Advance Program Notes
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Advance Program Notes Raisin’ Cane: A Harlem Renaissance Odyssey starring Jasmine Guy with the Avery Sharpe Trio Saturday, January 28, 2017, 7:30 PM These Advance Program Notes are provided online for our patrons who like to read about performances ahead of time. Printed programs will be provided to patrons at the performances. Programs are subject to change. JASMINE GUY STARRING IN FEATURING THE AVERY SHARPE TRIO Inspired by the classic 1923 novel, Cane, by Jean Toomer and works by other artists of the Harlem Renaissance with AVERY SHARPE, DIANE MONROE, AND KEVIN SHARPE written and conceived by HARRY CLARK adaptation by JASMINE GUY music composed and arranged by AVERY SHARPE Baylin Artists Management 721 Hyde Park | Doylestown, PA 18902 p. 267-880-3750 | f. 267-880-3757 baylinartists.com Raisin’ Cane: A Harlem Renaissance Odyssey It was an exceptional time. It was our time. 1920s. Harlem, New York, U.S.A. In the American Black community, during the years leading up to the Harlem Renaissance, there was a sense of building artistic expression. Outlets and avenues for its poets, musicians, novelists, artists, and actors were few. But in 1918, as the first great World War concluded and thousands of African-American soldiers returned home victorious, this mountain of artistic expression was now ready to explode. The words and thoughts of Langston Hughes, Countee Cullen, Zora Neale Hurston, W.E.B. Dubois, and many others became the voice of a new generation of African-Americans who were looking forward but still struggling with the past and present. These thoughts, songs, and images are woven into a panoramic experience that spans this extraordinary outpouring of artistic endeavor. Raisin’ Cane is a window on this critical point in our history. There will be a brief intermission. Jasmine Guy Avery Sharpe, double bass Diane Monroe, violin Kevin Sharpe, drums/percussion and vocals Written and conceived by Harry Clark Adaptation by Jasmine Guy Original score by Avery Sharpe Directed by Dan Guerrero Production design by Gregg Bellón Projection design by R. Daniel Foster Produced by Jade Eterprises, LLC Raisin’ Cane logo and design by Ric Washington Credits POEMS/SHORT STORIES Gwendolyn Bennett To Usward (1924) and Hatred (1926) Countee Cullen Nothing Endures (1929) Georgia Douglas I Want to Die While You Love Me (1928) Langston Hughes Goodbye Christ (1932), The Negro Speaks of Rivers (1921), and I, Too (1925) James Weldon Johnson O Southland (1922) Claude McKay If We Must Die (1919) and The Tropics in New York (1920) Jean Toomer Kabnis, Georgia Dusk, and Cotton Song from Cane (1923) POEMS/SHORT STORIES W.E.B. Dubois The Souls of Black Folk (1903); Returning Soldiers from The Crisis, XVIII (May 1919); and Criteria of Negro Art (1926) Langston Hughes The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain (1926) George Schuyler The New Daily News (Summer 1924) Booker T. Washington Speech at the Atlanta Exposition (September 18, 1895) MUSIC All music composed and arrangements by Avery Sharpe, with the exception of: Arthur Francis Collins Here Comes My Daddy Now (1917) Traditional Negro spiritual Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington The Mooche (1928) Eubie Blake I’m Just Wild About Harry (1921) Theodore August Metz and Joe There’ll Be a Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight (1896) Hayden; adapted by Bessie Smith James Price Johnson Charleston (1923) Program Notes A FEW THOUGHTS ABOUT RAISIN’ CANE I’ve had the pleasure to know and work with Avery Sharpe for many years. During this time he has written several classical jazz works for cello and various combinations—always nudging this dyed-in-the-wool classical white guy toward a bit more improv and flexibility. One day he suggested that I write something for which he could compose an original score. I thought this was a terrific idea, but what? Well, I did scads of reading and was bowled over by Jean Toomer’s Cane. Cane is nearly always mentioned as the seminal work that started the sparks of the Harlem renaissance flying. As I progressed further, I realized it was going to be a panoramic view that would give expression to the pent up explosion of prose, poetry, politics, and music of African-Americans. The words and thoughts of Langston Hughes, Countee Cullen, George Schuyler, Zora Neale-Hurston, Claude McKay, W.E.B. Dubois, Gwendolyn Bennett, Father Divine, Georgia Douglas Johnson, and many others are given their due with a large selection of the work dedicated to the brilliance of Toomer’s Cane. After I showed Avery an early draft, he asked me who I had in mind to handle such a task. I had no one in mind. “Do you know Jasmine Guy?” Avery asked, and I answered, “I do, but not personally.” “I’ve known her for many years,” Avery said, smiling as he answered. Lucky for us, Jasmine loved the period, the script, and Avery’s music, and so we were rolling. The work has played in small and large venues—churches, concert halls, theatres, and most fittingly the Apollo! —Harry Clark NOTE FROM THE COMPOSER The influence and impact musicians from the Harlem Renaissance had on the world still reverberates around the universe. American music would not have the extraordinary sonorous qualities it possesses if not for the creative geniuses of this fruitful period. Composers and musicians like Thomas “Fats” Waller, Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington, James “Fletcher” Henderson, Eubie Blake, Louis Armstrong, and many more were powerful figures during the 1920s. I am most fortunate to be a continuation of the powerful music known as jazz. I am even more fortunate to have been asked to give my interpretation of the music from that era. The music I composed for Raisin’ Cane is indicative of the 1920s. I also wrote music that is more modern and beyond, because I felt the subject matter of the poems was timeless. The music is performed by a slightly different trio composed of violin, bass, and drums/percussion. People often think of the instrumentation for this period in jazz as being piano, trumpet, reeds, and trombone. I chose violin because violin has a rich history in jazz from its beginning. Precursors to the modern violin can be found in ancient Africa. This might explain why Africans were able to adapt to the instrument they were introduced to in America during plantation times. Violin was easily adopted into jazz at its formation. A vital ingredient that distinguished jazz from other forms of music in its early stages was rhythm and improvisation. The rhythms Africans brought with them as slaves to this country were incorporated into the music and instruments they adapted to. My brother, Kevin Sharpe, brings a rich understanding of the function of the drums and rhythms from the Harlem Renaissance and beyond. The bottom, or “bass,” is essential to all music, and I am a bass player. When jazz was first played in its early formation, it was often performed by the marching bands and small combos of New Orleans. The bass was usually performed by sousaphone or tuba. When jazz began to move indoors and into more intimate urban settings, players began to switch from tuba to string or double bass. One such bassist who made this transition during the 1910s and 1920s was George Murphy “Pops” Foster. (You will note during the performance some of my slappin’ on the bass, compliments of Foster from nearly 100 years ago but modernized and advanced on by me). The bass wouldn’t move from a supportive role to a more front or dominant role until the 1940s, thanks to bassist Jimmy Blanton with Duke Ellington and later Charles Mingus in the 1950s. —Musically yours, Avery Sharpe Program Notes, continued DIRECTOR’S NOTES Raisin’ Cane was first brought to me by the playwright Harry Clark, an old friend from Tucson, Arizona. The idea of a piece about the Harlem Renaissance intrigued me, although I sheepishly admit to knowing very little of that important time in our nation’s history. I read it, and I was hooked. But the path from page to stage is a tricky one and often littered with the corpses of broken shows and shattered dreams. This path, however, was blessed. I had all the right elements to make magic. The glorious Jasmine Guy brought the script to life as only an incandescent artist could, and the music from the Avery Sharpe Trio made it fly. “A labor of love” is a much overused phrase in our business, but it suits Raisin’ Cane perfectly. There’s lots of love in this performance, for the piece, and between all the creative team. You’ll get your share when the house lights dim and you travel back in time with Jasmine, Avery, and the many names and faces of those pioneers that created what became known as the Harlem Renaissance. Enjoy! —Dan Guerrero Biographies JASMINE GUY Actor-dancer-director Jasmine Guy continues to enjoy a diverse career in television, theatre, and film. She began her professional career at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in New York City. Guy starred on Broadway in the original productions of Beehive and Leader of the Pack and reprised hit productions of Grease, The Wiz, and Chicago (as Velma Kelly). After years on Broadway and touring the globe, Guy landed the role of Whitley Gilbert on the Cosby Show spinoff, A Different World. She won six consecutive NAACP Image Awards for her portrayal of the pretentious but funny southern belle. Her other television performances include Melrose Place with Heather Locklear, NYPD Blue with Jimmy Smits, Fresh Prince of Bel Air with Will Smith, and Living Single with Queen Latifah.