Nicholas Walker, Greg Evans and Ithaca College School of Music faculty and students explore new contexts for 2011 Billboard hits by Postal Service, Beyoncé, Cee Lo Greeg, Foster the People, Katy Perry, The Shins, Bon Iver, Kings of Leon, and Adele. This free concert will take place on the afternoon of Friday January 27th at 4:30 pm in Hockett Family Recital Hall in the Whalen Center for Music at Ithaca College.
Creatively engaging today’s most commercially successful music through collaboration and improvisation.
The program will include:
1. Such Great Heights, by Postal Service, in F in 7/8 - Alex Shuhan (hn.), Nicholas Walker, & Greg Evans
2. Rolling in the Deep, by Adele, in C minor - Mike Titlebaum, Frank Campos, Nicholas Walker, & Greg Evans
3. Pumped Up Kicks, by Foster the People, in pseudo funky/quasi Ornette free style - Mike Titlebaum, Frank Campos, Nicholas Walker, & Greg Evans
4. Firework, by Katy Perry, key TBD, in 3/4 - Cathy Gale, Nicholas Walker (pn.)
5. Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall, by Coldplay, key of D, Bluegrass Style - Jordan Morton (vocals & fiddle), Ethan Jodziewicz (mandolin), Nicholas Walker, & Greg Evans
6. Sex on Fire, by Kings of Leon, key of E in Gospel Style - Mike Titlebaum, Nicholas Walker, & Greg Evans (tamborine)
7. Holocene, by Bon Iver, key TBD - Louise Mygatt, Nicholas Walker, & Greg Evans (vibes)
8. Caring Is Creepy, by The Shins, guitar loops/spoken word style - with Louise Mygatt, Damien Scalise, Nicholas Walker, & Greg Evans
9. Single Ladies/F--- You Mashup, by Beyonce/Cee Lo Green, key TBD, Afro Cuban Style - Cathy Gale, Mike Titlebaum, Frank Campos, Damien Scalise, Nicholas Walker, & Greg Evans
Nicholas Walker, professor of double bass said:
Jazz, Bluegrass, Afro-Cuban, and other improvised forms of music typically use a rich canon of standards as the basis of the creative experience. Although it can be enjoyable to listen to improvisers even when one does not know the composition upon which they are improvising, how much more engaging the experience is when the subject material is thoroughly recognizable.
With this concert we hope to draw a new audience into the thrilling, high wire act of spontaneous collaboration through improvisation. By using material we all hear in shopping malls, on tv, over the radio, at the gym, as the basis for our arrangements, we hope the creative process will be more transparent to those who may not be familiar with standards of the 1940's, for example.
We are also interested in alternately reframing the meaning of a song, or highlighting one of its components. For example, one cheerful, catchy melody by Foster the People contains lyrics about an ostracized youth who becomes so deranged that he decides to hunt down and murder classmates who wear a certain type of shoe. You would never know it casually listening to the original, but that is the text. Our arrangement follows this psychosis, while still drawing from the jingle-like material of the original. Another arrangement combined two tracks (Beyonce and Cee Lo Green) that both deal with love and money, or the commodification of one self, playing the two themes off of each other in an Afro Cuban style. Katy Perry's triumphant Firework is presented in a voice of vulnerability and compassion. And a Coldplay song featured at Steve Jobs's memorial service is set as a jubilant bluegrass jamboree.
This is new material for all of us, so we all have stepped outside our comfort zone as we have worked to put this program together. It has been immensely rewarding to collaborate so freely with the tremendous artists on this program. The faculty and students involved in this program bring a huge range of skills and an absorbing energy. We really let it all hang out in this program and expect our audience will pick up on the infectious joy we find working together in this way.
Featuring:
Nicholas Walker, music director, double bass, piano
Greg Evans, assistant director, percussion
Cathy Gale, voice
Louise Mygatt, voice
Frank Campos, trumpet
Mike Titlebaum, saxophone
Alex Shuhan, french horn
Damien Scalise, guitar
Jordan Morton, voice, fiddle
Ethan Jodziewicz, mandolin
Concerts are free and open to the public. Individuals with disabilities requiring accommodation should contact the School of Music at 607-274-3717.
