Creative Music Festival at REDCAT

From LA’s REDCAT:

September 19-20, 2008

Creative Music Festival
In celebration of the inauguration of the Herb Alpert School of Music at CalArts

Wadada Leo Smith spans everything. He is lyrical, intense, soaring, powerful, meditative, hard, soft, deep… All About Jazz

This season s edition of the storied CalArts creative music revue brings one of the most formidable lineups in the festival s history. Trumpeter, composer, improviser and festival founder Wadada Leo Smith leads two different ensembles: his Golden Quintet, with Vijay Iyer piano , John Lindberg bass , and Pheeroan akLaff and Famoudou Don Moye drums, percussion , and the Silver Orchestra, which performs with Thomas Buckner baritone , Vinny Golia winds , Vicki Ray piano , Mark Menzies violin and Erika Duke-Kirkpatrick cello . The genre-defying pianist, composer and improviser Anthony Davis returns with a new iteration of his 1980s ensemble Episteme, featuring Earl Howard synthesizer and saxophone , Mark Dresser bass , J.D. Parran reeds and Cynthia Aaronson-Davis soprano . The festival also includes one of the leading creative forces from Iran, the Sufi tradition-inspired Lian Ensemble, with Houman Pourmehdi tonbak, daf, ney, vocals , Mahshid Mirzadeh santur , Mani Bolouri kamanche, gheychak, vocals , Amir Koushkani tar, vocals and Pirayeh Pourafar tar, vocals . Completing the program is pianist, organist, gospel singer, composer and improviser Amina Claudine Myers, a longtime stalwart of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians. She plays in a trio with Don Pate bass and Reggie Nicholson drums , accompanied by Paul Berkolds and the CalArts Choir.

Curated by Wadada Leo Smith.

Fri Sept 19 | 8:30 pm
Music and the Voice
Thomas Buckner and the Silver Orchestra
Anthony Davis and Episteme
Amina Claudine Myers Trio and the CalArts Choir

Anthony Davis is an august avant-garde pianist… A post-everything, polymath composer-performer. The New York Times

Sat Sept 20 | 8:30 pm
Music and Video
Lian Ensemble
The Golden Quintet

Lian Ensemble is a gifted group with contemplative compositions and virtuosic performances. Los Angeles Times

Funded in part by a generous grant from The Phaedrus Foundation and support from Abby Sher.