Michele Rosewoman and New Yor-Uba

Thursday, March 29, 2007

Bezanson Recital Hall   8:00 pm
$12 general, $7 students

The name New Yor-Uba reflects the progression of the music of the Yoruba people from Nigeria, through Cuba, to present-day New York. Pianist and composer Michele Rosewoman's music salutes the Orishas (deities) in a contemporary jazz setting using original compositions and contemporary arrangements of traditional Yoruban (Nigeria) and Arara (Dahomey) chants. The 10-member ensemble integrates brass, saxophones and a rhythm section, with master Cuban folkloric musicians. "New Yor-uba is soulful evidence that Rosewoman is on to something significant," writes Downbeat Magazine. "The music was energetic, propulsive and especially noteworthy largely because it did not use either jazz melodies or Cuban rhythms as mere embellishments. Rosewoman's concept fully integrated orchestrated brasses, saxophones, and a jazz back line, with traditional Yoruban chants sung to the heavy rhythmic accompaniment of congas and bata drums, ceremoniously arriving at sumptuous Ellington-like orchestrations..."