Historic Richmond Jazz Suite (presented)

• Hyperlink 

• Randolph-Macon College

• Piedmont College

• Black History Museum

• H.R. 57

 

Musicians: 

Ashby Anderson - Piano

Kevin Davis - Percussion

Michael Hawkins - Acoustic Bass

Mark Ingraham - Trumpet

Sam Savage - Trombone

Kevin Simpson - Tenor Saxophone

 

Devil’s Half-Acre:  a former slave jail in Shockoe Bottom.  This extremely tense work creates a tonal representation of the jail, the atrocities that took place there and its subsequent conversion after the Civil War to what is now know as Virginia Union University.

 

Locomotive 231:  features a reoccurring short theme that imitates the sound of a train whistle when blown in short bursts.  Other themes imitate the power and strength of a locomotive.  The work seeks to pass on this true story of a buried train under Jefferson Park in musical form.  As with several versions of this historical event, such as people seeing lights and ghosts in that area, this work is embellished with similar themes throughout they are slightly different each time you hear them.

 

Steppin’:  evolves out of the tap rhythms from the famous staircase routine of Bill “Bojangles” Robinson.  The music features his rhythms in an upward musical theme that represents Robinson’s ascent up the stairs.  The piece has a “New Orleans” bent because I saw a similarity in Robinson’s rhythms and of the music from that era.  The different sections of the piece represent a different stage show or routine that Robinson may have performed to entertain his audiences.  Therefore, the subtitle of this piece is ---Vignettes for Bill “Bojangles” Robinson.

 

Soul of 2nd Street:  this piece captures the “village” feeling one gets while walking in the historic Jackson Ward neighborhood in Richmond, VA.  The first theme represents the underlying strength, vitality, and energy that is still present within this neighborhood even though it is now a shadow of its former self. The second theme represents the past glory of this neighborhood in its heyday.