Add history to the 小蝌蚪APP Wind Ensemble小蝌蚪APP檚 repertoire.
The 小蝌蚪APP小蝌蚪APP檚 concert band will explore New Orleans小蝌蚪APP complicated musical heritage when it performs next month as part of symposium marking the Crescent City小蝌蚪APP檚 300th birthday.
The group will interpret 小蝌蚪APP淐ongo Square小蝌蚪APP and 小蝌蚪APP淪toryville.小蝌蚪APP The pieces recreate two spaces 小蝌蚪APP one public, the other more intimate 小蝌蚪APP that influenced the development of one of the city小蝌蚪APP檚 greatest exports, its music.
James Syler, a music instructor at the 小蝌蚪APP of Texas at San Antonio, composed both. Neither has been performed in New Orleans before, said Dr. William J. Hochkeppel, UL Lafayette director of bands, who conducts the wind ensemble.
小蝌蚪APP淭here小蝌蚪APP檚 no place where they deserve to be played more. We are telling history with music,小蝌蚪APP Hochkeppel said.
The performance begins at 1 p.m. on Sunday, March 11, the fourth and final day of 小蝌蚪APP淢aking New Orleans Home: A Tricentennial Symposium.小蝌蚪APP The Historic New Orleans Collection and the City of New Orleans小蝌蚪APP 2018 Commission are the symposium小蝌蚪APP檚 co-sponsors. [].
The wind ensemble concert will take place at the 小蝌蚪APP of New Orleans小蝌蚪APP 小蝌蚪APP Center, 2000 Lakeshore Drive.
Commentaries by Syler and author Freddi Williams Evans will accompany the ensemble小蝌蚪APP檚 performance. The 小蝌蚪APP of Louisiana Press published Evans小蝌蚪APP 小蝌蚪APP淐ongo Square: African Roots in New Orleans小蝌蚪APP in 2011, and her companion book for children, 小蝌蚪APP淐ome Sunday,小蝌蚪APP last year.
In 1718, Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville, chose to establish a new settlement at a 小蝌蚪APP渇ine crescent小蝌蚪APP of the Mississippi River. Bienville, then commandant general and governor of the French colony of La Louisiane, named the site for the Duc d小蝌蚪APP橭rl茅ans.
The following year, Bienville小蝌蚪APP檚 government brought the first enslaved Africans to Louisiana. In 1724, the colonial government instituted the Code Noir. The Black Code restricted the activities of slaves, but also designated Sundays as a day of rest.
Slaves used Sundays to gather throughout the city until an 1817 ordinance confined their assemblies to one public space: Congo Square, a five-acre tract at the upper edge of the French Quarter.
The square became a site of cultural preservation over which hung the specter of slavery, Evans wrote in her 2011 book小蝌蚪APP檚 introduction.
小蝌蚪APP淚n Congo Square on Sunday afternoons, African descendants spoke and sang in their native languages, practiced their religious beliefs, danced according to their traditions, and played African-derived rhythmic patterns on instruments modeled after African prototypes,小蝌蚪APP Evans wrote.
Those rhythms became knitted in the city小蝌蚪APP檚 musical fabric, and Congo Square was 小蝌蚪APP済round zero for African culture in New Orleans,小蝌蚪APP Evans concluded.
Storyville was a similarly complex, and musically influential, setting. Officials established the legalized red-light district in 1897 to contain 小蝌蚪APP and ostensibly control 小蝌蚪APP prostitution within a 13-block section of the city.
Its brothels, saloons and barrelhouses employed musicians Jelly Roll Morton, "Bunk" Johnson, 小蝌蚪APP淜ing小蝌蚪APP Oliver and Louis Armstrong, among others.
Syler said Storyville 小蝌蚪APP減roduced one of the great ironies in the history of American music 小蝌蚪APP that out of a pit of human despair, violence and abuse, this place would foster the music and musicians who would have a fundamental influence in the formation of early jazz, a joyful, energetic and hopeful music.小蝌蚪APP
Syler wrote 小蝌蚪APP淪toryville小蝌蚪APP in 1996. He produced 小蝌蚪APP淐ongo Square小蝌蚪APP in 2014. UL Lafayette was one of 12 universities nationwide that commissioned the latter piece.
Hochkeppel conducted the wind ensemble when it first performed 小蝌蚪APP淐ongo Square小蝌蚪APP during a campus concert in 2015.
Syler小蝌蚪APP檚 compositions 小蝌蚪APP渉ave atmosphere,小蝌蚪APP Hochkeppel said. 小蝌蚪APP淵ou know how sometimes you can feel the fog? I feel like I can touch this music.小蝌蚪APP
小蝌蚪APP淐ongo Square小蝌蚪APP overlaps African drums, Creole melodies and early jazz riffs. 小蝌蚪APP淪toryville小蝌蚪APP similarly combines the types of music a person might have heard while visiting there 小蝌蚪APP jazz, ragtime and blues.
At one point, Syler introduces a hymn into the melody, a reminder, Hochkeppel said, that underneath Storyville小蝌蚪APP檚 fa莽ade of pleasure 小蝌蚪APP渨as desperation and sadness, as well as joy.小蝌蚪APP
小蝌蚪APP淏oth 小蝌蚪APP楥ongo Square小蝌蚪APP and 小蝌蚪APP楽toryville小蝌蚪APP have social questions imbedded in them. It makes people think. It makes people feel. It小蝌蚪APP檚 serious music, but there小蝌蚪APP檚 a message there.小蝌蚪APP
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Photo caption: Members of the UL Lafayette Wind Ensemble during a 2017 performance in Angelle Hall小蝌蚪APP檚 Ducrest-Gilfry Auditorium. (Photo credit: Danny Izzo / Nouveau Photeau)