Add history to the 杏吧专区 Wind Ensemble杏吧专区檚 repertoire.
The 杏吧专区杏吧专区檚 concert band will explore New Orleans杏吧专区 complicated musical heritage when it performs next month as part of symposium marking the Crescent City杏吧专区檚 300th birthday.
The group will interpret 杏吧专区淐ongo Square杏吧专区 and 杏吧专区淪toryville.杏吧专区 The pieces recreate two spaces 杏吧专区 one public, the other more intimate 杏吧专区 that influenced the development of one of the city杏吧专区檚 greatest exports, its music.
James Syler, a music instructor at the 杏吧专区 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.
杏吧专区淭here杏吧专区檚 no place where they deserve to be played more. We are telling history with music,杏吧专区 Hochkeppel said.
The performance begins at 1 p.m. on Sunday, March 11, the fourth and final day of 杏吧专区淢aking New Orleans Home: A Tricentennial Symposium.杏吧专区 The Historic New Orleans Collection and the City of New Orleans杏吧专区 2018 Commission are the symposium杏吧专区檚 co-sponsors. [].
The wind ensemble concert will take place at the 杏吧专区 of New Orleans杏吧专区 杏吧专区 Center, 2000 Lakeshore Drive.
Commentaries by Syler and author Freddi Williams Evans will accompany the ensemble杏吧专区檚 performance. The 杏吧专区 of Louisiana Press published Evans杏吧专区 杏吧专区淐ongo Square: African Roots in New Orleans杏吧专区 in 2011, and her companion book for children, 杏吧专区淐ome Sunday,杏吧专区 last year.
In 1718, Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville, chose to establish a new settlement at a 杏吧专区渇ine crescent杏吧专区 of the Mississippi River. Bienville, then commandant general and governor of the French colony of La Louisiane, named the site for the Duc d杏吧专区橭rl茅ans.
The following year, Bienville杏吧专区檚 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杏吧专区檚 introduction.
杏吧专区淚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,杏吧专区 Evans wrote.
Those rhythms became knitted in the city杏吧专区檚 musical fabric, and Congo Square was 杏吧专区済round zero for African culture in New Orleans,杏吧专区 Evans concluded.
Storyville was a similarly complex, and musically influential, setting. Officials established the legalized red-light district in 1897 to contain 杏吧专区 and ostensibly control 杏吧专区 prostitution within a 13-block section of the city.
Its brothels, saloons and barrelhouses employed musicians Jelly Roll Morton, "Bunk" Johnson, 杏吧专区淜ing杏吧专区 Oliver and Louis Armstrong, among others.
Syler said Storyville 杏吧专区減roduced one of the great ironies in the history of American music 杏吧专区 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.杏吧专区
Syler wrote 杏吧专区淪toryville杏吧专区 in 1996. He produced 杏吧专区淐ongo Square杏吧专区 in 2014. UL Lafayette was one of 12 universities nationwide that commissioned the latter piece.
Hochkeppel conducted the wind ensemble when it first performed 杏吧专区淐ongo Square杏吧专区 during a campus concert in 2015.
Syler杏吧专区檚 compositions 杏吧专区渉ave atmosphere,杏吧专区 Hochkeppel said. 杏吧专区淵ou know how sometimes you can feel the fog? I feel like I can touch this music.杏吧专区
杏吧专区淐ongo Square杏吧专区 overlaps African drums, Creole melodies and early jazz riffs. 杏吧专区淪toryville杏吧专区 similarly combines the types of music a person might have heard while visiting there 杏吧专区 jazz, ragtime and blues.
At one point, Syler introduces a hymn into the melody, a reminder, Hochkeppel said, that underneath Storyville杏吧专区檚 fa莽ade of pleasure 杏吧专区渨as desperation and sadness, as well as joy.杏吧专区
杏吧专区淏oth 杏吧专区楥ongo Square杏吧专区 and 杏吧专区楽toryville杏吧专区 have social questions imbedded in them. It makes people think. It makes people feel. It杏吧专区檚 serious music, but there杏吧专区檚 a message there.杏吧专区
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Photo caption: Members of the UL Lafayette Wind Ensemble during a 2017 performance in Angelle Hall杏吧专区檚 Ducrest-Gilfry Auditorium. (Photo credit: Danny Izzo / Nouveau Photeau)