Post tag: Dr. Billy Taylor
2024 Upcoming Events
  2024      
  November 16     RADIO PLAY: Eugene Marlow’s original composition “Flight II” performed by pianist ArcoIris Sandoval on Marlow’s “Obrigado Brasil” (MEII Enterprises 2016) is spun on WBGO’s “Latin Jazz Cruise,” hosted by Grammy-nominated drummer Bobby Sanabria. WBGO is the most listened to jazz radio station on the planet.
  November 15     “JAZZ IN CHINA” documentary screening: Dr. Eugene Marlow’s award-winning, feature-length documentary “Jazz in China,” based on his 2018 book of the same name, screened at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York (34th Street and Fifth Avenue) starting at 4 p.m. Room TBA.
  October 15     The Jazz Journalists Association (JJA) publishes The Jazz Omnibus: 21st Century Photos and Writings (Cymbal Press).  The works of 90 JJA members are represented in this volume of approximately 600 pages (with two dozen b&w images). It is available in hardcover, paperback and e-book formats, and sold online (typically. through Amazon). Dr. Eugene Marlow’s essay on jazz pianist great Bill Evans is among those chosen for this volume. 
  August 30     JAZZ IN ARABIC CULTURE BOOK: Eugene Marlow signs a contract with the University Press of Mississippi (UPM) to deliver a manuscript dealing with “Jazz in Arabic Culture” based on his formative documentary. The volume is due for publication in 2026. UPM published Dr. Marlow’s Jazz in China in 2018.
  August 28     Eugene Marlow, MBA, Ph.D. begins his 73rd semester (37th year) teaching courses in media and culture at Baruch College (City University of New York). Dr. Marlow was on fellowship leave in the spring 2024 semester to work on a “Jazz in Arabic Culture” feature-length documentary.
  August 9     DR. EUGENE MARLOW’S “JAZZ IN CHINA” BOOK AND DOCUMENTARY is mentioned in an article by Bruce Munro titled “Shanghai, Shanglow” originally published in odt.co.nz on 3 Aug 2024 and republished on the web site of the New Zealand China Council. Dr. Marlow was interviewed for the article.
  July 11     MARLOW PRIZE 2023-2024 WINNER: David Milch, Director of the MA Program in Arts Administration at Baruch College (City University of New York), informed student Mary Schwab she was the 2023-2024 recipient of the Marlow Prize for her consultancy Building Membership for a Copyright Management Organization: A Consultancy for Artists Rights Society. The honor, including a check for $500, will be presented at a ceremony in early September 2024. Elena Freijeurdaneta was selected for an Honorable Mention for her consultancy Exodus on Odyssey: Touring Strategies for Start-Up Theatre Companies.
  June 7     MEII Enterprises launches its re-constructed, multi-genre indie label web site
  May 24     NEW ALBUM RELEASE: MEII Enterprises releases “Me, Alone,” a nine-track album of original compositions for solo piano performed by Eugene Marlow. These tracks were recorded by the composer in 1971 in his Merced, California apartment following a four-year stint in the United States Air Force.  
  May 13     NEW MARLOWSPHERE BLOG: Eugene Marlow posts a blog book review of Erica Ginsberg’s Creative Resilience.
  May 1     “ZIKKARON/KRISTALLNACHT” AWARD: Eugene Marlow’s documentary short “Zikkaron/Kristallnacht: A Family Story” is an official selection semi-finalist of the CLIMAX Festival Internacional de Cinema Independiente 2024 in the “Best Achievement in Documentary Editing & Sound” category. There were 537 submissions to this film festival. 
  April 30     INTERNATIONAL JAZZ DAY DOCUMENTARY SHOWING: Documentarian Dr. Eugene Marlow shows excerpts from his formative documentary “The Influence of African American Jazzers in the Diaspora: China & Russia” for the 24 hours of International Jazz Day. Link provided on April 30, 2024. Click Here.
  April 15     NEW MARLOWSPHERE BLOG: Eugene Marlow posts a blog about his High School of Performing Arts classmate Charlie Smalls, composer and lyricist of the 1975 Broadway show “The Wiz”. 
  April 13     BIG BAND PERFORMANCE: Bobby Sanabria’s Grammy-nominated “Multiverse” Big Band performs Eugene Marlow’s transcription and arrangement of James Reese Europe’s 1914 recording of “St Louis Blues” as part of a celebration of the music of Rafael Hernandez and James Reese Europe’s Harlem Hellfighters, Bronx Music Hall, 438 East 163rd Street, Bronx, New York City.
  March 30     RADIO PLAY: Eugene Marlow’s free jazz-styled arrangement of  “Adon Olam” with vocalist Rachel Kara Perez, performed by Marlow’s Heritage Ensemble, is spun on WBGO’s “Latin Jazz Cruise,” hosted by Grammy-nominated drummer Bobby Sanabria. WBGO is the most listened to jazz radio station on the planet.
  March 23     RADIO PLAY: Eugene Marlow’s Bolero-styled composition “Sin Mi” (Without Me) with lyrics by Rachel Kara Perez, performed by Marlow’s Heritage Ensemble with multi-lingual vocalist Jenn Jade Ledesna, is spun on WBGO’s “Latin Jazz Cruise,” hosted by Grammy-nominated drummer Bobby Sanabria. WBGO is the most listened to jazz radio station on the planet.
  March 22     MARLOW PRESENTATION: Dr. Marlow gives a short talk on his “Jazz International” research project (documentaries and books) PechaKucha style for staff, professors, and students at Baruch College’s (City University of New York) Third Annual Cross-College Faculty Research Symposium. 
  February 17     RADIO PLAY: Eugene Marlow’s Latin jazz original “Flight II,” performed and recorded by Marlow’s Heritage Ensemble with ArcoIris Sandoval at the piano, is spun on WBGO’s “Latin Jazz Cruise” hosted by Grammy-nominated drummer Bobby Sanabria. WBGO is the most listened to jazz radio station on the planet.
  February 15     NEW MARLOWSPHERE BLOG: Marlow’s newest blog is “In Recovery from the Pandemic–APAP 2024 Faces: Familiar, New & Absent.” 
  February 9     NEW ALBUM RELEASE: MEII Enterprises proudly releases a second album from the Ben Sutin Quartet. Titled “Mr. Inevitable,” the seven-track album consists of all Sutin originals. The album is available on all major digital platforms and Bandcamp. Watch an album video hereSutin’s first album with MEII Enterprises was “Hard Bop Hanukkah” (2020). 
  February 8-11     JAZZ IN CHINA DOCUMENTARY SHOWING: Eugene Marlow’s award-winning, feature-length documentary “Jazz in China” is an “official selection” of the “Third Annual (2024) Spotlight on Academics Film Festival.” It is shown via ResearchTV.ca. This is the 12th film festival to officially select the documentary. So far, it is the recipient of an “Award of Excellence” from the 2022 Depth of Field International Film Festival and was the first place winner of the 2022 American Insight “Free Speech Film Festival.”
  January 13-14     APAP 2024: Eugene Marlow, Ph.D. attends the annual meeting of the Association of Performing Arts Presenters (New York City) as a journalist. Marlow will write an article about the international exhibitors attending the multi-day event at the New York Hilton (midtown).  
  January 12     “BOARDED AND BROKEN” DOCUMENTARY SHOWING: The New Plaza Cinema (scroll down a bit) shows “Boarded & Broken,” a documentary short photographic essay by Glenda F. Hydler with  a music underscore composed by Dr. Eugene Marlow (who also produced and directed the work). The photographs represent some of the businesses that covered up during and after the vandalism around New York City in the spring of 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. Temporary structures were created in the name of “security.” They were boarded and broken, but not forgotten.  The short film festival is organized by filmmaker Michael Jacobsohn. New Plaza Cinema is located at 35 West 67th Street in Manhattan, New York. Starts at 7:30 p.m. General seating: $15; Seniors: $12. 
  January 6     RADIO PLAY: Eugene Marlow’s Afro-Caribbean original “El Ache de Sanabria,” an homage to friend and colleague Bobby Sanabria, performed and recorded by the Grammy-nominated “Multiverse Big Band” on the Jazzheads label, is spun on WBGO’s “Latin Jazz Cruise,” hosted by Grammy-nominated drummer Bobby Sanabria. WBGO is the most listened to jazz radio station on the planet.
  January 1     Dr. Marlow begins a one-semester fellowship leave from Baruch College to work on his nascent new documentary “Jazz in Arabic Culture”. He returns to teach courses in media and culture at Baruch College on August 28, 2024.
  2023      
  December 16     RADIO PLAY: Eugene Marlow’s Afro-Caribbean arrangement of “Dreidel, dreidel, dreidel,” performed by his Heritage Ensemble,  is spun on WBGO’s “Latin Jazz Cruise,” hosted by Grammy-nominated drummer Bobby Sanabria. WBGO is the most listened to jazz radio station on the planet.
  November 26     Dr. Eugene Marlow is informed his blog “Remembering Bill Evans: A Personal Account,” originally published in 2013, was to be included in an anthology of “best writing by jazz journalists.” The volume, sponsored by the Jazz Journalists Association, will be published by Cymbal Press in 2024. 
  November 7     MEII ENTERPRISES ARTIST PERFORMANCE: Violinist/Composer Ben Sutin’s fourth album “Mr. Inevitable” is performed by the quartet at a pre-release show at Shapeshifter Lab in Park Slope (New York City) on Tuesday, November 7th starting at 6pm! Shapeshifter Lab is located at 837 Union St, Brooklyn, NY 11215. Sutin’s album will be officially released on February 9, 2024. 
  November 1     GRAMMYU: GrammyU, the mentor/mentee arm of the Recording Academy (the Grammys) has paired Dr. Eugene Marlow (mentor) with French-born Amelia Rolland (mentee), a recent singer-songwriter graduate of the renown Berklee College of Music (Boston, MA).  This is Marlow’s fifth turn in the GrammyU program. He is a voting member (since 2006) of The Recording Academy.
  October 21     RADIO PLAY: Eugene Marlow’s Latin-jazz arrangement of “Hatikva” (The Hope), the Israeli national anthem, performed by Marlow’s Heritage Ensemble, is spun on WBGO’s “Latin Jazz Cruise,” hosted by Grammy-nominated drummer Bobby Sanabria. WBGO is the most listened to jazz radio station on the planet.
  October 15     RADIO PLAY: Francisco Manuel invites composer/producer Eugene Marlow to spin “Blue in Green Remix” (MEII Enterprises 2023) on Radio Despi out of Barcelona, Spain.
  October 2     Dr. Eugene Marlow participates in the American Insight “Speak EZ” program which showcases award-winning directors, artists. authors, and scholars. Marlow’s feature-length documentary “Jazz in China” won first place in American Insight’s 2022 “Free Speech Film Festival.” He is interviewed by Karen Curry, former NBC and CNN journalist. 
  August 29     The Annual Marlow Prize in “Arts Consulting” is presented at a ceremony organized and hosted by the MA Program in Arts Management (David Milch, Director) at Baruch College (City University of New York) (starts at 6.p.m.). Dr. Marlow is in the process of establishing a $25,000 fund so that the annual prize can be awarded in perpetuity. 
  August 28     Dr. Eugene Marlow begins his 71st semester (36th year) teaching courses in media and culture at Baruch College (City University of New York).
   July 3     MARLOW PRIZE AWARDEES: Matthew Sullivan is the recipient of the Marlow Prize in Arts Leadership for the 2022-23 academic year. His consultancy, Children’s Orchestra Society: Succession Planning for Community Arts Organizations was an exceptional paper utilizing a very high level of research and an analytical approach. His review of succession planning – specifically in a transition within a founder-led organization will serve the Children’s Orchestra Society very well, but also provides an excellent resource for any similar institution. The Committee also awarded an Honorable Mention for the Marlow Prize this year to Jessie Kardos for her consultancy, Re-envisioning a Multinational Dance Nonprofit Through a Program Budget Model: Springboard Danse Montréal & Friends of Springboard Danse. Jessie’s consultancy stood out in its ability to provide excellent research and analysis, managed across two organizations, working internationally and with budgets in multiple currencies. Sullivan and Kardos are students in the MA Program in Arts Management at Baruch College, City University of New York. The annual Marlow Prize is funded by Dr. Eugene Marlow, Senior Professor in Baruch College’s Department of Journalism.
  June 30     ZIKKARON/KRISTALLNACHT SHOWING: Eugene Marlow’s award-winning documentary short “Zikkaron/Kristallnacht: A Family Story” is shown at the New Plaza Cinema (New York City) on June 30. This short (previously an official selection at 18 domestic and international film festivals) is among several shorts shown on June 30. The short film festival is organized by filmmaker Michael Jacobsohn. New Plaza Cinema is located at 35 West 67th Street in Manhattan, New York. General seating: $15; Seniors: $12.
  May 27     PERFORMANCE: Dr. Eugene Marlow’s piece “Aspetta Ancora Qualche Minuto” (“Wait a minute!”) is performed by the Namaste Trio (Natalia Benedetti, clarinet, Guido Arbonelli, clarinet, and Vincenzo De Filpo, pianoforte) in Montecchio Emilia, Italy.  The concert is organized by composer Andrea Talmelli, Presidente of SIMC, the Contemporary Music Italian Association. 
  April 30     JAZZ IN CHINA (DOCUMENTARY): The folks at the UNESCO sponsored International Jazz Day invited Dr. Eugene Marlow to present his multi-award-winning feature documentary “Jazz in China” as an “official event” on April 30, 2023. The documentary is shown free of charge globally via UNESCO’s International Jazz Day web site for 24 hours on April 30, 2023.
  April 21     MEII ENTERPRISES ARTIST PERFORMS: MEII ENTERPRISES artist classical oboist Virginia Chang Chien performs with a trio at Klavierhaus, 790 11th Avenue, New York City. Concert entitled “Revival Romanticism” starts at 7 p.m. Ms. Chien performs with violist April Jiwon Kim and pianist Daniel Colalillo. Tickets $26.
  April 6     JAZZ IN CHINA (DOCUMENTARY): Dr. Eugene Marlow’s award-winning, feature-length documentary is shown at the Brooklyn Heights branch of the Brooklyn Public Library, starting at 6 p.m. in the Multi-Purpose room on the basement level. Dr. Marlow participates in a Q&A session following the showing. The library is located at 286 Cadman Plaza West, Brooklyn NY 11201.
  April 1     ARTICLE: Dr. Marlow is featured in the Baruch College Fund Annual Report 2021-2022 because of his commitment to his Marlow Prize in Arts Leadership, awarded annually to a student in the Graduate Program in Arts Administration.
  March 31-April 2     JAZZ IN CHINA (DOCUMENTARY) ON CUNY-TV: Dr. Eugene Marlow’s award-winning feature-length documentary “Jazz in China” is shown on CUNY-TV. CUNY-TV reaches 7.3 million homes. “Jazz in China” looks at the influence of African American jazz musicians on Chinese artists, and the music’s appeal to Chinese youth. Embark on a captivating journey as this documentary takes you through exclusive interviews and incredible performances that capture the magic of jazz culture in China throughout history, and today. Produced by Baruch College journalism professor Eugene Marlow. Friday, 3/31, Saturday, 4/1, and Sunday, 4/2, at 3:55 PM. CUNY TV | Antenna 25.3 | Spectrum/Optimum 75 | RCN 77 | Verizon FiOS 30
  March 7     MEII ENTERPRISES ALBUM PRODUCTION: MEII Producer Eugene Marlow goes into the studio (Samurai Hotel) in Astoria, Queens (New York City) to oversee the recording of virtuoso violinist Ben Sutin’s forthcoming album, featuring acclaimed drummer Johnathan Blake. The album is due for release in late summer 2023.  
  March 1     JAZZ IN CHINA (DOCUMENTARY) ARTICLE: DOWNBEAT, the leading jazz publication, publishes “Jazz in China: A Cultural Conversation,” authored by John McDonough. The full-page feature article includes comments by producer-director Dr. Eugene Marlow.
  February 27     JAZZ IN CHINA (DOCUMENTARY): Dr. Eugene Marlow talks about his award-winning, feature-length documentary as part of the Northwest China Council’s “Movie Chat” program. Starts at 7 p.m. PST. Register here.
  February 25     MARLOW BIG BAND CHARTS: Composer/Arranger Eugene Marlow adds three more Latin big band charts to 3-2 Music’s catalogue: “Resolution,” “Sin Mi,” and “Dreidel, dreidel, dreidel.” Marlow’s first big band chart with the Fresno, California company that markets to colleges and universities music departments was “El Ache de Sanabria (en moderacion),” Marlow’s musical homage to multi-Grammy nominee drummer/percussionist and big band leader Bobby Sanabria. This chart appears on Sanabria’s Grammy-nominated “Big Band Urban Folktales” (Jazzheads 2007) 
  February 24-26     JAZZ IN CHINA (DOCUMENTARY) ON CUNY-TV: Dr. Eugene Marlow’s award-winning feature-length documentary “Jazz in China” shown on CUNY-TV’s 7.3 million homes. “Jazz in China” looks at the influence of African American jazz musicians on Chinese artists, and the music’s appeal to Chinese youth. Embark on a captivating journey as this documentary takes you through exclusive interviews and incredible performances that capture the magic of jazz culture in China throughout history, and today.  Produced by Baruch College professor Gene Marlow. Friday, 2/24, Saturday, 2/25, and Sunday, 2/26, at 3:35 PM. CUNY TV | Antenna 25.3 | Spectrum/Optimum 75 | RCN 77 | Verizon FiOS 30
  February 15     GRAMMYU MENTEE: Recording Academy voting member Dr. Eugene Marlow is chosen to serve as a mentor to mentee Nora Ann Jn Louis (a.k.a. Koryna), a first year BA in Music Production student at Rider University, Lawrenceville, New Jersey. This is Dr. Marlow’s fourth turn as a mentor in the Recording Academy’s mentorship program.
  February 15     JAZZ IN CHINA (BOOK) TALK: Dr. Eugene Marlow gives a talk (via Zoom) organized by the Northwest China Council (Portland, OR) starting at 7 p.m. (PST). The talk is free and open to the public.  Register here to participate in the one-hour presentation.
  February 11     PERFORMANCE: Dr. Eugene Marlow’s “Aspetta Ancora Qualche Minuto” (“Wait a minute!”) is performed by the Namaste Trio (Natalia Benedetti, clarinet, Guido Arbonelli, clarinet, and Vincenzo De Filpo, pianoforte) at the Camera del lavoro, Association Secondomaggio, in Milano, Italy.
  January 25     Dr. Eugene Marlow begins his 70th semester (35th year) teaching courses in media and culture at Baruch College (City University of New York).
  January 21     RADIO PLAY: Eugene Marlow’s original Latin composition “Sin Mi” (Without Me) with lyrics by Rachel Kara Perez, performed by Marlow’s Heritage Ensemble with multi-lingual vocalist Jenn Jade Ledesna,  is spun on WBGO’s “Latin Jazz Cruise,” hosted by Grammy-nominated drummer Bobby Sanabria. WBGO is the most listened to jazz radio station on the planet.
  January 2     Dr. Eugene Marlow submits a positive review of The Supreme Nonfiction: An Anthology of Literary Nonfiction in the Digital Age book proposal to publisher Bloomsbury.
         
  2022      
  December 24     RADIO PLAY: Eugene Marlow’s Afro-Caribbean arrangement of “Dreidel, dreidel, dreidel,” performed by his Heritage Ensemble,  is spun on WBGO’s “Latin Jazz Cruise,” hosted by Grammy-nominated drummer Bobby Sanabria. WBGO is the most listened to jazz radio station on the planet.
  December 15     REVIEW OF THE “JAZZ IN CHINA” BOOK: “BEST JAZZ BOOKS OF 2018.”
  December 15     REVIEW OF THE “JAZZ IN CHINA” DOCUMENTARY: A review of the documentary in “The Feedback Society” by Robert Barry Francos from May 2021.
  November 21     ARTICLE  PUBLISHED: Dr. Eugene Marlow’s article “Jazz in China: The Book, The Documentary, the Journey,” appears in the November 2022 issue of School Band and Orchestra, pp. 16-19.
  November 21     SINGLE TRACK RELEASE: Anruo Cheng’s electroacoustic composition “She Says,” an anti-violence against women protest piece, is released on Eugene Marlow’s indie MEII Enterprises label.
  November 19     “JAZZ IN CHINA” DOCUMENTARY AWARD CEREMONY: American INSIGHT’s annual Free Speech Film Festival Award Ceremony takes place at Cliveden in Philadelphia on Saturday, November 19th, 2022. The Free Speech Film Festival Award Ceremony Moderator is American INSIGHT Board member, Karen Curry, former NBC and CNN Bureau Chief. She will be joined onstage by Bob Craig, longtime WRTI Jazz host, and Dr. Eugene Marlow, the director of the 2022 Free Speech Award winner.
  November 10     “JAZZ IN CHINA” REVIEW: Renowned jazz journalist Nate Chinen pens review of Eugene Marlow’s award-winning, feature-length “Jazz in China” documentary.
  November 10     “ZIKKARON KRISTALLNACHT” DOCUMENTARY PRESENTATION: Dr. Eugene Marlow’s award-winning 2015 documentary short “Zikkaron/Kristallnacht: A Family Story” has been selected by 17 domestic and international film festivals. It also earned the 2016 John Culkin Award for Outstanding Praxis from the Media Ecology Association. The documentary short will be presented as part of The Sandra Kahn Wasserman Jewish Studies Center in the Weissman School of Arts and Sciences at Baruch College on November 10. A talk by Dr. Marlow will follow the showing. The presentation takes place in 14-270 starting at 6 p.m. at Baruch College (New York City).
  November 7     SINGLE TRACK RELEASE: Eugene Marlow’s piece for string orchestra “Undminished” as performed by the North/South Chamber Orchestra is released by MEII Enterprises on cdbaby to 150+ digital platforms. 
  November 3     GUEST SPEAKER/BLUE IN GREEN: Three tracks from Eugene Marlow’s “Blue in Green: Original Compositions Inspired by the Jazz Poems of Grace Schulman” are played at an “event” honoring Dr. Grace Schulman’s retirement from Baruch College. The event takes place in Engelman Recital Hall, Baruch College (New York City) at 6 p.m. Dr. Marlow honors Dr. Schulman with an impromptu recounting of their collaboration, calling her “the Mozart of poets.”
  October 12     JAZZ IN CHINA DOCUMENTARY AWARD: Eugene Marlow’s 2022 feature-length documentary “Jazz in China” is the winner of the 2022 American Insight “Free Speech Festival.” An award ceremony will take place in Philadelphia on November 19.
  September 26     Recording Academy voting member Dr. Eugene Marlow is chosen to serve as a mentor to mentee Ms. Amelia Rolland, a French-born, multi-talented musician-composer (currently studying at the Berklee School of Music in Boston). This is Dr. Marlow’s third turn as a mentor in the Recording Academy’s mentorship program.
  September 25     Marlowsphere Blog: Dr. Marlow publishes Blog #156–Anruo Cheng’s electroacoustic composition “She Says,” an anti-violence against women protest piece. 
  August 31     JAZZ IN CHINA AWARD INTERVIEW: Dr. Eugene Marlow, Producer/Director of the award-winning documentary “Jazz in China,” is interviewed by Karen Curry, a member of the board of American Insight (via Zoom), regarding his documentary. The feature-length documentary (which has also received an “Award of Excellence” from the Depth of Field International Film Festival) is the winner of the 2022 American Insight “Free Speech Film Festival.”
  August 30     The Annual Marlow Prize in “Arts Consulting” is presented at a ceremony organized and hosted by the MA Program in Arts Management (David Milch, Director) at Baruch College (starts at 6.p.m.). Stephanie O’Brien received the award for 2021-22, and both Jose Alvarado and Rob Maitner received Honorable Mentions. Dr. Marlow is in the process of establishing a $25,000 fund so that the annual prize can be awarded in perpetuity. 
  August 29     Dr. Eugene Marlow begins his 69th semester (35th year) teaching courses in media and culture at Baruch College (City University of New York).
  August 13     JAZZ IN CHINA DOCUMENTARY AWARD: Eugene Marlow’s feature-length documentary “Jazz in China” is the recipient of an “Award of Excellence” from the “2022 Depth of Field International Film Festival.” The festival received close to 400 entries from 23 countries. 
  August 9     JAZZ IN CHINA ZOOM PRESENTATION: Dr. Eugene Marlow is interviewed on Zoom by the University of Chicago/Hong Kong about his feature-length documentary “Jazz in China.” Dr. Marlow shows a 15-minute portion of the documentary followed by a Q&A session. The full-length, 60-minute documentary is an official selection at 11 domestic and international film festivals.
  August 3     JAZZ IN CHINA IN-PERSON PRESENTATION: Dr. Eugene Marlow gives a talk on “Jazz in China: The Documentary” at the Basalt (Colorado) Public Library. He shows the feature-length documentary in its entirety followed by a Q&A session. Presentation starts at 5:30.
  August 1     JAZZ IN CHINA IN-PERSON PRESENTATION: Dr. Eugene Marlow gives talk on “Jazz in China: The Book/The Documentary” at the Aspen Composers Conference, Aspen, Colorado. Dr. Marlow shows a 15-mi nute portion of the documentary followed by a comparison of writing the book vs. producing the documentary.
  July 8     PERFORMANCE: Eugene Marlow’s Heritage Ensemble provides music for Baruch College’s Executive MBA Reception at the St. Regis (New York City).
  July 2     RADIO PLAY: Eugene Marlow’s “El Ache de Sanabria” performed by the Grammy-nominated “Multiverse Big Band” is spun on WBGO’s “Latin Jazz Cruise,” hosted by Bobby Sanabria. WBGO is the most listened to jazz radio station on the planet.
  June     JAZZ IN CHINA DOCUMENTARY REVIEW: International Piano (UK) publishes a review of Eugene Marlow’s documentary, p. 62.
  May 22     MANUSCRIPT REVIEW: Dr. Eugene Marlow submits review of “Locating Burial Mound: Naamyam, Free Jazz, and Chinese American Voices” draft manuscript for Music Theory Spectrum, University of Ottawa.
  April 30     JAZZ IN CHINA DOCUMENTARY: Eugene Marlow’s revised feature-length documentary about “Jazz in China” (based on his 2018 book) is an “official event” of International Jazz Day. The documentary is available for viewing free of charge globally for the 24 hours of International Jazz Day.
  April 15     THE MARLOWSPHERE BLOG: Eugene Marlow publishes “Part II: It’s Suffocating: When Young Women From South East Asia Hit A Cultural Wall.” 
  April 8     THE MARLOWSPHERE BLOG: Eugene Marlow publishes Part I: “It’s Suffocating When Young Women From South East Asia Hit A Cultural Wall” 
  April 2-8     NPR RADIO PLAY: Judy Carmichael re-broadcasts her March 2019 interview with Dr. Eugene Marlow about his book Jazz in China: From Dance Hall Music to Individual Freedom of Expression (University Press of Mississippi 2018). Marlow will release a feature-length documentary version of the book on the MEII Enterprises label on April 30, 2022, International Jazz Day.
  February 28     ZIKKARON/KRISTALLNACHT OFFICIAL FILM FESTIVAL SELECTIONS: MEII Enterprises announces that Dr. Eugene Marlow’s 2015 documentary short “Zikkaron/Kristallnacht: A Family Story” has been selected for showing at 18 domestic and international film festivals, as follows: 2022 Stockholm Short Festival, 2022 FlickFair Film Festival, 2022 Arthouse Festival of Beverly Hills, 2021 Tokyo Shorts Film Festival, 2021 San Francisco Indie Short Festival, 2021 Rotterdam Independent Film Festival, 2021 Phoenix Shorts Film Festival, 2021 Paris International Film Festival, 2021 Niagara Falls International Short Festival, 2021 London Indie Short Festival, 2021 Florida Short Film Festival, 2021 Berlin Shorts Award, and 2017 New York Short Film Tuesdays.
  February 7     GRAMMYU: Grammy U, the educational outreach arm of the Recording Academy, has paired Dr. Eugene Marlow (voting member since 2006) with Jonah Abrams, an upper level student at Stevens Institute of Technology (New Jersey) for the Spring 2022 semester.
  January 31     Dr. Eugene Marlow begins his 68th semester teaching courses in media and culture at Baruch College (City University of New York).
  January 28     Dr. Eugene Marlow interviews Baayork Lee, Co-Founder and Executive Artistic Director of the National Asian Artists Project, as part of the MA in Arts Administration Spring 2022 Semester Welcome @ Baruch College (starts @ 5 p.m.) Dr. Marlow and Ms. Lee both graduated from The High School of the Performing Arts: Marlow as a drama major, Ms. Lee as a dance major. Of note, Lee created the role of Connie in the 1976 Tony-award winning Best Musical A Chorus Line.
  January 11     THE MARLOWSPHERE BLOG: Eugene Marlow publishes his newest blog: “Update: The Max Borak Story.”
  January 10     ALBUM RELEASE: MEII Enterprises releases “C.I.T.I.Z.E.N.” the inaugural album from Ghananian rapper Pope Nst. The five-track album has been distributed worldwide to all digital platforms. 

Please check back often as updates with new dates and more details will be added to the schedule.

Click here to learn more about Eugene Marlow’s Heritage Ensemble

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“My Heart Is Beating to the Rhythm of My Future”: What I learned on My Journey from Concept to Final Jazz/Rap Music Track

"My Heart Is Beating to The Rhythm of My Future" Album CoverMarlowshere Blog (#139)

Keeping an open mind allows for a more interesting and better end product. This is true in business, academia, or the arts. This may seem like a simple, no-brainer piece of advice, but the ability to step back from preconceived notions and allow others into the process without judgement or outright rejection takes an open attitude.

An Open Mind About Genre and Style

In late 2016, Aldemaro Romero, Jr., the Dean of the Weissman School of Arts and Sciences at Baruch College (City University of New York) called me into his office (I teach courses in media and culture at Baruch College). The reason for the conversation? He wanted to produce a music video about the school aimed at prospective students and incoming freshmen and wanted me to suggest (I thought) a music track for the video. I was in the process of making a few suggestions of extant music when he interrupted me and said “I want something original.”

In other words, he wanted me to create a piece of music—around four minutes–that would become the score for the video. Dean Romero was aware of my various music activities within and outside the college. I was a logical choice to be involved with this.

I asked him for some thematic direction and some words he thought might be included in the track. It was agreed almost from the outset that the music track should incorporate lyrics, as opposed to a purely instrumental approach.

Grammy-nominated lyricist Janet LawsonMy next step was to contact Janet Lawson. Janet is not only a highly respected, Grammy-nominated singer, she also teaches vocals at The New School in New York City. More importantly, she is a gifted lyricist. We had previously worked together on several other projects where I had written the music and she had crafted the lyrics. She has a knack for coming up with just the right words to express a feeling or a concept. Her lyrics also convey some emotional depth. I met Janet at an ASCAP-sponsored jazz songwriting workshop led by the late Dr. Billy Taylor in 1980.

After conveying to Janet the themes the Dean was looking for, I asked her to come up with a few lines, just to see if we were on the right track. Within 24 hours Janet sent me this opening lyric: “My Heart Is Beating to the Rhythm of My Future.” Immediately I thought it was just right. I passed it on to the Dean who concurred. We had a very good beginning.

I ask Janet to expand on this theme. A couple of weeks later she sends me a more developed set of stanzas with a refrain: “I wonder yes, I wonder why, I wonder, do you wonder too?” It was just right given the academic context of the prospective video.

However, at this juncture I was beginning to come to a realization. While neither of us had ever been associated with a hip-hop or rap music project, she had inadvertently written an opening lyric with a strong four beat rap feel. Surprise, surprise, surprise. Problem was not all the lyrics had internal or ending rhymes. We went through four iterations of the lyrics before it was right. The Dean approved.

An Open Mind About Talent

The next challenge was finding young rappers to record the lyrics. I thought this would be a relatively easy task. Not so. Also, there was the issue of Rappers at recording of "My Heart is Beating to the Rhythm of My Heart"scheduling the recording session. It took several weeks to find enough rappers who could record all on the same day at Dubway Studios (NYC). We ended up with several members of The Blue Notes, a Baruch College a cappella group, a jazz bass student from The New School with a propensity for rapping, plus a couple of youngish professional Hispanic singers. The icing on the cake was Dean Romero himself who was present at the recording session. When I turned around and said I really needed one more voice, his hand went up in an instant. His voice is included in the rap’s “I wonder how” refrain.

The overall structure of the track was in three sections: opening lyrics, an in-the-middle instrumental interlude, closing lyrics.

It was my concept going in that given the diversity of Baruch College’s student body—it is the most diverse public college in the United States—that this should be expressed somehow in the music track. This is what we did. Working with engineer Jim Gately at Valhalla Studios (New York City), we chose 10 public domain hip-hop/rap drum tracks from the Internet. We then laid these out in a somewhat arbitrary order. As it turned out, it was the right order.

When we got to the middle “instruments only” section I had jazz pianist virtuoso ArcoIris Sandoval improvise different culture sounding melodic lines using an electronic keyboard that could generate different instrumental sounds. jazz pianist virtuoso ArcoIris Sandoval Each instrument melodic line lasted 18-seconds. For one of the lines I had her record the opening section of Bach’s C-minor Prelude from the “Well Tempered Clavier” on the Rhodes keyboard that just happened to be sitting idle in the Dubway recording studio. She also improvised lines for sitar, koto, steel drum, South American pan flute, and Middle Eastern horn. The two other improvised “instrumental” melodic lines were provided by Jim Gately (who also plays guitar) and Michael Hashim who recorded a “jazz” line on alto saxophone. All told the eight middle section instrumentals convey a sense of world music and, therefore, of a diverse culture.

When I delivered the mastered track to the Dean he immediately auditioned it for several student groups. According to the feedback the track hit the mark. The students got it. Once the video is shot and edited to the music track, Dean Romero intends to distribute the music video to as many outlets as possible.

Adrian Thorstensen (Engineer) and Eugene Marlow at Dubway Studios, NYCIf you’re interested, you can listen to a sample of the track at https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/eugenemarlow15. Fittingly, the lyrics to “My Heart Is Beating to the Rhythm of My Future” reflect the theme of keeping an open mind in the creative and learning process.

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The Real Frank Foster, Saxophonist: An Autobiography Review

Frank Foster and AutobiographyThe Marlowsphere Blog (#116)

Google the name of famed saxophonist Frank Foster (who died of kidney failure in 2011) and you’ll discover a long list of accomplishments. Here’s a snippet from his July 26, 2011 New York Times obit by Nate Chinen:

Frank Foster, a saxophonist, composer and arranger who helped shape the sound of the Count Basie Orchestra during its popular heyday in the 1950s and ’60s and later led expressive large and small groups of his own, died on Tuesday at his home in Chesapeake, Va. He was 82.

. . . Mr. Foster had a varied and highly regarded career as a bandleader, notably with his Loud Minority Big Band, and he was sought after as an arranger for large ensembles. But it was the strength of his contribution to the so-called New Testament edition of the Basie band, from 1953 to 1964, that anchors his place in jazz history.

Mr. Foster wrote and arranged a number of songs for the band, none more celebrated than “Shiny Stockings,” a puckishly genteel theme set at a cruising medium tempo with a slow but powerful crescendo. Recorded by Basie on his classic 1955 album “April in Paris,” it subsequently became both a band signature and a jazz standard, often performed with lyrics (there were two sets, one by Ella Fitzgerald and one by Jon Hendricks).

He was one of two musicians named Frank in the band’s saxophone section, the other being the tenor saxophonist and flutist Frank Wess. Their contrasting styles as soloists — Mr. Foster was the more robust, with a harder husk to his tone — became the basis of a popular set piece called Count Basie“Two Franks,” written for the band by Neal Hefti.

After leaving Basie, Mr. Foster worked for a while as a freelance arranger, supporting the likes of Frank Sinatra and Sarah Vaughan.

He returned to the Basie band in the mid-1980s, this time as its leader. (Count Basie died in 1984.) He held the post for nearly a decade and earned something like emeritus status: when the Count Basie Orchestra was enlisted for Tony Bennett’s 2008 album “A Swingin’ Christmas,” Mr. Foster was the arranger.

Even as he spent a good portion of the late 1960s and ’70s exploring harmonic and rhythmic abstraction, Mr. Foster never quite surrendered to it. And he was no purist about jazz-funk — “Manhattan Fever,” one of his best albums, released in 1968 on Blue Note, has several effervescent backbeat-driven tunes.

In 2001 Mr. Foster had a stroke that hindered his ability to play the saxophone. He was named a National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master the following year, and continued to write and arrange music, often as a commission for organizations like the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. He also became active in the Jazz Foundation of America, a nonprofit organization that delivers aid to musicians in need.

Quite a resume: a long-standing tenure with the Basie Band as a player/arranger and then as Count Basie Orchestra Directed by Frank Fosterleader, composer of numerous jazz standards, and NEA Jazz Master, among other accomplishments. These are highly admirable musical credentials not easily come by.

Then you read Foster’s autobiography bluntly titled A Jazz Master Frank Foster: An Autobiography (PFDGS Media, 2013). With expectations high, a reader would expect masterly insights into the jazz world from this renown, world traveled jazz master. Instead this 254-page work provides more than a glimpse into the real personality of this famed, highly regarded jazz instrumentalist/ composer/arranger. And the picture isn’t pretty.

The first sign of trouble starts on page iii, the table of contents. Yes, the table of contents. There are 12 chapters to this book and each chapter in the table of contents is described in the following manner:

Chapter 1……………………….1
Chapter 2……………………….13
Chapter 3……………………….19

And so on. When you get to each chapter itself each does indeed have a title, such as Chapter 1 is “3025 Stanton Avenue” where Foster grew up. Why then did the editor choose not to name each chapter in the table of contents? The reason:  as one reads the book it becomes increasingly apparent that there was no editor, and by this I mean a professional editor. Foster’s autobiography is clearly self-published. And it shows glaringly.

In numerous places there are complete lapses of content segues. For example, in one of the middle chapters all of a sudden he’s married to Vivien! WHO’S VIVIEN AND WHEN DID THAT HAPPEN? In another chapter he’s moved from Scarsdale to Chesapeake, Virginia! WHEN DID THAT HAPPEN AND WHY?

But this is the least of it. The most jarring aspect of Foster’s autobiography is the following: While there are descriptions of his musical development—teachers, colleagues, jazz notables—the most prevalent content is his focus on women, not a few mind you, but almost everyone he ever bedded. In one of the later chapters he offers up a list (in great detail) of all the women, city by city, whom he slept with, mostly while he was with the Count Basie Band. The descriptions border on the pornographic. I have not done a mathematical analysis of the number of pages, but I feel confident in saying more than half of the book is given over to his sexual predilections.

Hand-in-hand with this catalog of women is his use of language. In a few instances his language is clear and articulate. In most other instances, his language is that of the street, of the hood, of the low-life. In this regard, the autobiography is at its most real. There’s no attempt to clean up or whitewash his expression. His use of low-class, sophomoric, street language is pervasive—at once disturbing and honest.

Korean War Memorial, Washington,DCThese two aspects distract in a way from the very real racism Foster experienced, both as a student and a soldier (during the Korean War). This racism seems to color (no pun intended) his apparent deep hatred of bigots. It is clear from what he writes he feels deeply about his black roots and expresses it at every opportunity.

In a way Foster redeems himself—after so many chapters of page after page of retelling sexual exploits in graphic detail—in  a couple of chapters towards the end of the book, especially those dealing with the Basie Orchestra. Here we get some behind the behind details that are informative and revealing. His very last chapter is an attempt to reflect on his life with some wisdom. It works for a while, but the parade of one woman after another in previous chapters is too present for this chapter to have much impact.

The Jazz Life of Dr. Billy TaylorThere is a reason why this book was self-published. Sex sells, but sophomoric descriptions of a young man’s sexual conquests does not. Foster could have risen in writing to the heights apparent in his musical performance and composing. But he does not. If you want class, read The Jazz Life of Dr. Billy Taylor. If you want late night titillation, Foster’s book is for you.

If you have any questions or comments about this or any other of my blogs, please write to me at meiienterprises@aol.com.

Eugene Marlow, Ph.D.
February 2, 2015

© Eugene Marlow 2015

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Classical & Jazz: A Century Old Melding of Genres

World Music BrewThe Marlowsphere Blog (#110)

There are still some quarters on this planet where musicians, musicologists, and critics perceive the world of music in terms of categories: classical music here, jazz over there, world music in other places. In fact, pick up any music history book and the world of music is neatly divided among early music, medieval music, Baroque, classical, Romantic, and then 20th century music.

This latter category is a potpourri of musical styles, and extends into the early part of the 21st century.

I am still waiting for more musicologists to come to terms with the term “world music” to define the 21st century because that is what music has increasingly become: a melding of musical styles with influences from all over the planet.

I am motivated to delve into this subject primarily for two reasons. First, later this week I’ll be hosting the fall concert of the Milt Hinton Jazz Perspectives Concert Series at Baruch College’s Engelman Recital Hall (on October 29). The performers are the Grammy-nominated Harlem Quartet. In addition to one purely classical piece (a movement from a Mendelsohn string quartet), the balance of their program will be all jazz.

Deanna Witkowski "Rain Drop"The second reason is a new CD from pianist Deanna Witkowski entitled “Rain Drop.” It is her sensitive and tasteful adaptation of several Chopin nocturnes and preludes sprinkled with her own short compositions inspired by the Romantic composer. The melding of the two genres—classical and jazz—is ever-present in this inspired CD. For example, Ms. Witkowski makes the musical point that Chopin’s Prelude in E minor (op. 28, No. 4) is also the basis for Antonio Carlos Jobin’s “Insensatez.”

This melding of classical and jazz genres (and in the case of Jobin, Brazilian rhythms) is not a recent happening, particularly when it comes to jazz-influenced classical compositions. Almost from the initial emergence of jazz as America’s classical music (a term the late Dr. Billy Taylor coined; and don’t let anyone tell you any differently), classical composers have mined the jazz genre. For example, parts of the Czech composer Antonin Dvorak’s Symphony No. 9 in E minor (written in the 1890s) have melodies that sound like black spirituals (although he claimed he did not plan the resemblance).

There are other notable classical composers who have borrowed from the jazz genre for their compositions:

      • George Antheil (A Jazz Symphony)
      • Malcolm Arnold (Concerto for Guitar and Orchestra)
      • Milton Babbitt (All Set)
      • Leonard Bernstein (Prelude, Fugue, and Riffs)
      • Boris Blacher (Concerto for Jazz Orchestra)
      • Marc Blitzstein (The Cradle Will Rock)
      • Aaron Copland (Concerto for Piano and Orchestra)
      • George Gershwin (most famously Rhapsody in Blue)
      • Hans Werner Henze (Boulevard Solitude)
      • Pail Hindemith (Suite fur Klavier)
      • Arthur Honegger (Concerto for Cello and Orchestra)
      • Constant Lambert (Elegiac Blues)
      • Rolf Liebermann (Concerto for Jazzband and Symphony Orchestra)
      • Frank Martin (Ballade for trombone and piano)
      • Darius Milhaud (Trois rag caprices)
      • Maurice Ravel (Piano Concerto in G)
      • Gunther Schuller (Concertino for Jazz Quartet and Orchestra)
      • John Serry (American Rhapsody)
      • Dmitri Shostakovich (Suite for Jazz Orchestra);
      • Karlheinz Stockhausen (Sonatine for violin and piano);
      • Igor Stravinsky (Ragtime for 11 instruments)
      • Michael Tippett (Symphony No. 3)
      • Kurt Weill (The Threepenny Opera)
      • Alec Wilder (Octets)

The mixing of classical and jazz in the 20th and 21st centuries has flowed the other way. The highly classically trained Andre Previn made several small ensemble albums of jazz and popular music standards. His classical roots are clearly imprinted on every track.

The Swingle Singers (1964)The Swingle Singers, (pictured left) directed originally by Ward Swingle (who once belonged to Mimi Perrin’s French vocal group Les Double Six), began as session singers mainly doing background vocals for singers such as Charles Aznavour and Edith Piaf. Christiane Legrand, sister of Michel Legrand, was the original lead soprano, and they did some jazz vocals for Michel Legrand. The eight session singers sang through “Bach’s Well-Tempered Klavier” as a sight-reading exercise and found the music to have a natural swing. They recorded their first album “Jazz Sébastien Bach” as a present for friends and relatives. Many radio stations picked it up and this led to the group recording more albums and winning a total of five Grammy Awards.1

You can hear the strong classical training roots in the playing of jazz pianist greats Oscar Peterson and Bill Evans. I recall Evans once telling me that when he was younger he studied the Romantic composers (he also apparently worked harder than anyone else to achieve his harmonically complex yet sensitive playing style, despite the fact that his hands were unusually large).

Turtle Island Quartet & Chick CoreaEven more recently the two-time Grammy-winning Turtle Island Quartet —through the talents of founder David Balakrishnan–has adapted jazz stylings for violins, viola, and cello. Similarly, the aforementioned Harlem Quartet performs Chick Corea’s crossover (classical to jazz) compositions.

On a more individual basis, virtuoso guitarist Romero Lubambo of Trio Da Paz fame is fond of performing Bach’s Prelude in C minor at the drop of a hat and at unbelievable breakneck speed (I have heard him perform it in the context of a Trio Da Paz performance and separately at a Diane Reeves concert). Very often jazz pianist Cyrus Chestnut will morph an improvisation into a familiar classical melody and back to various jazz stylings.

The larger concept, of course, is this trend–present throughout the 20th century—has evolved into a melding of world music styles in the 21st century. In other words, every musical and rhythmic style is now fair game for composition and performance. Influences come from all corners of the planet. It has become a melting pot of musical influences. My own quintet, The Heritage Ensemble, performs arrangements and original compositions that combine Hebraic melodies with various jazz, Afro-Caribbean, Brazilian, and, yes, classical styles.

There’s no getting around it: along with a global economy there’s also a global exchange of music styles. This is the new music of the 21st century.

If you have any comments or questions about this or any of my other blogs, please write to me at meiienterprises@aol.com.

Eugene Marlow, Ph.D.
October 27, 2014

© Eugene Marlow 2014

 

1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Swingle_Singers

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The Musical Icons of Marc Chagall

Marc ChagallThe Marlowsphere Blog (#79)

During a mid-June 2013 visit to the Palais de Luxembourg, Paris, to view an exhibit of Marc Chagall (1887-1985) it became evident within minutes how much Chagall used musical icons in his works.  This chance exhibit viewing has also inspired my desire to compose a suite based on these musical icons.

This aside, since returning to New York, I have researched Chagall’s life and work and learned that over a 75-year career, spanning most of the 20th century, he produced over 10,000 works of art in various media, including lithographs, canvas, water color, postcards, murals, and stained glass windows.

Writers of his art confirm that Chagall’s use of musical icons is no accident. As a youth in a Russian shtetl consisting of primarily members of religious Jews, Chagall was surrounded by musicians—mostly string players, as in the violin. In his youth, Chagall yearned to learn how to play the violin; his stronger impulse, though, was towards art.

Chagall's Fiddler InspirationHis paintings of violinists, such as “The Seated Violinist” (1908), became the basis for the iconic “Fiddler on the Roof” graphic in the poster advertising the long-running Broadway show of the same name. Mirjam Rajner, writing in the 2005 issue of Ars Judaica points out “This seemingly simple depiction of a traditional Jew playing a violin offers the basis for the complex development of a typically Chagallian theme.” Further, he writes, “As he wrote in his autobiography, in his youth Chagall himself dreamt of becoming a professional singer, violinist, or dancer—while taking singing lessons from a cantor and helping him out in the synagogue, violin lessons from a fiddler living in the same courtyard, and dancing at weddings.”

In Chagall we find the strong relationship between the musical arts, the fine arts, and deeply felt emotions. Rajner comments: “The Seated Violinist thus seems to represent the moment when a traditional, provincial Jew, after a week of labor, reconnects after the Sabbath with the spiritual world by playing a Hasidic niggun—the rabbi’s song—to express his deepest emotions.”

Michael J. Lewis, a professor at Williams College, in an article entitled “Whatever Happened to Marc Chagall?,” published by the American Jewish Committee, speculates on Chagall’s apparent fixation on musical icons, especially violinists. He writes:

As cosmopolitan an artist as he would later become, his storehouse of visual imagery would never expand beyond the landscape of his childhood, with its snowy streets, wooden houses, and ubiquitous fiddlers. To fix the scenes of childhood so indelibly in one’s mind, and to invest them with an emotional charge so intense that it could only be discharged obliquely through an obsessive repetition of the same cryptic symbols and ideograms, would seem to require some early trauma. But nothing of the sort is related in Chagall’s copious memoirs, other than his statement that he stuttered.

Marc Chagall's Same Thermes

Is it correct, then, that music is at the heart of all Chagall’s paintings, as playwright Rebecca Taichman−who created a musical work that drew inspiration from the “magic lyricism of Marc Chagall’s art”–has posited?

Tony Bateman, in a February 2000 article entitled “Stringing Up Paintings,” writes:

“It is an intriguing aspect of art history that a good number of the great painters were proficient string players: Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Gainsborough, Henri Matisse and the remarkable French artist Maurice Vlaminck, who could add both professional violin and double bass playing to a list of talents including novel writing and bicycle racing. . . . ‘Music is the sister of painting,’ wrote Leonardo da Vinci, and it appears that his abilities as a musician were considerable. Indeed, when Leonardo was introduced at the court of Milan in 1494, he was presented to the Duke as a performer on the lira da braccio. Leonardo’s skill as a lira player, along with his many other talents, made him the archetypal Renaissance man.”

We can put Marc Chagall in this same “Renaissance man” camp. His 10,000+ artworks notwithstanding, a cursory analysis of several hundred of his artworks reveals 16 different instruments: accordion, Chagall's The Big Circus 1968balalaika, cello, cymbal, flute, guitar, harp, horn, bass drum, keyboard, mandolin, saxophone, small bell, tambourine, trumpet, and violin. Further, there are several graphic references to a full circus orchestra.  By far, though, the most frequently “painted” instrument is the violin, followed by the cello, and the horn.

His iconic themes are also eclectic, of which there are many, including: Jewish life in the shtetl, Christian/Jewish concepts, lovers, the circus, Jewish theatre, the passage and context of time, street musicians, dancers, acrobats, et al. While many of his artworks refer to music and musicians in very subtle ways, numerous artworks have musicians as a central iconic theme, such as “The Seated Violinist,” “The Accordionist,” and “The Wandering Musicians.”

In a way, Chagall’s artworks—with their vibrant, incongruous colors and childlike fantasy images—encompass the broad range evolution of music in the 20th century. This was also the time in which jazz evolved to become a unique musical style (that the late Dr. Billy Taylor called “America’s classical music”) with a global audience. The 20th century was also a time in which classical music evolved out of the Romantic period of the 19th century into the diverse “classical” styles of the 20th century, including serial, minimalist, spectral, postmodernist, and world music, among others. It is also the century of the evolution of “popular” music: rock and roll, country and western, bebop, cool jazz, fusion, and ultimately world music.

Chagall’s art—and he is not alone in breaking with 19th century aesthetic traditions—is representative of the world turned upside down, not only in art, but in politics, business, economics, and science and technology. Chagall, who lived in two centuries, was a man and an artist representative of the rapid changes of the last 100 years.

Please write to me at meiienterprises@aol.com if you have any comments on this or any other of my blogs.

Eugene Marlow, Ph.D.
September 30, 2013

© Eugene Marlow 2013

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