The World at Peace Composed by Yusef Lateef & Adam Rudolph YAL/META 753 - 1995 Double CD Set Recorded live at the Jazz Bakery - Los Angeles

  

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"In composing this piece I explored avenues I hadn't explored before. A plant living within another plant is known as an endophyte in biology, and I relate some of these ideas to constructing melodies and counter melodies from intervals already existing within a vertical chord. I also create a certain aesthetic by assigning a group of notes to a certain instrument, exclusive to other instruments which are assigned other groups of notes. I derived this idea from Chaos Theory, and the music that results brings to my mind the music of the Banda, a group of people from Central Africa. And as always, I meld my soul with the composition." Yusef Lateef   "In composing ' The World At Peace,' one of the ways I attempted to extend my use of musical elements was to apply the shapes and gestures of language to sound and rhythm. In 'Wheel of Life' for example, the movement of call-and-response patterns allows each performer to weave their instrumental language into the musical fabric. Another compositional tool I call Cyclic Verticalism integrates a cyclic concept of rhythm (such as is used in much North Indian music) with a polymetric concept (such as is used in certain West African drumming practices). For example, in 'Africa 35' each instrumentalist has the freedom to develop the thematic materials through time with their own individual motion, creating tension and release while still relating to the overall form. I use these musical concepts in my composition to better serve my own aesthetic intent as well as that of the performers, so that sincere thoughts and emotions may be expressed." Adam Rudolph

 

The commissioning of "The World at Peace" was made possible by the Meet the Composer / Rockefeller Foundation / AT&T Jazz Program, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts

 

The Performers Yusef Lateef : tenor saxophone, flute, shenai, bamboo flutes, vocal | Adam Rudolph : hand drums, bendir, udu drums, talking drum, thumb piano, achimevu | Susan Allen : harp | Marcie Brown : cello | Eric Von Essen : bass | Jeff Gauthier : violin | David Johnson : vibes, marimba percussion | Ralph Jones : soprano & tenor saxophone, c and alto flute, bass clarinet, mussette | Charles Moore : trumpet, dumbek, kudu horn | Jose Luis Perez : trap drums, candombe drums, dumbek | Federico Ramos : acoustic, electric & midi guitars, kudu horn | Bill Roper : tuba, kudu horn

 

DISC 1 1 Ramifications 2 Coltrane Remembered 3 Africa 35 4 Chaos #3 5 Beloved 6 Like a Secret Argosy 7 Masara #2

DISC 2 1 A Feather in the Bright Sky 2 Ourobouros 3 Beyond Futility 4 Dreaming of the Skyway 5 Peace & Love 6 Overlay 7 Wheel of Life 8 Encore

 

Concert & CD Reviews "An exciting and original work" The Wire "An epic work that straddles the fields of tone poetry and world music." Jazz Times "A peaceful feeling and a sense of sparkling, iridescent beauty." Option "This music is challenging, soothing and rewarding." Cadence "Lateef's robust sound and dynamic phrasing brought the sheer essence of jazz history to every note he played. Rudolph's drumming was equally fascinating, spinning with lightning speed and propulsive acceleration." Los Angeles Times "One of the year's major events" LA Weekly "This is joyous music, the music of life and love. It heals the body and the soul." P - Form Magazine

'The World at Peace'  - Yusef Lateef & Adam Rudolph JAZZIZ - January 1998 Composers/multi-instrumentalists Yusef Lateef and Adam Rudolph haven co-created a master work so far-reaching in its beauty, range, and significance that, in a better world, this album would inspire T shirts worn across the nation. Picture a 12-piece orchestra with percussion from Africa, the Americas, India, and the Middle East; a rainbow of wind instruments (shenai, musette, kudu horn, bass clarinet, tuba, saxophone, trumpet, flute); and ethereal strings (cello, harp, violin, and classical acoustic and electric MIDI guitar). Now, picture a seamless integration of those textures and tones, a ritual celebration of live trance beats, shamanistic polyrhythms, melodies with wings, drum skins on fire, space and silence between thick brush strokes of color. The compositions are as harmonically elegant as any score in the Duke Ellington catalog. At once earthy and cosmic, Lateef & Rudolph's two-CD set transcends the myopia of genre-based thinking. Reaffirming the power of the creative spirit, The World at Peace offers up pure expression as a source of positivity and wonderment. Its cultural import spans the planet. - Sam Prestianni

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