$15 on the link and $20 at the door.
On January 12th, Visionary Composer JOE GARRISON Returns to the Encinitas Library with “THE BROKEN JAR” Ensemble Accompaniment by NIGHT PEOPLE Features:
Lori Bell – flute/alto flute
Robert Zelickman – clarinet/bass clarinet
Jane Zwerneman – French horn
Brian O’Donnell – bass trombone
Melonie Grinnell – piano
Mackenzie Leighton – bass
Joe Garrison – composer/conductor
“A visceral 8-Movement Suite Melds Orchestral Arrangements with Freeform Jazz”
Brought to you by Ruthless Hippies and The Hutchins Consort.
There will be free light refreshments
FULL INFO/BACKGROUND BELOW:
On January 12th, Visionary Composer JOE GARRISON Returns with “THE BROKEN JAR”
Live at Encinitas Library (540 Cornish Dr, Encinitas), 7PM. Tickets $15 in advance, $20 at the door.
Ensemble Accompaniment by NIGHT PEOPLE Features Flute, Clarinet, French Horn, Bass Trombone, Piano and Bass
Classical and Jazz artists featured are: Flute – LORI BELL, Clarinet – ROBERT ZELICKMAN, French horn – JANE ZWERNEMAN, Bass Trombone – BRIAN O’DONNELL, Piano – MELONIE GRINNELL, Bass – MACKENZIE LEIGHTON
Visceral 8-Movement Suite Melds Orchestral Arrangements with Freeform Jazz
Being performed at the Encinitas Library on Friday January 12th 2018, at 7PM The Broken Jar is the follow-up to CDs, The People Upstairs – 2016, and Veranda – 2013. Veranda landed in NBC San Diego’s Top 10 jazz releases that year and was favorably compared by the San Diego Troubadour to the ground-breaking work of Oliver Nelson.
Tickets are $15 in advance (https://squareup.com/store/ruthless-hippies) and $20 at the door. The show is sponsored by The Hutchins Consort x Ruthless Hippies. There will be light refreshments.
San Diego, CA: As a 25+-year veteran of pushing the boundaries of modern composition, prolific musician Joe Garrison ventures into a new realm of timbre – utilizing his unique extended harmonic vocabulary in a “drumless” setting.
Highly respected reviewer, Robert Bush writes, ‘Joe Garrison is an alchemist, a wizard, a visionary. The music you hear on his latest release The People Upstairs cannot be experienced anywhere else. His ensemble, Night People is comprised of both classical musicians and improvisers and that blend accounts for much of the magic that unfolds.’
In this new work, Garrison continues his exploration of states of mind, specifically death and the process of dying. Garrison comments on the work, “I was intrigued by a conversation with Chris Duvall where he put forth the idea of serious music being presented in the guise of a lighter, more accessible sound” The project was written without drums, which reveals the intricacies of the timbres and interplay between the instruments. The music moves back and forth between tightly composed and radically improvised. There is a tension between intense, dissonant sections and more familiar sounds, including Motown.
Garrison’s intricate and visceral compositions recall the eclectic veracity of John Cage, who decreed “All sound [EDITOR’S NOTE: this includes all musical styles] is music when you let it flow.” It’s a mindset Garrison has championed throughout his career, fusing jazz, classical, rock, Indian, Indonesian Gamelan, Japanese, stride, medieval, and minimalism into his amalgamations, so it’s only natural that his music doesn’t really fit in, yet, unequivocally, draws you in.
Commissioned by local music event, Rusefest, in 1989, Night People’s sole ongoing purpose has been playing original, creative, modern jazz, usually in large ensembles, using instruments not normally associated with jazz, such as oboe, French horn, flute, and bass clarinet. While the collective expanded to 19 members at a KSDS Jazz Live concert in 2015, Garrison has been utilizing smaller groups while still achieving a large-ensemble sound. Joining Garrison on this new musical journey are acclaimed jazz and classical musicians, Lori Bell (flute), Robert Zelickman (clarinet, bass clarinet), Jane Zwerneman (French horn), Brian O’Donnell (bass trombone), Melonie Grinnell (piano), Mackenzie Leighton (upright bass), Celebrated local musician/producer Lori Bell commissioned Garrison to compose the project.
Receiving classical training at UCSD, CSU Fullerton (BM), and University of Colorado at Boulder (MM), where he gained expertise in music composition emphasizing indeterminate and minimalist approaches, Garrison’s compositional process draws from the entirety of his life experience and traditional study. Having participated in many styles of music, from tightly composed to freely improvised, he has found a middle ground. Improvisation and through-composition are employed as structural elements serving his musical forms, thus opening up space to provide contrast and distort time while maintaining forward motion.
In addition to the works of Cage, Garrison has been influenced by innovators from all eras, including Leonin and Perotin, Claudio Monteverdi, Hector Berlioz, Igor Stravinsky, Harry Partch, Terry Riley, John Coltrane, Thelonious Monk, Wayne Shorter, Charles Mingus, and Miles Davis. When pressed for a reflective Garrison comparison, he suggests, “Stravinsky with a rhythm section.”
During his illustrious career, Garrison has played keyboards with the likes of Tambau’s International Orchestra, Ruse Collective, Ira Liss’ Big Band Jazz Machine, Bob McMahon’s Real Band, Koko Pelli, and Immediate Freedom Latin Jazz Ensemble.
He has also performed with Daniel Jackson, Gilbert Castellanos, Rob Thorsen, Ben Schachter, Derek Canon, Tim McMahon, Tambau, Bill Caballero, Burnett Anderson, Gene Perry, Mark Lamson, Kevin Delgado, Gunnar Biggs, Kim Kimmery, Steve Feierabend, Larry De La Cruz, Dave Millard, and Kamau Kenyatta, who won a Grammy for producing Gregory Porter’s Liquid Spirit.
“In Garrison’s imagination, notes become colors, harmonies become textures and everything becomes music.
Huge slabs of colorful dissonance, references to Satie, Stravinsky and Buffalo Springfield – all from the mighty pen of Joe Garrison : alchemist in chief.” Robert Bush, San Diego 2017
“Garrison is an unsung original on the local jazz scene.” Los Angeles Times
“Intricate and visceral, his sonic portraits exude power and finesse.” San Diego Union Tribune
“A prolific and highly regarded composer, an unsung hero of Modern Jazz.” Voice of San Diego
“Gorgeous and intricately arranged modern music. Garrison’s writing is singular and transformative.” NBC San Diego
JOE GARRISON and NIGHT PEOPLE
The Broken Jar
1.20th Century People 5. The Broken Jar
- Interlude 6. Modern Music
- Modern Art 7. The Thread
- Devotion – Dissolution 8. It’s Only Music
Lori Bell – Flute
Robert Zelickman – Clarinet/Bass clarinet
Jane Zwerneman – French horn
Brian O’Donnell – Bass trombone
Melonie Grinnell – Piano
Mackenzie Leighton – Bass
Joe Garrison – Composer/Conductor
https://squareup.com/store/ruthless-hippies (for tickets)
http://www.nightpeoplejazz.com
http://www.facebook.com/JoeGarrisonAndNightPeople
Composer’s Statement:
The idea is – of dying being a return to wholeness (the broken jar is the body, mind and vast layers of subtle perceptions we have of ourselves as individuals which, separate our awareness from our true nature). The titles “20th Century People” “Modern Art’ refer to the time and place in which we find ourselves, and endeavors we are engaging in presently. “Devotion” – for me, music is Bhakti…devotion and worship, which leads to “Dissolution” of ego. “The Broken Jar” is the moment of our ultimate liberation. At that time we realize our true nature and look back upon our life(s) and realize – it was nothing like we imagined. For as yet – unrealized people like us – Music (this life we know) is everything. It’s whatever is important to all living beings – family, religion, money, career – all that). Finally we are able to look back and realize that we only know about an infinitely small part of Life. What will we find? Who really knows? And after all, all along, ‘It’s Only Music.’
Ruthless Hippies 