This year’s edition of the festival curated by Wadada Leo Smith is devoted to a sustained exploration of creative music for orchestras and large ensembles. The two-night program offers rare Los Angeles performances by Muhal Richard Abrams and Lawrence D. “Butch” Morris—two of the most distinguished luminaries of creative music. Abrams is a legendary pianist, composer, improviser, co-founder of the hugely influential Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM), and president of the New York Chapter of the AACM, while Morris is an Alpert Award-winning innovator who has redefined the roles of composer, conductor, arranger and performer in a system of structured improvisation he calls Conduction®. The festival also includes a performance by Adam Rudolph and the acclaimed Organic Percussion ensemble and a special tribute to the late Horace Tapscott, founder of the seminal Pan-Afrikan Peoples Arkestra (“The Ark”), which will perform directed by Michael Sessions.

Fri Feb 2 | 8:30 pm
Muhal Richard Abrams
"You know you're in the presence of a master." Time Out New York

Adam Rudolph and Organic Percussion
"A startling and involving development in roots musicŠ a blend of gentle sustained dissonance, heaven-crashing rhythm jams, and individual improvisations." L.A. Weekly

Sat Feb 3 | 8:30 pm
Lawrence D. "Butch" Morris
"Morris' work takes up a life of its own… Its emotional range is almost limitless." The New York Times

The Music of Horace Tapscott
"A signal figure both in the history of Los Angeles' cultural landscape and the story of improvised music." The Wire

Funded in part by a generous grants from The Herb Alpert Foundation and The Phaedrus Foundation.

Date & time	General Admission	Students, Alumni with Affinity Card	CalArts Students, Faculty and Staff
Fri 2.2.07 8:30 pm	$18	$14	$12
Sat 2.3.07 8:30 pm	$18	$14	$12

Friday, Feb. 2 Program

Set #1: Adam Rudolph and Organic Percussion

10 hand drummers / percussionists: udu drums, congas, djembes, riq, frame drums, tabla, dumbek, bata, gongs.

Adam Rudolph (conductor), Brad Dutz, Alex Cline, Randy Gloss, Harris Eisenstadt, Marwan Mogrobi, Allakoi Peete, Andres Renteria, Miles Shrewsbery, Davey Chegwidden, Alan Lightner

“My overall concept in music is concerned with the evolution of improvisational art. The music I compose is thematic material which provides context and inspiration for improvisational dialogue: it is designed to structure creative landscapes of syncretic and multi-arts disciplines. My music materials consist, among other things, of original melodies, textural gestures, music languages, tone rows, traditional and synthetic scales, diadic and intervalic harmonies, call and response, polyphony, dynamics, and the coloration of silences. Forms are generated through my concept of “Cyclic Verticalism”, whereby polyrhythms, as used in African music, are combined with rhythm cycles, as used in Indian music.

In concert, I conduct the musicians in a spontaneous way, using music/letter grids, language themes, Indian ragas and original song forms to create moods, motion, and sonic gestures. The orchestral concept is to generate unusual relationships of sound against sound, form against form, and rhythm against rhythm in a non-linear, ever shifting kaleidoscope of music images, weaving what I call an “audio syncretic music fabric”.

The music is “organic” in the sense that the compositions and conducting exist as an inspiration and context for the musicians to express themselves by using their instruments as an amplifier for their inner voice. Performers are given the freedom to use their imagination and listening ability to develop the compositions within their own individual motion and timing, while still relating to the overall form and their aesthetic and musical functions.”

Adam Rudolph - October 2002

The percussionists have been learning Rudolph’s rhythm concept: “Cyclic Verticalism”, whereby polyrhythms (used in African music) are combined with rhythms cycles (used in Indian music). Utilizing these elements in an spontaneous way, elements will weave what Rudolph calls an “audio syncretic music fabric” that serves as a platform for improvisation and self expression.

Set #2: Muhal Richard Abrams

Muhal Richard Abrams: Etudes Op. 1 No. 1 (2000), performed by Rory Cowal

Trio Improvisation: Muhal Richard Abrams, piano; Wadada Leo Smith, trumpet, Mark Trayle, electronics

Muhal Richard Abrams: Variations (1982), performed by a CalArts faculty/student ensemble, c. David Rosenboom. Trumpet solo: Wadada Leo Smith

Muhal Richard Abrams, pianist, composer, co-founder of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM), founder of the The AACM School of Music, President of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians-New York Chapter, former panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts and New York State Council on the Arts, member of the Board of Directors of The National Jazz Service Organization and Meet the Composer, the first recipient of the Grand International jazz award, The JazzPar Prize (by the Danish Jazz Center, Copenhagen, Denmark, April 1990).

Except for a brief period of study at Chicago Musical College and Governors State University in Chicago, Illinois, where he studied electronic music, Mr. Abrams is predominately a self-taught musician who, as a result of many years of observation, analysis, and practice as a performing musician, has developed a highly respected command of a variety of musical styles both as a pianist and composer. The versatile Mr. Abrams and members of the AACM are responsible for some of the most original new music approaches of the last three decades.

Some recent compositions by Mr. Abrams are: Transversion I, Op. 6 for Symphony Orchestra, Novi for Symphony Orchestra and Jazz Quartet; Variations for Solo Saxophone, Flute, and Chamber Orchestra, commissioned by the City of Chicago for the 1982 New Music America Festival; Quintet for Voice (soprano), Piano, Harp, Cello, and Violin, commissioned by The Kitchen and performed at Symphony Space in April, 1982; Improvisation Structures I-II-III-IV-V-VI, performed in a series of six solo piano concerts for the 1983 New York State New Music Network Tour; Trio, a three-part composition for solo piano, performed at New Music America Festival in 1984 in Hartford, Conn., and hosted by Real Artways; Odyssey of King performed by The Brooklyn Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra at Brooklyn’s Botanical Garden, February, 1984 and “Celebrate Brooklyn” at the Prospect Park Bandshell, Brooklyn, 1984; String Quartet #2 performed by The Kronos String Quartet on in 1985 at Carnegie Recital Hall in New York City; Piano Duet #1 performed by Ursula Oppens and Frederic Rzewski for Music at the Crossroads, 1986, at the Whitney Museum; Saturation Blue performed in 1986 by The Brooklyn Philharmonic Orchestra Chamber Ensemble, Tania Leon, conductor; Folk Tales 88 commissioned by The Brooklyn Philharmonic and performed by The Brooklyn Philharmonic Orchestra in 1988, Tania Leon, conductor; Transversion I, Op. 6 performed in 1991 by The Detroit Symphony Orchestra; What a Man, commissioned for the Black Repertory Ensemble by The Center for Black Music Research, Columbia College and the Friends of the Chicago Public Library in honor of the late Mayor Harold Washington and to commemorate the opening of The Harold Washington Library on October 7, 1991.

In addition to teaching privately for over twenty years, Mr. Abrams has taught jazz composition and improvisational classes at The Banff Center in Banff, Canada; Columbia University in New York City; Syracuse University in Syracuse, N.Y.; and the BMI Composers Workshop in New York City. Musicians’ Affiliation: Max Roach, Dexter Gordon, Art Farmer, The Art Ensemble of Chicago, Clifford Jordan, Ari Brown, Sonny Stitt, George Lewis, James Moody, Anthony Braxton, Eddie Harris, Mwata Bowden, and many others.

Saturday, Feb. 3 Program

Set #1: The Music of Horace Tapscott: Pan-Afrikan Peoples Arkestra (“The Ark”), directed by Michael Sessions.

Born in 1934 in Houston, Texas, Horace Tapscott came from a musical family centered around his mother, Mary Malone Tapscott, who worked professionally as a singer and pianist. When Horace was nine, the family moved to Los Angeles. As a teenager in the late 1940s, Horace was surrounded by the music of Central Avenue: Art Tatum, Charlie Parker, Coleman Hawkins, Dexter Gordon, were among the many cats on the set. Around this time, Horace also began to take music lessons from teachers Dr. Samuel R. Browne and Lloyd Reese, whose other students included Eric Dolphy and Frank Morgan. Horace’s musical studies included trombone in addition to piano.

In 1952, Horace graduated from Jefferson High, got married to Cecilia Payne and went into the Air Force. Horace played in an Air Force Band while he was stationed in Wyoming for his term of duty. After mustering out, he returned to Los Angeles where he worked around on various gigs until he joined the Lionel Hampton Big Band as a trombonist.

In 1959, Horace finally went with the Hampton Big Band to New York, where his friend Eric Dolphy introduced him to John Coltrane. A tough winter, a lack of gigs, and too many nights on the floor of a friend’s art gallery finally sent Horace packing for sunny Southern California, where a life with wife and family awaited his return.

The sixties saw Horace emerge as a die-hard leader of the avant-garde. Horace began to gain public notice playing with his own group that included alto saxophonist Arthur Blythe, bassist David Bryant, and drummer Everett Brown II. Horace also appeared on records for the first time (see discography).

Horace was always outspoken about racism, politics, stereotypes, and social ethics. His forward-minded vocal presence on and off the microphone is as much a part of his art as his piano playing. As a result, he was labeled a “dissident,” categorized as an “employment risk,” and black-listed from the music industry establishment in the early 1970s. None of this slowed Horace down. He began gigging sporadically at Parks and Recreation events and for churches around Watts. This “dark period,” with his only regular gig at his friend Doug Weston’s Troubadour on Los Angeles’ “Restaurant Row”, was also a time of intense creativity.

Around 1977, Horace reorganized the Pan-Afrikan Peoples Arkestra with the help of several old friends and many new faces. The Arkestra performances involve singing, dancing, and poetry in addition to the music. Soon after the new group’s debut, Horace came to the attention of producer Tom Albach who contracted Horace to record a number of albums for Nimbus Records (see discography). Albach also helped introduce Horace to an international audience by arranging several European tours.

In 1979, another producer, Tosh Tanaki, took Horace to New York to record with legendary drummer Roy Haynes and bassist Dr. Art Davis (see discography). This was the beginning of a musical friendship that continued; Horace often played with Art’s group at gigs around Los Angeles.

The 80s saw Horace emerge as one of jazz’s premiere solo pianists. He recorded several solo piano albums for Nimbus. This phase culminated in the late 80s, with Horace sharing the bill at the Wilshire Ebell theatre with other jazz legends Andrew Hill and Randy Weston for a historic solo piano concert.

Horace kept extremely busy through the 90s, composing new music, recording albums, and leading his group on tours of Europe and the United States—not to mention his perpetual involvement in the local community and his role as the patriarch of a large family. In 1994, Horace finally took the whole Arkestra to Europe. This tour was a huge success highlighted by the return of Arthur Blythe to the group as primary soloist.

On February 29th, 1999 Horace transitioned up into the Great House where he rests peacefully conducting the celestial Ark, leaving behind a large family and substantial musical legacy. Horace lives on invisibly working full time now as The Phantom. Aiee!

Set #2: The Butch Morris CalArts Conduction Ensemble, conducted by Lawrence D. “Butch” Morris

Lawrence D. “Butch” Morris (b. Long Beach, California, February 10, 1947) is an American jazz cornetist, composer and conductor. Morris came to attention with saxophonist David Murray’s groups in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Morris's brother, bassist Wilber Morris sometimes performed and recorded with Murray during this period. Morris has gained more notice and acclaim directing various ensembles in what he calls Conduction (a term knowingly borrowed from science): a type of structured improvisation where Morris directs and conducts an improvising ensemble with a series of hand and baton gestures. Critic Thom Jurek has written, “There are no records like Butch Morris' conduction sides, nor could there be, though he wishes there were.” Ed Hazel writes, “At his best, Morris can shake players out of their old habits, or place a microscope on one aspect of a musician's artistry and build an orchestral fantasia around it.” Drummer Charles Moffett conducted improvisations of jazz musicians in the 1970s, and Morris credits Moffett as a major influence. In his travels and many recorded conductions, Morris has worked with a wide variety of musicians. A partial list of such musicians follows, but special note should be made of frequent collaborator J.A. Deane, and his innovative use of live sampling: Arthur Blythe, Christian Marclay, Myra Melford, Günter Müller, Le Quan Ninh, Jim O'Rourke, William Parker, Elizabeth Panzer, Voice Crack, Otomo Yoshihide.

For student and CalArts alumni, faculty and staff discounts,
please call the REDCAT box office at 213-237-2800.