An unmissable event at Sage Gateshead tomorrow night in Hall
One. 7:30pm. £16.50.
Lance.
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Back in 2003, as a Jerwoood Commission for the Cheltenham Jazz
Festival, Baptiste’s international line up featured the likes of Omar Puente,
Abram Wilson and Gary Crosby. The original ‘Let Freedom Ring!’ was awarded Album Of The Year 2003(Jazzwise), Gig Of The Year 2003 (Guardian), and
nominated in 2004 for BBC Awards for Best
Album/Best New Work, and the MOBO Award
for Best Jazz Act.
In 2013 as a tribute to the 50th anniversary of Dr Luther Kings’
famous oration, Baptiste has written a prequel to his original piece, now
widely regarded as a classic
“As an
artist and composer, I am humbly honoured to see that Let Freedom Ring! has
endured, and I’m of course delighted to have an opportunity to reprise this
work. As a human being, however, I'm saddened that, a decade after the premiere
of this piece, and half a century after the speech that inspired it, achieving
Freedom, Justice and Equality for all remains a dream, and the conversations
around these issues remain fundamentally the same.
When I
created the original commission I focused ‘Let Freedom Ring!’ around the most
memorable, second half of Dr King’s speech and I used the rhythmic patterns of
his speech as the foundation for the four-part suite. Now, with an entire
evening to share with you, I can expand and complete the circle.
In the
opening set, with the help of my wonderful 14-piece band, poetry, and soulful
voices of community choirs, I aim to shine a light on the first half of the
speech where Dr King sets the scene for the second part speaking of the evil of
slavery, The Emancipation Proclamation, the importance of peaceful and
dignified protest and, ultimately, his vision for the future. He is clear that
there is no time to lose; waiting is simply not an option. Now Is The Time”.
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