
he also has cooperated with composers and performers Tyshawn Sorey and Vijay Iyer, and Lehman’s release Imprint of Pi Recordings Have Proven to be widely influential in a jazz circle. Lehman’s latest album on that label, “Zive: The Invisible” was produced with yet another group he is a part of, the international jazz rap fusion ensemble Sélébéyone.
In addition to Lehman, Sélébéyone includes soprano saxophonist and composer Maciek Lasserre, drummer Damion Reid and two MCs. language. (“Sélébéyone” is the Wolof word for “intersection.” Probably suitable for any Riemann-His ensemble, but especially for bilingual rhyming ensembles.)
“Xaybu: The Unseen” offers another way to listen to the contemporary cross-pollination of classical, rap and jazz. You can hear the influence of spectral harmonies on his electronic productions in Riemann’s work Liminal. And at the end of HPrizm’s one of his verses, after the rapper states he’s “riding bare rims,” Lehman’s polyrhythms stack up to make the wild ride even more bang-bang.
In an interview, Lehman said that in his work with Serebione, he often samples some of his classical music. “Anytime you hear a harp or something like that, or some sort of spectrum, chamber chords,” he said.
The work, heard at Zankel Hall in 2018, is ripe for consideration as a branch of Lincoln Center and the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. (Sélébéyone would also sound good in the newly renovated David Geffen Hall.)
But whether Lehman is invited or not, thankfully his work is well documented by the likes of Roulette and Pi Recordings.
Whether you’re looking at large ensemble jazz writing, experimental rap, or orchestral music, Lehmann says: What is your unique equipment to contribute? And in the best case scenario, add to these histories. ”