SOUND PROJECTIONS
AN ONLINE QUARTERLY MUSIC MAGAZINE
EDITOR: KOFI NATAMBU
SUMMER, 2022
VOLUME TWELVE NUMBER ONE
SOUND PROJECTIONS
AN ONLINE QUARTERLY MUSIC MAGAZINE
EDITOR: KOFI NATAMBU
SUMMER, 2022
VOLUME TWELVE NUMBER ONE
Featuring the Musics and Aesthetic Visions of:
BAIKIDA CARROLL
(September 3-9)
BILLY DRUMMOND
(September 10-16)
BOBBY MCFERRIN
(September 17-23)
ALBERT KING
(September 24-30)
ZENOBIA POWELL PERRY
(October 1-7)
DEAN DIXON
(October 8-14)
DOROTHY DONEGAN
(October 15-21)
BOBBY BLUE BLAND
(October 22-28)
CLORA BRYANT
(October 29-November 4)
CARLOS SIMON
(November 5-11)
VALERIE CAPERS
(November 12-18)
ROLAND HAYES
(November 19-25)
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/baikida-carroll-mn0000077727/biography
Baikida Carroll
(b. January 15, 1947)
Biography by Ron Wynn
One of the better accompanists and section musicians, Baikida Carroll has added textures, colors, and bright solos to various free jazz ensembles and groups, among them the Black Artists' Group (BAG) in St. Louis. He's been an active composer, having written film soundtracks and scores and displayed a striking, full sound and solo approach. Carroll attended Southern Illinois University and the Armed Forces School of Music before directing the BAG's free jazz band. He went to Europe with other group members in the mid-'70s and recorded in Paris in 1974. Carroll's recorded with Oliver Lake, Michael Gregory Jackson, Muhal Richard Abrams, Jack DeJohnette, and David Murray in the '70s and '80s, as well as cutting a solo album in the late '70s and heading a combo in the early '80s. A 1994 session on Soul Note features Carroll in fine form with a quintet. Since that time, Carroll has kept busy performing and teaching and released the critically praised Marionettes on a High Wire on OmniTone in 2001.
https://www.allaboutjazz.com/musicians/baikida-carroll
Baikida Carroll
Baikida Carroll (composer, trumpet) is a highly pivotal figure in the music world as both a composer and trumpeter. His scores and trumpet have distinguished theater, dance, TV, film and concerts for 4 decades.
His music has been heard at prestigious forums throughout the world, including Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, the Walker Arts Center, La MaMa Theatre, the New York and Washington, DC Shakespeare Festivals, The Corcoran Gallery (Wash. DC), the Chicago Art Museum, the McCarter Theatre (Princeton, NY), the Mark Taper Forum (LA), the Asolo Theatre (Sarasoto, FL) Merkin Concert Hall (NYC), Le Grand Palais (Paris), the Belgium Opera, the Berlin Opera, the Market Theater (Johannesburg, South Africa), and a multitude of international jazz festivals.
As a trumpeter, he has performed and/or recorded with such artist as Cecil Taylor, Carla Bley, Sam Rivers, Anthony Davis, Dewey Redman, Billy Hart, Steve Lacy, Charlie Haden, Wadada Leo Smith, Steve McCall, David Sancious, Dave Holland, Yogi Horton, Olu Dara, Oliver Nelson, Lester Bowie, Dave Holland, Albert King, David Murray, Don Cherry, Meredith Monk, Jay McShann, Amiri Baraka, Oliver Nelson, Patti LaBelle, Henry Threadgill, Ike and Tina Turner, Billy Higgins, Graham Parker, Little Milton, David Sancious, Marty Ehrlich, June Jordan, Mos Def, Bobby Bradford, Roscoe Mitchell, Dr. John, Jerome Harris, Anthony Braxton and Reggie Workman. He was a featured soloist on Julius Hemphill's Dogon A.D. and Coon Bid'ness, Oliver Lake's premiere album NTU, John Carter's Castles Of Ghana, Muhal Richard Abrams' 1983 Down Beat Record of the Year Blues Forever, and Jack De Johnettes' acclaimed Inflation Blues. In 1999 Baikida completed a European tour as a featured soloist with the Carla Bley Orchestra performing her classic opera Escalator over the Hill. He performed live in New York City and recorded the 2000 Grammy nominated CD "Inspiration" with jazz innovator Sam Rivers in the Sam Rivers All Star Big Band, an ensemble organized to honor Rivers 75th birthday. His own recordings include Orange Fish Tears, The Spoken Word, Shadows and Reflections, Door of the Cage and Marionettes on a High Wire.
His theater compositions include Uncle Vanya by Anton Chekov, For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/ When The Rainbow is Enuf by Ntozake Shange, Miss Julie by August Strindberg, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof by Tennessee Williams, Betrayal by Harold Pinter, A Doll House by Henrik Ibsen, and King Lear by William Shakespeare. He also scored the highly acclaimed musical Betsey Brown by Emily Mann and Ntozake Shange, and the 1995 Tony Award" nominated Broadway hit, Having Our Say by Emily Mann.
In September 2003, The Athens Festival invited the Washington, DC Shakespeare Festival to present Michael Kahn's adaptation of Sophocles' epic trilogy; The Oedipus Plays (Oedipus the King, Oedipus at Colonus and Antigone). Baikida Carroll scored this monumental theatrical undertaking. The Athens Festival - the most important event in Greece - attracts thousands of international visitors each year for performances of classical music, opera, plays and dance. Participants have included the New York Philharmonic with Leonard Bernstein, the Kirov and Bolshoi Ballets, the American Ballet Theatre, the Royal National Theatre of England, and performers such as Maria Callus, Rudolf Nureyev, Margo Fonteyn, Martha Graham and Luciano Pavarotti. The Oedipus Plays was performed in the Roman Odeon of Herod Atticus, on the south slope of the Acropolis in the shadow of the Parthenon.
Baikida has taught at Queens College (NYC) and the Community Arts Conservatory of St. Louis, and has been an Artist in Residence at the American Center for Students and Artist (Paris), Bard College (Annandale, NY), The Creative Music Studio (Woodstock, NY), and the BAG Music School (St. Louis, MO).
Awards
The National Endowment for the Arts, Meet the Composer, The Musicians Foundation, and The International Cite des Arts (Paris). He received the 1999 ASCAP/IAJE Duke Ellington Established Jazz Composer Award, the Chamber Music America's Jazz composer honors for 2003, and the 2010 New York State Council for the Arts Artist Commission award
Gear
Shilke X3 trumpet, Couesnon "Monopole" flugelhorn, Shilke custom 19D3e trumpet & flugelhorn mouthpieces, Logic Studio Pro, Sibelius notation
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baikida_Carroll
Baikida Carroll
Baikida Carroll (born January 15, 1947)[1] is an American jazz trumpeter.[2]
Carroll studied at Southern Illinois University and at the Armed Forces School of Music.[1] Following this he became a member of the Black Artists Group in St. Louis, where he directed their big band.[1] This group recorded in Europe in the 1970s.[3]
Biography
Carroll was born in St. Louis, Missouri, United States,[1] and attended Vashon and Soldan High School. He studied trumpet with Vernon Nashville. His early influences were Clark Terry and Lee Morgan. Carroll worked with the All City Jazz Band, whose members included Lester Bowie, J.D. Parran and James ”Jabbo” Ware. While still in high school he worked with Albert King, Little Milton, and Oliver Sain.[1] Carroll joined the United States Army in 1965 and served in the 3rd Infantry Division Band in Wurzburg, Germany. In 1968, he returned to St. Louis and led the Baikida Carroll Sextet, also becoming orchestra conductor/director of the Black Artists Group of St. Louis (BAG), a multidisciplinary arts collective that brought him into contact with Julius Hemphill, Oliver Lake, Hamiet Bluiett, and John Hicks. In 1972, Carroll, Lake, Joseph Bowie, Charles "Bobo" Shaw, and Floyd LeFlore ventured to Paris, France, touring as Oliver Lake and the Black Artists Group. He also performed with Anthony Braxton, Alan Silva, Steve Lacy, and his own quartet. He taught theory and trumpet at The American Center in Paris and was artist in residence at the Cité internationale des arts.
Carroll moved to New York City in 1975 and was active in the free jazz community.[1] He also taught at Queens College. He began composing music for plays with Joseph Papp at the New York Public Theater and continued to score for Broadway and WNET-TV as part of the series The American Playhouse and at McCarter Theatre. In 1981, he performed at the Woodstock Jazz Festival that celebrated the tenth anniversary of the Creative Music Studio.[4] His performance and recorded history includes works with Julius Hemphill, Howard Johnson, Sam Rivers, Charlie Haden, Jack DeJohnette, Cecil Taylor, Reggie Workman, Oliver Lake, Carla Bley, Wadada Leo Smith, Jay McShann, Bobby Bradford, Roscoe Mitchell, and Tim Berne.[1]
Discography
As leader
- Orange Fish Tears (Palm, 1974)
- The Spoken Word (HatHUT, 1977)
- Shadows and Reflections (Soul Note, 1982)
- Door of the Cage (Soul Note, 1995)
- Marionettes on a High Wire (OmniTone, 2001)[5]
As sideman
- Human Arts Ensemble, Whisper of Dharma, Universal Justice, 1972
- Solidarity Unit, Inc., Red, Black and Green, Universal Justice, 1972
- Julius Hemphill, Dogon A.D., Mbari, 1972
- Oliver Lake, NTU, The Point from Which Creation Begins, Freedom, 1972
- Black Artists Group, In Paris, Aries 1973, BAG Records, 1973; reissued by Aguirre in 2018
- Julius Hemphill, Coon Bid'ness, Freedom, 1975
- Hidden Strength, Hidden Strength, United Artists, 1975
- Michael Gregory, Heart and Center, Novus Records, 1979
- Michael Gregory, Gifts, Novus, 1979
- Vinny Golia, Openhearted, Nine Winds, 1979
- Oliver Lake, Prophet, Black Saint, 1980
- Muhal Richard Abrams, Mama and Daddy, Black Saint, 1980
- Muhal Richard Abrams, Blues Forever, Black Saint, 1980
- Oliver Lake, Plug It, Gramavision, 1982
- Oliver Lake, Clevont Fitzhubert, Black Saint, 1981
- Muhal Richard Abrams, Rejoicing with the Light, Black Saint, 1980
- Jack DeJohnette, Inflation Blues, ECM, 1983
- David Murray, Live at Sweet Basil Volume 1, Black Saint, 1984
- David Murray, Live at Sweet Basil Volume 2, Black Saint, 1984
- Michele Rosewoman, The Source, Black Saint, 1984
- John Carter, Castles of Ghana, Gramavision, 1986
- David Murray, New Life, Black Saint, 1988
- Carla Bley, Watts Work Family Album, ECM, 1989
- Oliver Lake, Gramavision Tenth Anniversary Sampler, Gramavision, 1990
- Graham Parker, Struck By Lightning, Demon, 1991
- Charles Papasoff, Papasoff, Red Toucan, 1993
- Steve Weisberg, I can't stand another night alone (in bed with you), ECM, 1994
- New York Collective, Naxos, 1996
- Pheeroan akLaff, Global Mantras, Modern Masters, 1997
- New York Collective, I Don't Know This World Without Don Cherry, Naxos, 1998
- Sam Rivers, Culmination, BMG/RCA Victor, 1999
- Sam Rivers, Inspiration, BMG/RCA Victor, 1999
- Alan Silva, H.Con.Res.57/Treasure Box, Eremite, 2003
- Oliver Lake, Cloth, Passin' Thru, 2003
- John Lindberg, Winter Birds, Between The Lines, 2005
- Leslie Ritter, This Christmas Morning, Collective Works, 2005
- Tim Berne Octet, Insomnia, Clean Feed, 2011
As producer
- Danielle Woerner, She Walks In Beauty, Parnassus, 1998
- Jeff Siegel, Magical Spaces, Consolidated Artist Productions, 2005
- Danielle Woerner, Voices of the Valley, Albany Music Distribution, 2006
External links
- Official website
http://www.baikida.com/bio.html
"The mysteries of music are not for the feint of heart, but can inspire indescribable bliss."--Baikida Carroll
Baikida
Carroll Bio
BAIKIDA CARROLL is a highly pivotal figure in the music world as both a composer and trumpeter. He has written scores that have distinguished theater, dance, television, film, and concerts for over three decades. His music has been heard at major forums throughout the world including Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center, the Walker Arts Center, The New York Shakespeare Festival, the McCarter Theatre, the Chicago Museum of Art, The Mark Taper Forum, Le Grande Palais (Paris), the Belgium Opera, the Berlin Opera, the Market Theater (Johannesburg, South Africa), as well as a multitude of jazz festivals including JVC, Heritage, Montreux, Kool and Newport.
Born January 15, 1947 in St. Louis, Missouri, the son of tenor saxophonist Jimmy Harris, who played locally with Grant Green, Jimmy Forrest and Edgar Bateman. Baikida spent his teen years playing in the high school band along with members such as Donny Hathaway and Raphael Hicks as well as the All-City Jazz Band where he first met and played with Lester Bowie, J.D. Parran and James Jabbo Ware and the All-City Orchestra. He studied trumpet and theory privately with Vernon Nashville his mentor and high school band director.
In 1965, he enlisted in the Army where he excelled and was awarded music composition honors in the Armed Forces School of Music. Assigned to the 3rd Infantry Division USAREUR band, he found himself performing everything from classical and parade music to situation bugle calls. It was during his military service that Baikida became devoted to improvisational music, the impetus being an assignment to organize, lead, conduct and write arrangements for a 21-piece rehearsal jazz ensemble.This corresponded with his recent discovery of the music of John Coltrane, Eric Dolphy, Ornette Colman and John Cage.
In 1968, Baikida returned to St. Louis and performed with several local bands including those of Albert King, Little Milton,Fontella Bass, Ike and Tina Turner and Oliver Sain. Bands of which he had played with prior to the army. But after his revelations with the Avant Gard, he realized he had a desire for a more improvisational form of music.
That same year he was approached, while practicing in the park, by Julius Hemphill to join the newly formed Black Artist Group (BAG). A multimedia art cooperative. Although eventually he became the orchestra conductor as well as composition and trumpet instructor, initially he performed as an actor in the Jean Genet's play "The Blacks", directed by Malinke Elliot. In 1971 he composed and conducted the music for the last major full-scale production for the whole company, "Poem for A Revolutionary Night" by Larry Neal. He also attended Southern Illinois University, and took summer master classes in music at Washington University under the direction of Oliver Nelson, with guest instructors such as Thad Jones, Ron Carter, Mel Lewis, Phil Woods and Roland Hanna between 1968 and 1972.
In 1971, Baikida was commissioned to score his first film, "Billy Goes to Mecca," by The Metropolitan Community Center for the Arts. He also recorded Oliver Lake's first album "NTU." The following year, Baikida teamed with Julius Hemphill, to record his first album "Dogon A.D." Later that year, Baikida, Oliver Lake, Joseph Bowie, Floyd Leflore and Charles "Bobo" Shaw ventured to Paris, France, to seek broader performing opportunities. One of their first concerts was at the Grande Palais. The ensemble performed throughout Europe for a year, and after its conclusion, Oliver and Baikida continued performing as a duo for an additional year.
In 1973, Baikida formed his own band and worked around Paris. He also taught trumpet and music theory at the American Center for Students and Artists, and performed with Steve Lacy, Anthony Braxton, Alan Silva and several other musicians throughout Europe. 1974 Baikida was awarded his first residency fellowship, by the International Cite des Arts, Paris. The following year Baikida recorded his first album "Orange Fish Tears", with Oliver Lake, Nana Vasconcelos and Manual Villaroel, on the Palm Record label.
June 1975 saw Baikida's return to New York City, where he reunited with Julius Hemphill and performed with friends such as Sam Rivers, Hamiett Bluiett, Lester Bowie, David Murray. He taught composition and directed the big band at Queens College, and was a first-call trumpet player for several producers,including Michael Cuscuna and Charlie Morrow. In 1976, he traveled to San Francisco for a weekend gig at the Keystone Korner with Oliver Lake and stayed for 2 1/2 years. He performed locally and led bands that included members such as Julian Priester, Alex Cline, Michael Formanek, Michele Rosewoman and John Carter.In 1978, Baikida returned to New York City and performed with his band,"Ring" which was comprised of Billy Hart, Julius Hemphill, Fred Hopkins, Michele Rosewoman, Nana Vasconcelos, Abdul Wadud. He also played concerts with Howard Johnson, Jay McShann, George Gruntz, Roscoe Mitchell and Don Pullen. Later that year,he relocated to Woodstock, NY, and became part of the faculty and artistic advisory board (along with Dave Holland and Jack Dejohnette) of Woodstock's legendary Creative Music Studio, where he taught until the Studio's closing in 1984.
The year 1978 brought a fortuitous opportunity. After performing with his band at the New York Public Theater, he was approached by Joseph Papp who was in the audience of his "Ring" concert. Mr. Papp asked him if he was interested in writing music for theater. Baikida responded enthusiastically. This initial meeting led to a long term friendship and creative association with Joe Papp. Baikida's first commission was to score the music for "White Sirens", a play by Lois Elain Griffin. This event rekindled a passion of writing for theater, that had been initiated in the Black Artists Group of 1968, which continues to this day.
Throughout his career Baikida Carroll has received a number of fellowships, awards, grants and commissions. These include the National Endowment for the Arts (1980 and 1983), Meet the Composer (1981,1982, and 1993), the Musicians' Foundation (1986 and 1987), and the Southern Illinois University Board of Trustees Academic Scholarship Award (1971). He was awarded Residency Fellowships at Music OMI (1997), the American Center for Students and Artists in Paris, France (1973-75), and the International Cite des Arts in Paris.
Baikida's theater works include The Mighty Gents by Richard Wesley, Poem for a Revolutionary Night by Larry Neal, Coontown Bicentennial Memorial Services with and by Julius Hemphill, For Colored Girls who have Considered Suicide when the Rainbow is Enuf by Ntozake Shange, featuring the voice of Patti LaBelle, Miss Julie by August Strindberg, Cat On A Hot Tin Roof by Tennessee Williams, King Lear by William Shakespeare, A Doll-House by Henrik Ibsen, and The House of Bernarda Alba by Federico Garcia Lorca. In addition, Baikida co-authored and scored the highly acclaimed R&B musical Betsey Brown with Emily Mann and Ntozake Shange. In 1995, Baikida composed the score to Emily Mann's Having Our Say, the Tony-nominated Broadway show that continues to tour the world, collecting accolades as a modern classic. Also in 1995, Baikida recorded Door of the Cage, on Soul Note Records. The critically acclaimed recording received kudos as Record of the Month, Pick of the Week, and one of the Top Ten of the Year from several publications.
Throughout his career Baikida Carroll has received a number of fellowships, awards, grants and commissions. These include the National Endowment for the Arts (1980 and 1983), Meet the Composer (1981,1982, and 1993), the Musicians' Foundation (1986 and 1987), and the Southern Illinois University Board of Trustees Academic Scholarship Award (1971). He was awarded Residency Fellowships at Music OMI (1997), the American Center for Students and Artists in Paris, France (1973-75), and the International Cite des Arts in Paris (1975).
Baikida has also served as a panelist for the New York State Council on the Arts Artists' Fellowships (1989), the Colored Museum Symposium on Multi- Ethnic Theater (1994), and a Planning Board member for the Pew Charitable Trust Foundation (1992). He currently serves on the boards of Music OMI and the noted series Dorothy Siesel Presents Jazz at Woodstock.
During
the 80's and 90's Carroll performed as side man with some of the top bands
in the business, including The American Quartet ( Charlie Haden, Dewey
Redman, Paul Motian and Carroll) Jack DeJohnette's Special Edition Don
Cherry and Meredith Monk, Oliver Lake and Julius Hemphill Big Bands Muhal
Richard Abram's Big Band and Quartet, Charlie Haden's Liberation Orchestra,
David Murray's Octet and Big Band as well as his own ensembles.
In 1999 Baikida completed a European tour
as a featured soloist with the Carla Bley Big Band, performing her classic
opera Escalator over the Hill. He performed live in New York City and
recorded the 2000 Grammy nominated CD "Inspiration" with jazz
innovator Sam Rivers in the Sam Rivers All Star Big Band, an ensemble
organized to honor Rivers 75th birthday. One of Carroll's most recent
awards is a "Duke Ellington Established Composers Award".
Baikida was commissioned by the American
Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) and the International
Association of Jazz Educators. For this occasion he composed and conducted
"Chez Duke", performed by the United States Airforce Big Band
Airmen of Note, premiering in New Orleans, Jan. 13, 2000. On September
14th and 15th (2000) he recorded his newest CD "Marionettes on a
High Wire" for Omni Tone Records. In August of 2001 Carroll scored
"The Oedipus Plays", a mythical production of Sophocle's epic Oedipus
trilogy; Oedipus the King, Oedipus at Colonus and Antigone, set in Africa.
Directed by Michael Kahn and starring Avery Brooks, Earle Hyman and Cynthia
Martells, The show, at the Shakespeare Theatre in Washington D.C., received
rave reviews and played to a packed house for 8 weeks.
The 2002 Chamber Music America Award
http://www.baikida.com/bio_short.html
BAIKIDA CARROLL is a highly pivotal figure in the music world as both a composer and trumpeter. He has written scores that have distinguished theater, dance, television, film, and concerts for over four decades. His music and trumpet have been heard at major forums throughout the world including The Booth Theatre (NYC), Merkin Hall (NYC), Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center, the Walker Art Center, The New York and Washington D.C. Shakespeare Festival, the McCarter Theatre, the Chicago Museum of Art, The Mark Taper Forum, Le Grande Palais (Paris), the Belgium Opera, the Berlin Opera, the Market Theater (Johannesburg, South Africa), as well as a multitude of jazz festivals including North Sea, JVC, Heritage, Montreux, Kool, Vision, and Newport.
Baikida Carroll at age one in St. Louis 1948
Born January 15,1947 in St. Louis, Missouri, the son of tenor saxophonist Jimmy Harris, (who played locally with Edgar Bateman). While attending Vashon High School, Baikida was encouraged to play cornet by band director O'hara Spearman. By the end of the year Carroll was in the Senior band (that also included Donny Hathaway, and Raiford Hicks) He was later introduced to the trumpet by Vernon Nashville the following year after his transfer to Soldan High. Carroll immediately excelled on the trumpet and found himself not only performing with the marching band and concert orchestra, but also a weekend All City Jazz Ensemble organized and directed by Vernon Nashville. The Jazz Ensemble rehearsed at the now defunct Black Musicians Union Hall. Charts were donated by Oliver Nelson and other local professionals, who would also stop by and watch the youngsters play. This band included Lester Bowie, J.D. Parran, and James "Jabbo" Ware. It was in this rehearsal setting while playing 3rd and 4th trumpet Lester Bowie turned to young Carroll and asked would he like to play a gig with him and his wife Fontella Bass. This was Baikida's first professional job. During Baikida's 17th and 18th year, he also performed with Oliver Sain, Little Milton, and Albert King. He continued studying trumpet and theory privately with his mentor Vernon Nashville.
Baikida Carroll at age 4 in St. Louis 1951
Baikida Carroll at age 19 in the military Netherlands 1966
In 1965, Baikida enlisted in the Army where he excelled and was awarded music composition honors while attending the Armed Forces School of Music, Norfolk, Virginia. Assigned to the 3rd Armored Division band, Frankfurt, Germany, and later 3rd Infantry Division Band, Wurzburg, Germany he found himself performing everything from classical concerts and parade music to situation bugle calls, and Beer Festivals. It was during his military service that Baikida became enthralled with improvisational music, the impetus being an after hours (usually impromptu) jam session that he later wrote charts for. This corresponded with his recent discovery of the music of Don Cherry, John Coltrane, Cecil Taylor, John Cage, Eric Dolphy, Frank Zappa, and Ornette Colman.
In 1968, Baikida returned to St. Louis and performed a few gigs with several bands that he had played with prior to the army including, Ike and Tina Turner (directly before the Las Vegas period) and Oliver Sain. However, after his revelations with the Avant Gard, he realized his direction was toward a more improvisational form of music.
That same year while practicing in the park, he was approached by Julius Hemphill, and invited to join the newly formed Black Artist Group (BAG), an inter-arts cooperative, dedicated to the development of creative and experimental artist, members included Julius Hemphill, Oliver Lake, J.D. Parran and John Hicks. Although, eventually he became the orchestra conductor as well as composition and trumpet instructor, initially he performed as an actor in "It Happened On The Way Here" by Vincent Terrell with the TSOCC Players. In 1971, he composed and conducted the music for the full-scale company production of "Poem for A Revolutionary Night" by Larry Neal. He also attended Southern Illinois University, and took summer master classes in music at Washington University under the direction of Oliver Nelson, with guest instructors such as Thad Jones, Ron Carter, Mel Lewis, Phil Woods, and Roland Hanna between 1968 and 1972.
Fontella Bass, Carroll
1971
In 1971, Baikida was commissioned to score his first industrial film, "Billy Goes to Mecca," by The Metropolitan Community Center for the Arts. He also recorded Oliver Lake's first album "NTU, The Point from Which Creation Begins". The following year, Baikida teamed with Julius Hemphill, to record Julius's debut album "Dogon A.D". Later that year, Baikida, Oliver Lake, Joseph Bowie, Floyd Leflore and Charles "Bobo" Shaw ventured to Paris, France, to seek broader performing opportunities. One of their first concerts was at the Grande Palais. The ensemble performed throughout Europe for a year, and after its conclusion, Oliver and Baikida continued performing as a duo for an additional year.
Bobo, Joe, Baikida, Floyd and Oliver in Paris 1973
In 1973, Baikida formed his own ensemble and worked around Paris. He also taught trumpet and music theory at the American Center for Students and Artists, and performed with Steve Lacy, Dr. John, Anthony Braxton, Johnny Dyani, Alan Silva and several other musicians throughout Europe. 1974 Baikida was awarded his first residency fellowship, by the International Cite des Arts, Paris. The following year Baikida recorded his first album "Orange Fish Tears", with Oliver Lake, Nana Vasconcelos, and Manual Villaroel, on the Palm Record label.
June 1975 saw Baikida's return to New York City, where he was reunited and performed with friends such as: Julius Hemphill, Sam Rivers, Hamiet Bluiett, Oliver Lake, Lester Bowie, and David Murray. He taught composition and directed the big band at Queens College, and was a first-call trumpet player for several producers, including Michael Cuscuna and Charlie Morrow. In 1976, he traveled to San Francisco for a weekend gig at the Keystone Korner with Oliver Lake and stayed for 2 1/2 years. He performed locally and led bands that included members such as Julian Preister, Alex Cline, Michael Formanek, Don Moye, Michele Rosewoman, and John Carter. In 1978, Baikida returned to New York City and performed with his band, "Ring" which was comprised of Billy Hart, Julius Hemphill, Fred Hopkins, Michele Rosewoman, Nana Vasconcelos, Abdul Wadud. He also played concerts with Howard Johnson, Jay McShann, Leo "Wadada" Smith, George Gruntz, Roscoe Mitchell, Don Pullen, and others. Later that year, he relocated to Woodstock, NY, and became part of the faculty and artistic advisory board (along with Dave Holland and Jack DeJohnette) of Woodstock's legendary Creative Music Studio, where he also taught until 1984. He resided in Woodstock with his family for 28 years.
The year 1978 brought a fortuitous opportunity. After performing with his band at the New York Public Theater, he was approached by Joseph Papp who was in the audience of his "Ring" concert. Mr. Papp asked him if he was interested in writing music for theater. Baikida responded enthusiastically. This initial meeting led to a long-term friendship and creative association with Joe Papp. Baikida's first commission was to score the music for "White Sirens", a play by Lois Elaine Griffith and later "The Mighty Gents" by Richard Wesley. This event rekindled a passion of writing for theater, which had been initiated in the Black Artists Group of 1968, and continues to this day.
Carroll has organized and lead dazzling music ensembles since the early 70's including: Ring, The Baikida Carroll Quintet, Bush Wish, The Baikida Carroll Quartet, Imagine This, The Carroll Ensemble, and Baikida Instant. A few of the band members were: Anthony Davis, Julian Preister, Michael Formanek, Reggie Workman, John Carter, Ed Blackwell, Santi Debriano, Erica Lindsay, Ade Steve Colson, J.D Parran, Famoudou Don Moye, Dave Holland, Phillip Wilson, Johnny Dyani, David Sancious, Pheeroan akLaff, Marty Ehrlich, Geri Allen, Mark Helias, Marilyn Crispell, and Freddie Waits
Baikida and daughter Jade 1981
Baikida recorded Door of the Cage in 1995, on Soul Note Records. The critically acclaimed recording received kudos as Record of the Month, Pick of the Week, and one of the Top Ten of the Year from several publications. On September 14th and 15th 2000, he recorded "Marionettes on a High Wire" for Omni Tone Records. This album was also lauded as one of the best of the year and received a plethora of raving reviews.
Since the 80's Carroll performed as side man with some of the top bands in the business, including The American Quartet (Charlie Haden, Dewey Redman, Paul Motian and Carroll) Jack DeJohnette's Special Edition, Don Cherry, Meredith Monk, Oliver Lake and Julius Hemphill Big Bands, Muhal Richard Abram's Big Band and Quartet, Charlie Haden's Liberation Orchestra, David Murray's Octet and Big Band. In 1998, Baikida completed a European tour as a featured soloist with the Carla Bley orchestra, performing her classic jazz opera Escalator Over the Hill. He performed live in New York City and recorded the 2000 Grammy nominated CD "Inspiration" with jazz innovator Sam Rivers in the Sam Rivers All Star Big Band, an ensemble organized to honor Rivers 75th birthday.
Camille Cosby, Emily Mann, Judith James, Baikida
Broadway Opening Night, " Having Our Say"
New York 1995
Carroll's theater compositions include: Uncle Vanya by Anton Chekov, The Mighty Gents by Richard Wesley (featuring Denzel Washington and Samuel L. Jackson), Poem for a Revolutionary Night by Larry Neal, Coontown Bicentennial Memorial Services with and by Julius Hemphill, For Colored Girls who have Considered Suicide when the Rainbow is Enuf by Ntozake Shange, featuring the voice of Patti LaBelle, Miss Julie by August Strindberg, Safe As Houses by Richard Greenberg, Legacies by Kermit Frazier, Cat On A Hot Tin Roof by Tennessee Williams, King Lear by William Shakespeare, A Doll House by Henrik Ibsen, and The House of Bernarda Alba by Federico Garcia Lorca. In addition, Baikida co-authored and scored the highly acclaimed R&B musical Betsey Brown with Ntozake Shange and Emily Mann. In 1995, Baikida composed the score to Emily Mann's celebrated; Tony-nominated Broadway hit show, Having Our Say. In September 2003, The Athens Festival invited the Washington, DC Shakespeare Festival to present Michael Kahn's adaptation of Sophocles' epic trilogy; The Oedipus Plays (Oedipus the King, Oedipus at Colonus and Antigone). Baikida Carroll scored this monumental theatrical undertaking. The Athens Festival - the most important event in Greece - attracts thousands of international visitors each year for performances of classical music, opera, plays, and dance. Participants have included the New York Philharmonic with Leonard Bernstein, the Kirov and Bolshoi Ballets, the American Ballet Theatre, the Royal National Theatre of England, and performers such as Maria Callas, Rudolf Nureyev, Margo Fonteyn, Martha Graham, and Luciano Pavarotti. The Oedipus Plays was performed in the Roman Odeon of Herod Atticus, on the south slope of the Acropolis in the shadow of the Parthenon.
Throughout his career, Baikida has received a number of fellowships, awards, grants, residencies, and commissions. These include: the National Endowment for the Arts (1980 and 1983), Meet the Composer (1981,1982, and 1993), the Musicians' Foundation (1986 and 1987), and the Southern Illinois University Board of Trustees Academic Scholarship Award (1971). He was awarded Residency Fellowships at Music OMI (1997), the American Center for Students and Artists in Paris, France (1973-75), and the International Cite des Arts in Paris (1974-75). Baikida also received the "Duke Ellington Established Composers Award" commissioned by the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) and the International Association of Jazz Educators. For this occasion, he composed and conducted "Chez Duke", performed by the United States Air force Big Band "Airmen of Note", premiering in New Orleans, Jan. 13, 2000. In 2002 Chamber Music America awarded Baikida a commission to write "In Tango Roots", a suite of 12 Tangos for a 9 piece ensemble. He received the 2010 New York State Council for the Arts/FONT Artist Commission award. For this occasion, he wrote "Requiem for the Dark Horse", a 70-minute suite for three trumpet improvisers and chamber ensemble. The Requiem is dedicated to Lester Bowie, Julius Hemphill, Don Cherry, and John Hicks and includes recorded vocal comments and projected still images of the four departed master improvisers.
Baikida has also served as a Planning Board member for the Pew Charitable Trust Foundation (1992), a panelist for the New York State Council on the Arts Artists' Fellowships (1989), the Colored Museum Symposium on Multi-Ethnic Theater (1994), and The Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation (2007-2008). He currently serves on the board of Music OMI.
Jazz: Baikida Carroll Leads Septet Called Ring
Mr. Carroll led an ad hoc septet he called Ring through an exceptionally provocative and thoughtfully conceived program of original music. The layers were individually rewarding, and Mr. Carroll wisely left room for a number of solos, duets and trios, but it was the mature ensemble style and the continuity and thrust of the program as a whole that really made the evening a delight.
The String Trio of New York, which opens the program, continues to mature. The violinist, Billy Bang, is still the most impressive soloist, but his colleagues, James Emery on guitar and John Lindberg on bass, are playing very well indeed now and the group is very much a dialogue of equals. And the trio's ensemble style, which mixes intricate and often swinging arrangements with more intuitive interplay, is unique.
The percussionist, Nana Vasconcelos; the drummer, Billy Hart, and the pianist, Michele Rosewoman, made an effective percussion section; the cellist, Abdul Wadud, and the bassist, Fred Hopkins, also worked hand in glove, and Mr. Carroll and the saxophonist, Julius Hemphill, who have often collaborated in the past, made a biting brass section. These sectional distinctions were emphasized by Mr. Carroll's arrangements, which treated the group as a small orchestra and drew an appealing range of colors and antiphonal effects from it.
https://www.jazzweekly.com/interviews/bcarroll.htm
A FIRESIDE
CHAT WITH BAIKIDA CARROLL
There are significant, yet unheralded, organizations like the AACM and
BAG that help propel this music forward. Baikida Carroll was there during
the early stages of St. Louis' BAG organization and in turn, helped shape
the music we hear today, both in focus and in direction. With a new album
on the OmniTone label, Carroll has returned to the recording scene and
given us more music to ponder over. I spoke with Carroll from his home
and the following is our conversation, unedited and in his own words.
FRED
JUNG: Let's start from the beginning.
BAIKIDA
CARROLL: Well, being in a black community, there is music around all the
time. You never assume that you're going to play it, but at the same time,
it is so around you in almost every aspect of day to day living. When
that came on, it was almost inevitable. I was sitting in my homeroom in
high school in the second half of my first year and someone walked into
the homeroom and said, "Would anyone like the join the band?"
And at that second, I remembered the band members the prior semester would
always get out of school early. They'd have on uniforms and stuff and
then get out of school early. So my hand went up (laughing). And from
that moment on, I've been in music. So that was maybe the impetus or the
moment, but I think once I got involved in it, then everything else, the
allure of all of the other aspects, studying and learning and being exposed
by your buddies and your band director, from that point on, I've never
done anything other than play music.
FJ:
Being anything but a diligent student, I'm curious if you got out of school
by joining the band.
BAIKIDA
CARROLL: Yeah, but just to go out and do a parade and I was in the all-city
orchestra, so we had to go to those types of concerts. So, yeah, I ended
up doing it (laughing). As a freshman, you're sitting there wondering
about what it's all about anyway. So that seemed very appealing to me.
These guys would show up in these fancy, fly uniforms and get out of school
early and so I thought, "Yeah, why not?"
FJ:
Did you ask to play trumpet?
BAIKIDA
CARROLL: No, the drums were first choice. What happened was that I was
in high school with Donny Hathaway and John Hicks' younger brother, Rafael
and they had a trio and they would play gigs and stuff. They had a jazz
trio and Rafael would take a lot of the drums to make a big Buddy Rich
type set up, so my band director said that there was no drums available
so why don't I play a cornet until one frees up and I've been playing
it ever since and that's how I got into it.
FJ:
You went onto attend various institutions of higher learning, as is the
case with numerous black musicians of that generation, a fact that has
become jazz music's unspoken truth, why do you think that is?
BAIKIDA
CARROLL: I think there is an effort to make a difference between the academic
world and the street and when you have people say, for example like Miles
Davis and how he shunned the Julliard School and all of that and he learned
everything from his peers on the street, in the clubs, the school of Art
Blakey and that type of thing. So there is a difference, but I think all
of it is really quite important. The process of learning is everything
that you can absorb. Music is a constant process of learning and everything
that you can learn will benefit you in some way, in some form, even the
things that you may immediately reject. I've been doing music for forty
years now and I have even more to learn. The formal institutions lend
themselves to study, to research. You have knowledgeable people to go
to and get information from. I learned a lot of relative things to jazz.
When I first actually went into it, I was really in classical. It took
me a year or so before I got into Kenny Dorham and Lee Morgan and all
that. But once I got into it, I understood or learned the relative sameness
of some of the things. In classical, there are cadences that you have
to adhere to and in jazz, there are progressions. There are relationships
between the two. So I find that any type of intensive learning process
is beneficial because it's all about study. It's all about knowledge.
That's what it is and people talk about "is that hip?" But I
think that the whole meaning of the word hip is about what you know. Cats
used to travel around the world and learn things. That was hip. You bring
the information to the street, that's hip. So as much information as you
can gather from whatever source: institutions, books, mentors, records,
and you need a little, if not all of them, I think. At the time, I was
in, my dad played, but he wasn't around. He played tenor saxophone. But
at the time that I was really interested in the basics - composition and
theory, harmony, there was a few people, but there was no consolidated
institution for me. That is why I chose to go to college. If there had
been, if I had been in New York and been around a whole school of people
that I was hanging around with that I could have got my information, I
would have been just as happy to do that. But that is why I chose those
particular institutions to seek knowledge of your craft and if you're
going to be an improviser, which is what I've always wanted to be. I've
never wanted to be an entertainer or a trumpet player per say. I've always
been interested in the art of improvisation and that lends itself, that
opens up a lot of other areas that you have to study because you don't
improvise with just necessarily jazz. There is a whole lot of other styles
that you have to learn, types of music, worlds of music. So I tried to
study those things. At that time, I found that the institutions lend themselves
to that more. You could be more concise. You could go right to the library
or instructor and talk to them about that. That's why I did.
FJ:
What is the most critical aspect of improvisation?
BAIKIDA
CARROLL: The ability to listen. I think that's the most important thing,
probably in music in general. You have to, again, absorb. You have to
listen. You have to study a lot of aspects of music, be it harmony, theory,
form, different concepts, different styles, different ways of phrasing,
and be ready to execute at a moments notice in the heat of fire while
you're improvising. And for me, because there's a lot of ways of improvising
and some people will stick to improving within a particular field that
they're interested in. For example, if you are a pop saxophone player,
then you basically learn all your pentatonic scales and a couple of blues
scales and you're over. If you are planning to get a call for that gig,
as well as a gig with Anthony Braxton, as well as improvising with a klezmer
band, and it all has different demands and to be able to respond to those
demands in the line of fire, you need to study because you don't know
what's going to happen exactly at that moment. And if your musical environment
at that moment is a particular type of musician and it's open, the music
that I like to play is more open, then you don't know exactly what's going
to happen at that moment, so you have to be ready and the first thing
to do is to listen while you're playing, constantly listen to what's going
on and then you respond or you put something out there and see how it
responds. And there is all kinds of things you can do in the process of
learning improvisation outside of the styles and the theoretical structures
like learning how to play in opposition, but I think the most important
thing is to listen. You can have very little technique, very little skills,
but if you listen to actually what happens and then respond, if you respond
in a pure elemental way, essential, it will work out because I know some
great improvisers with very little skills.
FJ:
You were there at the inception of the Black Artists Group.
BAIKIDA
CARROLL: I was a few months later. I just got out of the army and I was
in the army band and prior to that, before I went in the army, I was playing
with a lot of the blues bands, Albert King, Ike and Tina Turner, those
types of blues bands around St. Louis. When I went into the army, I found
Ornette Coleman, Don Cherry, and Albert Ayler, and Archie Shepp and I
had an ensemble in the army that I was writing for. We were doing our
regular concerts of classical music and marches and stuff, but at night,
I formed an orchestra and I started writing for it. When I got back to
St. Louis, I realized that I was looking for something like that. I went
back to my own blues bands just for gigs, for bread. I ran into Julius,
or Julius ran into me when I was practicing on the golf course and he
said that they were starting this organization. It was still in the initial
stages and I went over and started practicing with them and playing. Oliver
is the one that really started the Black Artists Group. It was the seed
of his idea. At that point, we didn't have a building. We were doing grants
and also trying to get a point of reference, which the first thing you
need is a building, a place. By the time we got the main building we're
noted to work, I was in on that, but not the initial, the seed of the
idea. It was already formed by Julius and Oliver.
FJ:
During the Sixties, collectives within the black community like the Black
Artists Group and the AACM helped sustain activity for black musicians,
do you find that kind of cooperatives exist in today's individualistic
climate?
BAIKIDA
CARROLL: I'm sure it does, Fred. I'm not aware of everything that is going
on everywhere. Like when we first started, it was really kind of a grassroots,
local venue. A lot of people wouldn't have known about us in New York
even. So I'm sure there is a lot of that going on right now, because they
are getting less and less places to play that is not hardcore mainstream.
If you are not playing mainstream, there is less places to play. Now,
that doesn't mean people are not creating and promoting their own places
to play, but I don't know about them because they're not in the limelight.
So I am sure that it is happening. We were forced for that same reason.
It became a philosophy basically out of necessity because we couldn't
go to the clubs and ask to play or we would and they'd give you the same
line. So it taught us self-determination. Well, we had self-determination,
but you had to rely on that. So you learn how to produce your own concerts,
make your own flyers, do your own stuff, and do the whole thing yourself.
Out of that, from the embryonic points of your learning, it becomes part
of your musical vernacular, to learn how to promote yourself. For example,
you don't hear a lot about the AACM people in the main press, but they
are doing a lot of things. They rent this hall and they do their own presentation.
Most of those people would love to play at the Village Vanguard and all,
but they know that they aren't going to get those calls. But that doesn't
mean you're going to stop. So I am sure that people right this day are
creating and doing experimental things, but your don't hear about it.
It is not in the limelight because we're in the age of information and
the type of information that's out there is so stylized. There is a certain
thing that's out there and anything outside of that is considered not
in vogue, so you hear about the big concerts and you don't hear about
other stuff.
FJ:
Obviously, the dye was cast and even in the Seventies, you must have noticed
the prerequisite to conformity in order to succeed within the juggernaut
that is the American music industry. Is that what prompted you to leave
for European shores?
BAIKIDA
CARROLL: I think we all went for different reasons. I had just come from
Europe. I had been over there three years in the Sixties and I had just
come back and I went back over. A couple of guys hadn't left the city
yet and we kind of exhausted our possibilities in St. Louis. It was limited
business wise. We did a lot there. We did tons of stuff, from children's
lunch programs. We were the place where all the radical organizations
had their rallies. It was a lot of stuff that we had to implement and
see through along with your music. But after a while, you have to find
more areas where you can expound and exploit your own creativity so we
chose Europe.
FJ:
You made reference to radical organizations during the height of the civil
rights movement in the Sixties. It is interesting that when a black man
speaks about freedom, he is radical and when a white man does it, he is
liberal.
BAIKIDA
CARROLL: (Laughing).
FJ:
Having composed a significant amount of film scores, is that any different
from composing for a quartet?
BAIKIDA
CARROLL: Most of the time when people call me to do those jobs, they kind
of know me from my other work, so they expect something within that area
from me. I try to pull from what I know and a lot of times, the production
itself will determine exactly the direction, but I write my way.
FJ:
Are you able to improvise within the parameters of the production?
BAIKIDA
CARROLL: I'm working on a production right now that I'm thinking that
I'm going to have a lot of improvising in it.
FJ:
Let's touch on your latest for the Omnitone label, Marionettes on a High
Wire.
BAIKIDA
CARROLL: We recorded that September 14 and 15: Oliver Lake's birthday,
the 14 and 15 of last year, 2000. Nowadays, they are pumping those kids
out of those schools with such incredible technical ability that it is
mind-boggling for me to see what they can do. It is scary, some of the
things these kids can do coming out of those schools. Technically, it
is not hard to get people that can perform. Thirty years ago, it would
have been harder to put together an ensemble with people that could read
and execute the music to your expectations, or at least close to your
expectations. There's a lot of great players, young players, old players,
that are just fascinating now. So I wasn't really looking for players
that had that. That's what a lot of people are looking for now in forming
a band, people that can really execute and make the music sound what the
composer wants it to sound like. I'm interested in personalities, Fred,
because the thing about improvisation, you have to really pull from who
you are. You play who you are, not what you know. You play who you are.
So it is good to know who you are and I find that these particular players,
all of them, are so dedicated to playing music, but they're good spirits.
That's the main thing. They're not egotistical, so you're not like, "Oh,
man, do I have to put the time in playing this? I got another gig. I can
only make this rehearsal." We rehearsed. We worked. People were coming
over on their own, coming up to the country. I live in the country. We
rehearsed up here, which is hard to get anyone to do, coming up on their
own just to go over something. That's a dedication that is hard to find
nowadays because the economics. I think basically it is the economics
of our time. Inflation has jolted everything way up. But the music economy
is back where it was in the Thirties, Forties, and Fifties. So what people
have to do nowadays is they have to work five and six gigs to make one.
So it is not very profitable or even feasible to dedicate yourself to
one ensemble or one situation unless you are one of the top few that are
actually making a lot of money within the business. So it is hard to find
and I understand why people say that they can't dedicate an afternoon
to practice or work on that. They have rehearse for this and go over there.
So it is getting less and less of people doing that. People are going
after the gig as opposed to the musical concept or an ideology that you
want to see through.
FJ:
Does that diminish creativity?
BAIKIDA
CARROLL: Yeah, quite. It lessens everything. The ripples from that concept
is mind-boggling. Oh, because, for example, what I find, I play with a
lot of big bands and so I get to hang with a lot of the younger players
and you talk and you see where they're coming from and they say, "I
need to make it in music. I don't plan to do music and then have my job
as a lawyer on the side." So you look around and say, "Who's
making it?" Well, there are people that are playing this type of
music and so I want to play that type of music. What makes that music
work? Well, it's referring to this riff and that riff because the audience
nowadays with the advent of records, they come with a preconceived idea
of what they want to hear. So what do they applaud? They applaud what
they're familiar with. "Oh, that was a great Dizzy Gillespie lick
you just played," or how high you play, as opposed to sitting then
and saying, "OK, play me something that I've never heard." You
don't get many accolades for that anymore. And the kids are seeing that,
who's making it and so it is changing this whole pursuit of true creativity,
true improvisation, to stand there and make up something. Otherwise, it
becomes classical music, where you interpret. You try to execute what
the composer, exactly what he wanted and maybe the conductor will give
you a little leeway to change a phrase. So I am seeing less. The problem
is teaching. Teaching true improvisation is much harder than teaching
concepts. You can teach someone changes and this scale goes with that
chord and if you play this series of phrases, it will work. Now you learned
all of that. Now forget it. Now respond to the moment. There's nothing
to hang onto. You have an accordion playing a drone. Now play something
over it and make it interesting and tell a story over it. That's the true
art of improvisation, to respond to the moment. They are not being taught
that. They've been taught chords and scales and you have to learn all
of that to be a true improvisationalist, you have to learn all of that.
That's what I like about theater because anytime I go into a theater project,
it takes me down roads that I never dreamed. I did one project where I
was studying Celtic music. Right now, I'm studying fifth dynasty Egypt.
So when I come out of it, that will be implemented somewhere in my improvisations.
There is some moment where that will come up, that knowledge will come
out. But you have to be open to the moment and you have to constantly
listen. You have to be open to creativity and not what you know. I learned
it in school and I'm going to put this line somewhere in this concept.
A lot of kids go into like that. Coltrane played this in '65 and I'm going
to find a place to put this line because I know it works. Once you go
in that line of thinking, you are no longer improvising.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Fred Jung is Jazz Weekly's Editor-In-Chief and is working by firefly light
to conserve energy in the face of California's ridiculous energy "crisis."
Email Him.
https://source.wustl.edu/2006/02/rediscovering-the-black-artists-group/
Rediscovering the Black Artists’ Group
Symposium to examine influential '60s arts collective Feb. 16-17
In the mid- and late 1960s, the Black Arts Movement emerged as the aesthetic and spiritual corollary to the Black Power philosophy. Spurning assimilation, the movement often took militant pride in black history, culture and traditions, and in so doing laid much of the groundwork for contemporary multiculturalism.
In St. Louis, the Black Artists’ Group (BAG), which flourished between 1968 and 1972, gave rise to a host of nationally recognized figures, including Oliver Lake, Julius Hemphill and Hamiet Bluiett of the World Saxophone Quartet; trumpeter Baikida Carroll; painters Emilio Cruz and Oliver Jackson; and stage directors Malinké (Robert) Elliott and Muthal Naidoo.
“The Black Artists’ Group was a seedbed for artistic innovation,” says Benjamin Looker, author of “‘Point From Which Creation Begins’: The Black Artists’ Group of St. Louis” (Missouri Historical Society Press, 2004), the first book-length study of the organization.
“But unlike most other artistic collectives of the period, BAG was fundamentally committed to a collaborative interweaving of its members’ diverse artistic mediums,” says Looker. “The organization brought together and nurtured an array of African-American experimentalists, in disciplines ranging from music, theater and dance to visual arts, poetry and film.”
On Feb. 16 and 17, Washington University in St. Louis will host a symposium on the “Music and Musicians of the Black Artists’ Group in St. Louis.” The event will include panel discussions, concerts and other events dedicated to the music of this influential yet little-remembered collective. Both Lake and Bluiett will participate in a panel discussion during the symposium and perform with the World Saxophone Quartet. Lake will also present a master class.
The event, sponsored by the Department of Music in Arts & Sciences, comes amidst a dramatic resurgence of interest in BAG’s history and music. In addition to Looker’s monograph, a series of rare BAG recordings have recently been reissued on the Ikef, Quakebasket and Atavistic record labels, including “The Collected Poem for Blind Lemon Jefferson” (1971), “BAG in Paris — Aries 1973” (1973) and “Funky Donkey” (1968).
“The astonishing artistic richness of the Black Artists’ Group deserves to emerge into full view,” adds Looker, a Yale doctoral candidate who first encountered BAG’s legacy while pursuing undergraduate degrees in music and urban studies from Washington University. “Their work represents a unique and engaging effort to discover an artistic voice adequate to the social and cultural dislocations of its time.”
Schedule of Events
Participant Biographies
History of BAG
In many ways, BAG represented the convergence of two parallel trends in the black arts world: free jazz and experimental theater.
In the mid-1960s, St. Louis free-jazz musicians were largely confined to informal concerts on Forest Park’s Art Hill and at the home of Oliver Lake. Though many made livings playing bebop or rhythm & blues, they were strongly influenced by John Coltrane (1926-1967) as well as by modernist European ideas, notably serialism, and the work of composers like Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971) and Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951).
In 1967, such underground gatherings gave rise to The Lake Art Quartet, which debuted at the Circle Coffee House in LaClede Town, a federally funded, mixed-income housing complex at the heart of the city’s counterculture.
Meanwhile, Lake, Julius Hemphill and other local musicians began to discuss forming a cooperative as a way to take control of their own artistic destinies — a social and economic strategy already embraced by experimental jazz musicians in groups such as Chicago’s Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians.
Lake soon approached Malinké Elliott, who was then working to establish a local black theatre company, about a possible collaboration.
In summer 1968, the nascent group of actors and musicians staged “The Blacks” (1958), Jean Genet’s controversial play-within-a-play, at Webster College’s Lorretto-Hilton Center. The piece depicts a group of blacks, possibly actors, re-enacting the possibly fabricated murder of a white woman.
“With its aggressive posture toward its audience and its ironic treatment of race and color, ‘The Blacks’ presaged many of the multimedia performances BAG would undertake,” Looker notes.
“As the group developed, its members attempted to hammer out a core philosophy based upon unifying BAG’s various modes of expression. Productions during these years ranged from sharp satires dramatizing immediate issues of the local community to sweeping ritualistic pageants that laid out broad visions of black survival, spirituality and nationhood.”
As BAG expanded, it attracted major grant funding from the Danforth Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation, among others. In July 1969, the group obtained, for an annual rent of $1, a building at 2665 Washington Blvd., in the heart of the inner city, which soon housed living quarters, performance/rehearsal space, a painting studio and teaching facilities for dance, theatre, music, film, creative writing and visual arts.
Yet despite a rich tradition of black music, at the time “the atmosphere in St. Louis was not particularly receptive to the new sounds being explored by Lake, Hemphill and their musical comrades,” Looker points out. For example, Hemphill’s LP “Dogon A.D.” (1972), released on his own Mbari record label, was praised by jazz critics yet found only limited distribution and virtually no radio play.
By the early 1970s, leading BAG musicians had grown frustrated with the lack of opportunity and relocated to Paris and then New York.
In particular, Lake, Hemphill and Hamiet Bluiett quickly carved out dominant roles in New York’s underground “loft-jazz” scene. Within a few years, the three had captured international acclaim as co-founders of the World Saxophone Quartet, a group hailed by The New York Times as “probably the most protean and exciting new jazz band of the 1980s.”
“BAG continues to be most widely known for the cadre of jazz improvisers and composers that it fostered,” Looker concludes.
“But a few broader themes do emerge from the collective’s repertoire: arts as a potent method of community engagement; institution-building as a response to the social and economic forces rending the fabric of urban life; and an aesthetic vision focused on black heritage and tradition in the context of new forms and techniques.”
http://www.baikida.com/reviews.html
"Like
Miles Davis, Clark Terry and Lester Bowie, Baikida Carroll
is a cutting edge St. Louis trumpet player. Carroll is a brilliant,
demanding and innovative composer and soloist, with a big,
commanding sound, tone and attack. Always in demand, Carroll
is revered by his peers and has my total admiration and respect"
_ Quincy Troupe Author of Miles and Me, co-author of Miles:
The Autobiography (2002)
"Colorful, loose and imaginative are
meek understatements when describing the sumptuous music on
Marionettes on a High Wire."
-John Murph, Down Beat [ full
review ]
"There's
a beautiful kind of daring in the music -- a rough tenderness
in Carroll's trumpet tone, a palpable spiritual commitment
from all the players involved. Carroll and his group unleash
a highly adventurous sound...a freshness and multi-dimensionality
that is truly rare."
-David Adler, All Music Guide [ full
review ]
"Baikida
Carroll, whose balance of bravada and tenderness, facility
and understatement mark him as a player to be reckoned with."
-Jon Pareles, The New York Times
"Baikida is a Bad Motha...! A true disciple of the maintenance
and extension of the trumpet tradition."
-Lester Bowie, Trumpeter
Jazz
Journalists Association Top 10 of 2001
-Williard Jenkins (JJA) [ full
review ]
"[Marionettes
On a High Wire] Phenomenal in both conception & execution...one
of the trumpet's most brilliant improvising players ... one
of jazz's most rewarding composers ... leads a superb quintet
whose music is exciting, subtle, melodious & adventurous."
-Lucky Oceans, "The Planet," Australian Broadcasting Corporation
[ full
review ]
"Elegantly
rendered shifts in meter and memorable melodies, awash with
blistering yet finely articulated soloing by the leader...Carroll's
latest release equates to one beautifully fabricated production,
that imparts a lasting impression. Now, we can only hope that
Baikida Carroll sustains fewer gaps between recordings! Recommended!!"
-Glenn Astarita, All About Jazz [
full review
]
"I consider the opportunity to bear witness to the eloquent
beauty of Baikida's music a distinct honor. Baikida Carroll
is polarized; poised; at a matchless point between lyricism
and fire."
-Julius Hemphill, Composer/Musician [
full review
]
"Carroll is equally comfortable "inside" as "outside"...is
no stylistic chameleon, and always maintains a strong identity
of his own... Finely crafted and brimming over with verve
and unselfconscious originality, this new release is a delight
from start to finish, and a welcome spotlighting of a too-often
overlooked talent."
-Steve Holtje, CD Now [ full
review ]
"Marionettes on a High Wire is in that rare class for me where
words like superb, and exquisite get used....tough, swinging,
angry, loving, thoughtful and expressive cutting-edge jazz.
Don't miss this one."
-SD
Feeney, Face Magazine
"...superb
new album ... Carroll sketches out beautifully lyric themes
with sensitive arrangements..."
-Peter Margasak, Jazz Times [ full
review ]
[Marionettes
on a High Wire] has the verve, the vision and the vitality
of the best of mid-sixties and contemporary jazz."
-Jules Epstein, Philadelphia Tribune
"Baikida
Carroll can write any kind of music for the theatre, in any
genre, any style, any instrumentation and its power is breath-taking.
He is, very simply, the most inventive and emotionally powerful
composer for the stage I have ever encountered".
- Emily Mann, writer and director McCarter
Theatre, Artistic Director [
full review
]
"Between
Heaven and Earth: The sense of grace that comes with real
balance and a sense of direction are what undergird this disc's
authority and elevate its creative leaps."
-Larry
Blumenfeld, Jazziz [ full
review ]
"A multifaceted gem. Carroll plays the trumpet like no one
I know of. He's got chops to burn, which are fabulously on
display whenever he solos, but what really strikes me as unique
is his tone, which is dark and buttery-slippery, yet somehow
perfectly articulated. He gets more warmth from his horn than
any trumpeter I've ever heard, yet he's incredible nimble
and has perfect timing and pitch. This kind of modern eclectic
jazz--hip, worldly wise, yet with an underlying warmth and
accessibility--is what many artists strive for but few achieve.
In sum, this is one marvelous disc, certainly one of the absolute
best of 2001.
-Jon P. Dennis, Amazon.com [ full
review ]
"'Simply breathtaking! A real trust in creative freedom is
at the core of Carroll's work..."
-Bret Premack -Global
Music Network 2001 [
full review
]
"...Remarkable often astonishing. His playing is full of poetry.
His tones are beautiful..."
-Jazz Hot Magazine, Paris, France
"Baikida
is an exceptional musician and composer, we have been friends
for many moons...his music is always unique and soulful."
-Oliver Lake, Musician/Composer
"A
fine trumpeter"
-The Village Voice
"[Carroll's] probing trumpet, with a full, rounded attack
and soulful passion is at the core throughout. His lines have
a piercing precision, able to transform the singing melodies
into soaring abstractions while always retaining the harmonic
threadƒa personal approach to improvising that is rich with
an understated, complex lyricism. Carroll's writing displays
an adventurous melodicism and edgy sense of timing that lets
the musicians stretch out with soaring freedom while still
maintaining a flowing pulse that swings like mad."
-Michael Rosenstein, Signal to Noise [
full review
]
Best
New Jazz Releases
-Jez Nelson, BBC
2001
Critics' Best
-Hernani Faustino, JazzPortugal.net
"Baikida Carroll pulls the right strings. This 'freebop' session
is fresh sounding without being forced....Carroll's album
provides a valuable lesson to those who think that jazz's
future is in its past, be it neo-traditionalists or those
reliving the early 70's loft scene. The rich history of the
music is to be neither imitated nor ignored, but absorbed
to help create a personal statement. Carroll and his band
mates walk the tightrope between tradition and experimentation
with perfect balance."
-Dan Polletta, Public Arts Interactive [
full review
]
"Marionettes On A High Wire is a comprehensive, deeply moving
evocation of creative values. For all the bravura complexity
and calculated ambiguity of Carroll's lines, there's a suede
elegance to his tone."
-Chip Stern, Stereophile [ full
review ]
"Baikida Carroll is not only a very fine musician; but a very
accomplished person in general."
-Muhal Richard Abrams, Composer/Musician
"If the neo-cons hadn't started to force it backwards 20 years
ago, this CD demonstrates where thoughtful mainstream jazz
was headed at that time, and what most contemporary mainstream
jazz should sound like right now."
-Ken Waxman, Jazz Weekly [
full review
]
"[Marionettes On A High Wire] Like a drive on a windy mountain
road, however, the new vistas peering out on each turn are
quite unexpected and beautiful. Take a spin for yourself".
-Jack Skowron, Audiophile Voice [ full
review ]
"[Marionettes On A High Wire] Quite the perfect release -
Omnitone once again delivers manna from the heavens."
-Downtown Music Gallery (NY)
"Baikida
Carroll has been one of the more impressive trumpeters in
the new jazz for several years now... boast a big sound and
firm control in all registers."
-Robert Palmer, The New York Times [
full review
]
"Carroll is a superb trumpeter - avant-garde in the finest
sense; building upon a tradition... and extending it into
new territories."
-Thomas Albright, The San Francisco Chronicle
"I am deeply moved by his compositions... Carroll's work is
innovative, fresh and has a magic that takes the listener
to another realm of awareness. The lines and textures inspire
me to make dances."
-Dianne
McIntyre, Choreographer
"Baikida Carroll is an artist...and one of the preeminent
trumpet players of his generation."
-Mikhail Horowitz, The Woodstock Times
"...It was a pleasure to listen to Baikida Carroll... with
his fine, fine sense of melody and his many talents as a composer...
intelligent compositional weave, and brilliant instrumentalist.
-Edward Sanders, The Woodstock Journal
[ full
review ]
"There is a freshness in the air when one hears Baikida Carroll.
A gifted writer."
-Dick Bogle, The Portland Scanner [
full review
]
"Leader and superb trumpeter ...Carroll with his lovely clear
tone, relaxed, multi- faceted lyricism and sudden high spears
of power... a much more satisfying soloist."
-The Morning Herald, Sydney Australia
"Baikida Carroll has long been a leading force in the shaping
of contemporary creative music. His influence will be strongly
felt as creative music moves into the next cycle."
-Anthony Braxton, Composer/Musician
"Carroll's fat tone and
popping attack...suggest the formidable Lee Morgan. When Baikida
bears down on the microphone a sec, the whole room can shake..."
-Kevin Whitehead, Schwann Inside Jazz & Classical [
full review
]
Recommended Jazz
-Chuck Obuchowski, New England Jazz Radio Cooperative (WWUH-FM)
"He (Baikida) evokes every style of the horn's history and
elicits every conceivable, and some inconceivable sounds from
it. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't heard it myself."
-WXPN Radio, Philadelphia, PA
"...the
balance of this special recording has the verve, the vision
and the vitality of the best of mid-sixties and contemporary
jazz.
-Jules Epstein, Jazzmatazz [ full
review ]
-Wynton Marsalis, Trumpeter
Baikida Carroll
Black Artists’ Group members Charles “Bobo” Shaw (left), Joseph Bowie, Floyd LeFlore, Baikida Carroll and Oliver Lake (Photo: Courtesy of Oliver Lake)
Bryan Dematteis’ new documentary, The Black Artists’ Group of St. Louis: Creation Equals Movement, debuted in November at the St. Louis International Film Festival and aims to increase awareness of the titular historical organization.
BAG—an interdisciplinary arts group formed in St. Louis in 1968 that staged concerts and multimedia performances blending music, drama and dance—served as a launching pad for the careers of jazz musicians like Oliver Lake, Baikida Carroll, Hamiet Bluiett, Julius Hemphill and Charles “Bobo” Shaw. During its four-year existence, BAG also showcased the talents of poet Shirley LeFlore, playwright Malinké Elliott and visual artist Oliver L. Jackson.
Dematteis became intrigued with BAG several years ago after reading an article that listed In Paris, Aries 1973 as one of the top-10 jazz experimental albums ever recorded. The recording was made by a quintet of BAG members: Lake (reeds, flute), Carroll (trumpet, flugelhorn), Shaw (drums), Floyd LaFlore (trumpet, vocals) and Joseph Bowie (trombone). All five members played percussion on the sessions.
“I’m from St. Louis, but at the time I wasn’t familiar with BAG,” Dematteis recalled during a phone conversation. “So, I started to dig, and when I did, I realized this was a much larger story than that one album.”
Building on his background in film and video, Dematteis founded the production company Foveal Media, which specializes in concert films, music videos and projects for nonprofits. His early interest in BAG was rekindled after reading Benjamin Looker’s 2004 book, “Point from Which Creation Begins”: The Black Artists’ Group of St. Louis (Missouri Historical Society Press).
“When I started Foveal, I decided to work on a documentary about BAG,” Dematteis explained. “I began in early 2014, when I filmed a two-hour interview with ‘Bobo’ Shaw. He put me in touch with George Sams, who was presenting concerts at his Metropolitan Gallery that featured BAG members like Shaw, Oliver Lake and Hamiet Bluiett. George was a great help in lining up interviews with Hamiet and other artists, and became a producer for the documentary.” (Bluiett died in 2018 at age 78.)
The process of filming interviews and locating film and photos from the BAG era was complicated by the fact that Dematteis had to finance the project himself.
“It took seven years before we could finally premiere it at the festival,” he said. “We were working with a volunteer crew and zero funding. But other organizations reached out to help. Jazz St. Louis found out about the BAG documentary and contacted me, asking how they could help. In 2016, they brought Oliver Lake to talk about BAG and perform at the Ferring Jazz Bistro. That’s how I was able to interview Oliver and Shirley LeFlore.”
During a telephone interview from his New Jersey home, Lake expressed his approval of the documentary, but also noted that both he and Dematteis regard the current, 49-minute version of the film as a work in progress.
“I really liked the film,” Lake said. “And I thought it captured what we tried to do at BAG—pulling people from different artistic backgrounds together to create something new that reflected the Black community in St. Louis. I told Bryan that I think there should be more music in the film performed by BAG musicians, so Baikida and I are putting together a list of possibilities to send to Bryan.”
“We’d been thinking of showing the film for the past couple years, and now we have it in a form [with which] we feel comfortable doing that,” Dematteis said. “And St. Louis was clearly the place to premiere it. ... It’s a film that will continue to evolve. Hopefully, as more people see it, that may open up access to more resources like photos and other BAG material that we can include.” DB
The Black Artists' Group of St. Louis:
Creation Equals Movement
Baikida Carroll: Marionettes On A High Wire
AllAboutJazz
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Essentially, Marionettes On A High Wire boasts an amalgamation of variable swing vamps, elegantly rendered shifts in meter and memorable melodies, awash with blistering yet finely articulated soloing by the leader, saxophonist Erica Lindsay and veteran jazz pianist Adegoke Steve Colson. Furthermore, the all world rhythm section of bassist Michael Formanek and drummer Pheeroan akLaff subsidize the band’s often oscillating movements and brisk pace.
Carroll’s “Griot’s Last Dance” is all about booming rhythms, free jazz undertones and diminutive themes in accordance with the musicians’ sparkling communal dialogue. “Our Say” is a soft ballad, punctuated by Formanek’s expressive lines and Colson’s delicate frameworks, while “A Thrill A Minute” provides the listener with hard-Bop-ish unison choruses and a profoundly stated melody that is guaranteed to seize your mind’s eye! (A testament to Carroll’s wondrous compositional pen).
The excitement continues with “Flamboye” as the band skirts free-jazz territory in conjunction with crisp, tightly organized choruses and circular passages as Carroll’s latest release equates to one beautifully fabricated production, that imparts a lasting impression. Now, we can only hope that Baikida Carroll sustains fewer gaps between recordings! Recommended!!
Personnel
Baikida Carroll: trumpet.
Album information
Title: Marionettes On A High Wire | Year Released: 2001 | Record Label: Soul Note
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