Jazz at Lincoln Center Radio
Season XIII
Congo Square
Uplink 3/15/07 Season 14
Script by Lauren Krenzel
Produced by David Goren, Steve Rathe and Simon Rentner at
Murray Street Productions for Jazz at Lincoln Center
(c) & (p) 2007
Anxr: (Rathe)
Jazz At Lincoln Center Radio is Supported by The New York State Music Fund, established by The New York State Attorney General At Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors.
Cadillac is Proud to be the Lead New York Sponsor of Jazz At Lincoln Center.
1) Music: Logo Talk
2) Marsalis:
TWO HUNDRED YEARS AGO, THERE WAS JUST ONE PLACE IN NORTH AMERICA WHERE SLAVES COULD ASSEMBLE AND PLAY THEIR OWN MUSIC.. EVERY SUNDAY, THEY GATHERED FOR AFRICAN DRUMMING AND DANCE AND A MARKETPLACE AT A CLEARING JUST OFF RAMPART STREET IN NEW ORLEANS. IT WAS CALLED CONGO PLAINS AND LATER BECAME KNOWN AS CONGO SQUARE.
AS DRUM TRADITIONS FROM AFRICA, CUBA, AND THE CARRIBEAN WERE MELDED WITH MELODIES AND INSTRUMENTS FROM EUROPE, THE MUSIC BECAME SOMETHING NEW -- A PULSE, A SOUND, A CONCEPT THAT WOULD GIVE ITS IDENTITY TO JAZZ - AND SO MUCH MORE AMERICAN MUSIC.
TO HONOR THAT HISTORY,GHANAIAN DRUM MASTER, YACUB ADDY AND I WORKED TOGETHER ON A COMPOSITION THAT WOULD BLEND THOSE PROMINENT AFRICAN CONCEPTS WITH TWENTY FIRST CENTURY JAZZ,
I'M WYNTON MARSALIS, WITH JAZZ AT LINCOLN CENTER AND "CONGO SQUARE"
aplse
3) Marsalis:
ROSE HALL FELT LIKE THE SETTING FOR A TRIBAL FESTIVAL. YACUB ADDY'S BAND ODADAA!, WERE IN COLORFUL GHANAIAN DRESS-- WITH DOZENS OF DRUMS, BELLS, SHAKERS ,AND A BALAPHONE (ITS LIKE A GIANT LOW- PITCHED MARIMBA) ALL SPREAD OUT ONSTAGE NEXT TO OUR JAZZ AT LINCOLN CENTER ORCHESTRA.
4) Music: Ring Shout/ Hu-nah-ney/Kolomashi Tracks 1-3 6:21
? (fade down on beginning of Kolomashi @ 4:30?) Not quite sure where WM wants to fade down here; he mentioned at the "tambourine" ?)
5) Marsalis:
THAT'S THE "RING SHOUT, WHICH IS A BEAT THAT SLAVES USED TO PLAY IN AMERICA GOES IN TO HU NAN NAY WHICH IS A WELCOMING CALL FROM THE NEW ORLEANS INDIAN TRIBES.
Music possible: ( underscore) use beginning of "Awo"]
KOLOMASHI - WHICH MEANS COLONIALS GET OUT… YACOUB ADDI WITH ODADDA AND THE LINCOLN CENTER JAZZ ORCHESTRA
IT WAS MORE THAN, AN EDUCATION TO WORK WITH YACUB ON THIS PIECE. HE IS A LEGENDARY ARTIST FROM A RENOWNED DRUMMING FAMILY IN GHANA WHO'S SPENT HIS LIFE KEEPING HIS CULTURE ALIVE, ODADAA! HIS PERCUSSION ORCHESTRA, IS NOW BASED IN THE U.S WHERE THEY PERFORM AND EXTEND THEIR TRADITIONS BY COLLABORATING WITH OTHER MUSICIANS.
WE'D WORKED TOGETHER ON A PROJECT A FEW YEARS AGO, BUT WE WEREN'T SATISFIED WITH THE RESULTS. YACUB KNEW ABOUT CONGO SQUARE FROM THE TIME LOUIS ARMSTRONG VISITED GHANA IN THE 1950S. SO WHEN WE STARTED TO WORK TOGETHER AGAIN, YACUB KNEW EXACTLY HOW WE COULD FOCUS OUR WORK
6) Vox: Yacub Addy
"Yeah, the first time he came to my house.,you know my house when you come in you have to take off your shoes. So he's taking his shoes and I walk down to him and I say, 'Where's the music of Congo Square?' He looked in my face and said, 'That music? Well, nobody knows. But, I know." And I say, 'if you know, let's put it together.'" :33
7) Marsalis:
THERE ARE NO RECORDINGS OF THE MUSIC PLAYED AT CONGO SQUARE TWO HUNDRED YEARS AGO. WE CAN ONLY IMAGINE WHAT IT SOUNDED LIKE FROM THE MUSIC THAT HAS COME DOWN TO US.
WE DO KNOW THAT CONGO SQUARE WAS AN OPEN SPACE IN THE DISTRICT BEHIND THE FRENCH QUARTER CALLED TREME. WE DO KNOW THAT NEW ORLEANS WAS LARGELY POPULATED BY SPANISH AND FRENCH CATHOLICS, AND THEIR AFRICAN SLAVES WHO WERE GIVEN SUNDAYS OFF, BY LAW.
ON THOSE DAYS, IN CONGO SQUARE, THERE WERE OPEN MARKETS WHERE PEOPLE SOLD PRALINES AND OTHER GOODS AND WARES AND MUSICIANS WOULD SIT IN CIRCLES PLAYING.
WHOLE FAMILIES CAME TO LISTEN, DANCE AND PLAY A GAME CALLED RAQUETTES WHICH IS A LITTLE BIT LIKE LACROSE.
THIS NEXT PIECE, "TIMIN TIMIN" CONJURES UP THE KIDS WHO MUST HAVE BEEN UNDERFOOT. WE ASKED YACUB AND HIS WIFE, AMINA ADDY TO TELL THE STORY OF THE SONG
12) Music: Timin Timin 5:55 (underscore below with flutes under-- beginning of song)
8) Vox: Yacub Addy
"Timin, Timin is a children's game. The children are crossing the lagoon or the river. And the sound of it when they are crossing and walk in the river, the sound, timin, timin…" :16
9) Vox: Amina Addy
"And tchoulong, tchoulong is the footsteps in the mud. You know how you go---tchou-long, tchou-long. (laughs) The game was created because actually the Sakumo River floods pretty much annually. And it's a game created to warn children about what to do during a flood, to advise them and to actually tell them where to go" :29
10) Vox: Yacub Addy
"Because of Katrina, I put this one in. For the people of New Orleans to cross the river." :07
13) Marsalis:
FROM "CONGO SQUARE." "TIMIN TIMIN" -- OBUAMAH ADDY WAS THE LEAD SINGER FROM THE ENSEMBLE, WITH THE LINCOLN CENTER JAZZ ORCHESTRA.
14) Music: Sunday Market (start under)
IN ADDITION TO THE MUSIC AND PLAY IN CONGO SQUARE, SUNDAYS ALSO BROUGHT AN OPEN-AIR BAZAAR OF FOOD AND HANDICRAFTS FROM ALL OVER THE CARIBBEAN TO THIS PORT CITY. THIS NEXT PIECE CELEBRATES THE WOMEN WHO TRADED AND SHOPPED THERE. IT ALSO RECALLS THE LILTING CUBAN RHYTHMS THAT MUST HAVE FLOATED THROUGH THAT MARKETPLACE.
THIS IS CALLED "SUNDAY MARKET."
14) Music: Sunday Market 8:12
15) Marsalis:
"SUNDAY MARKET" -- THE BASS SOLO BY CARLOS HENRIQUEZ. TRUMPET MARCUS PRINTUP, ALTO SAXOPHONE SHERMAN IRBY, BARITONE SAXOPHONE JOE TEMPERLY THE CONGA SOLO WAS BY OTAY THOMPSON AND YOU'RE LISTENING TO ODADAA! AND THE LINCOLN CENTER JAZZ ORCHESTRA.
THROUGHOUT THE 19TH CENTURY, SLAVE SHIPS ARRIVED IN NEW ORLEANS FROM THE SHORES OF GHANA AND OTHER AFRICAN NATIONS. IN SOME PLACES, WHOLE VILLAGES WERE EMPTIED OUT TO FILL THEM. IN A TRADITIONAL GHANAIAN SONG, A MYSTERIOUS FISH CALLED "ADJESEKE" IS SYMBOLIC OF ONE OF THESE SLAVE SHIPS..
ODADAA! BEGINS OUR TRIBUTE TO THE MEN OF CONGO SQUARE -- WITH A OPEN CALL AND RESPONSE SECTION. THAT'S FOLLOWED BY A FISHERMAN'S POLYRHYTHM, ADIKO ,(AH - dee - ko) .
THE JAZZ AT LINCOLN CENTER ORCHESTRA RESPONDS WITH THE OPEN CALL AND RESPONSE OF THE AFRO-AMERICAN CHURCH - VINCENT GARDERER IS ON THE TROMBONE. -- AND THEN WE PROCEED INTO OUR OWN SHUFFLE RHYTHM, OUR PRINCIPAL AMERICAN DANCE RHYTHM. HERE'S "ADJESEKE."
16) Music: Adjeseke 7:43
17) Marsalis:
"ADJESEKE," FROM "CONGO SQUARE" -- AN ORIGINAL COMPOSITION BY MASTER DRUMMER YACUB ADDY AND ME, WYNTON MARSALIS -- PERFORMED BY ODADAA! AND THE JAZZ AT LINCOLN CENTER ORCHESTRA.
Marsalis: (into midbreak)
YOU CAN HEAR INTERVIEWS WITH YACUB AND AMINA ADDEY,
AND ME ABOUT "CONGO SQUARE" -- AND FIND LOTS MORE MUSIC AT
J A L C DOT ORG,
AND THERE'S MORE OF "CONGO SQUARE" AHEAD FROM JAZZ AT LINCOLN CENTER I'M WYNTON MARSALIS.
18) Midbreak music: :60 Bamboula (from 2nd second half)
22) Marsalis:
WHEN YOU LISTEN TO THE MUSIC OF YACUB ADDY AND ODADDA!, IT ALL SOUNDS SO SIMPLE AND NATURAL - OBVIOUS
BUT LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING, BOY, THERE'S NOTHING IN THE WORLD EASY ABOUT THAT.
23) Music: Tsotsobii (use just the first :45 to underscore following copy; don't play through Amina's vox; these aren't obonu rhythms)
24) Marsalis:
THESE TRADITIONAL GHANAIAN PLAYERS DON'T READ MUSIC OR USE HARMONIC PROGRESSION. INSTEAD, THEY PLAY COMPLEX, INTERWOVEN RHYTHMS. AND THE MELODIES FLOAT
THE ENSEMBLE OF DRUMMERS, OTHER INSTRUMENTALISTS, AND SINGERS ALL FOLLOW AND LOCK INTO THE BASIC BEAT THAT'S PLAYED ON A HANDWROUGHT IRON BELL..
NOW, THE JAZZ AT LINCOLN CENTER ORCHESTRA READS MUSIC IN REGULAR TIME SIGNATURES --4/4, 6/8. SO IT WAS HARD TO WORK OUT HOW WE COULD ALL PERFORM TOGETHER.
YACUB HAD TO TAKE ME DEEP INTO HIS TRADITION AND TEACH ME ABOUT THESE POWERFUL RHYTHMS.
IN EARLY REHEARSALS, YACUB'S WIFE, AMINA ADDY WAS THERE TO HELP AS WE LISTENED TO ODADAA! BEAT OUT THE OBONU ( Oh - BOH - noo) RHYTHM ON THE DRUMS.
25) Vox: Amina Addy
"Wynton is scratching his head, shaking his head. He has the most perplexed look on his face. (laughs) And he talked about this, he said, 'Amina, I can't. It's just too far away from me.' I said 'But, Wynton, Yacub said that obonu is connected to jazz.' And he said, 'obonu is connected to jazz?' I said, 'Yes!' And he went over there to the group of drummers and he tried, it made him try, he really tried, he really made an effort to get into it. And when they stopped, he said, 'Can I try and play the bell?' And he took the bell and he started playing the bell and he started hearing it." :50
26) Marsalis:
AND FOR MONTHS, I KEPT TRYING TO HEAR IT. BOY BUT I GOT LUCKY WITH MY SECRET WEAPON. I'M TALKING ABOUT OUR BASSIST CARLOS HENRIQUEZ HE HAD GROWN UP PLAYING LATIN MUSIC. SO HE WAS MUCH MORE USED TO PLAYING TO A CLAVE, A RHYTHMIC BEAT
27) Vox: Carlos Henriquez
"And he would play these rhythms, right, from Yacub's bands. And we would just sit there. And Wynton would be tapping where the 'one' is and I'll be look at him and say, 'Wynton, you're wrong, the 'one' is here.' And then we'll listen to that piece for twenty minutes and then I'll be like, 'nononono, that's wrong, that's all wrong, it's here.' So it was like that. And it was like that for a good month and a half." :39
28) Marsalis:
YOU CAN HEAR THE MORE OF THOSE INTERVIEWS AT JALC.ORG.
WE ALL WORKED HARD SO BOTH ENSEMBLES COULD PLAY TO THE BELL PATTERNS NOW, YOU'LL HEAR WHEN WE DON'T. THIS NEXT PIECE IS CALLED "WAR." THE BANDS CHALLENGE EACH OTHER, BACK AND FORTH---UNTIL AT THE VERY END, YOU'LL HEAR US PLAYING OUR SEPARATE PIECES AT THE SAME TIME--ALL TO ONE BELL PATTERN.
LET ME TELL YOU, IT WAS "WAR."
29) Music: War 12:15 30) Marsalis:
THAT WAS "WAR" A TRUE MUSICAL BATTLE BETWEEN THE GHANAIAN MUSIC ENSEMBLE, ODADAA! AND THE JAZZ AT LINCOLN CENTER ORCHESTRA.
YACUB ADDY WROTE THIS NEXT SONG-- AS A HEARTFELT PRAYER FOR THE HEALING OF NEW ORLEANS.
IT'S CALLED "HEDZOLE BABA" OR "PEACE/FREEDOM WILL COME TO US."
31) Music: Hedzole Baba 5:09
32) Marsalis:
"HEDZOLE BABA"--- WITH LEAD SINGER OBUAMAH ADDY OF ODADAA.
33) Vox: Yacub Addy
"African tradition is, we don't always play 'I love you, I love you.' No, we play something which can wake people up, can bring people together and the spirit of the people. That's the way African music is." :18
34) Marsalis:
FOR OUR FINAL SONG, WE HOPE TO WAKE YOU UP, BRING PEOPLE TOGETHER AND IGNITE THE SPIRIT OF HOPE AND RENEWAL IN NEW ORLEANS FOR OUR CONGO SQUARE FINALE WE'LL HAVE ONE LAST FRENZIED DANCE---AT "PLACE CONGO."
35) Music: Place Congo 2:17
36) Marsalis:
"PLACE CONGO" OF "CONGO SQUARE"--- WITH ODADAA! FEATURING ON PERCUSSION AND VOCALS -
YACUB ADDY, OKOE NUNOO (OH - koh NOO - noo) ,
ZORKIE (ZOR - kee) NELSON,
ANI APANG (AH - nee Ah - PANG),
AYAA TAGOE (EYE - yah TAY - go) and
TAWIAH NUNOO (TAH - wee - ah NOO - noo)
ON THE BALAPHONE AND PERCUSSION AND VOCALS WE HAVE OTEY (OH - tay) THOMPSON
AND ON VOCALS AND ALL KINDS OF COLORFUL DANCING THAT
YOU ALL CAN'T HEAR, MR OBUAMAH (OH - boo -AH - mah) ADDY
OF COURSE WE HAVE THE WONDERFUL IMANI (ih - MAH - nee) GONZALEZ ON VOCALS.
.
THE LINCOLN CENTER JAZZ ORCHESTRA INCLUDED SEAN JONES, RYAN KISOR, MARCUS PRINTUP AND JAMES ZOLLAR ON TRUMPETS; ANDRE HAYWARD, VINCENT GARDNER AND DELFEAYO MARSALIS ON THE TROMBONES. SHERMAN IRBY TED NASH, WALTER BLANDING, VICTOR GOINES AND JOE TEMPERLEY PLAYED AN ASSORTMENT OF SAXOPHONES AND CLARINETS FROM SOPRANINO TO BARITONE SAXOPHONE. DAN NIMMER WAS AT THE PIANO, CARLOS HENRIQUEZ ON THE BASS.
ALI JACKSON AND HERLIN RILEY PLAYED THE DRUMS TAMBROURINES AND AN ASSORTMENT OF PERCUSSION
RICKY DIRTY RED GORDON, PERCUSSION AND THE WASHBOARD. I HAD THE PLEASURE OF CONDUCTING THE FELLOWS AND THE LADY. MY NAME IS WYNTON MARSALIS AND THIS IS JAZZ AT LINCOLN CENTER
37) Music: Fast Kolomashi
[this begins at about 3:45 on the very last track---use it to score above and below]
38) Marsalis: (Credits)
JAZZ AT LINCOLN CENTER RADIO IS PRODUCED BY MURRAY STREET. THIS EDITION WRITTEN BY LAUREN KRENZEL, OUR PROGRAM IS PRODUCED BY DAVID GOREN AND STEVE RATHE WITH SIMON RENTNER.
SAUNDRA PALMER GRASSI RECORDED THE CONCERT AT ROSE HALL WITH ANDRE GUESS, ROB MACOMBER AND JEFF ROTHMAN .
OUR THANKS ALSO GOES TO RANDY EZRATTY, YACUB AND AMINA ADDY AND EFFANEL MUSIC / XM PRODUCTIONS.
YOU CAN HEAR THIS PROGRAM AGAIN, HEAR THE FULL INTERVIEWS WITH ME AND YACUB AND CARLOS HENRIQUEZ AND FIND AND LOTS MORE AT OUR WEBSITE - J A L C DOT ORG.
THE PRESIDENT OF JAZZ AT LINCOLN CENTER IS KATHY BROWN.
THANKS FOR JOINING US. I'M WYNTON MARSALIS.