Contemporary Musical Arts: Night and Day, The Music of Chris Connor and Mahalia Jackson

Cole Porter | Get Out of Town

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Get Out of Town is a 1938 popular song written by Cole Porter, for his musical Leave It to Me!, where it was introduced by Tamara Drasin.

Traditional | Elijah Rock

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Elijah Rock is a traditional spiritual that bears some lyrical similarities to another  spiritual, Oh, Mary don’t you weep, as well as the later pop hit, Fever as recorded by Little Willie John and, most famously, by Peggy Lee.

Matt Dennis | Angel Eyes

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Michele’s rendition tonight is a homage to Chris Connor’s classic rendition from her 1960 album Chris in Person, recorded at the Village Vanguard.

Traditional | I'm Going to Tell God

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I was first introduced to Maestra Jackson’s formidable version of I’m Going to Tell God in the Fall of 2023, at the home of Ran Blake. This rendition is informed by my love of early 20th century North Mississippi black banjo stylings as well as my rage and depression towards/from contemporary anti-trans legislative fear mongering.
– Roman Barten-Sherman

Peter Udell, Tommy Goodman (arr. Hayley Yu Qin) | Driftwood

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Driftwood is from Chris's 1958 album A Jazz Date with Chris Connor. One of Chris's less-known songs, Driftwood fits seamlessly with Chris' throaty tone and deliberation on rhythms. Driftwood does not directly speak to the theme of love but tells a winter tale full of nostalgia, mystery, and tranquility. This three-minute song was originally written for piano and voice by Peter Udell and Tommy Goodman and I rearranged it for voice and harp. The new colors of the chords manifest themselves through the echoing, wavy notes on the harp and draw the audience to a contemplation of time.                                                                                                            
– Hayley Yu Qin

Margo Guryan | Moonride

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Moonride is the tale of a harrowing spaceship journey to the moon, full of adventure and risky encounters with the moon man. I like the juxtaposition of its vivid imagery with its playful, abstract absurdity, as well as the sense of inevitability I feel when I play it.                                                                                                              
– Michael Yang-Wierenga

Billy Strayhorn | Something to Live For

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Composed in 1939, Something to Live For was the first collaboration between Billy Strayhorn and Duke Ellington and the first of their collaborations to be recorded by the Ellington orchestra. 

Lew Brown/Ray Henderson | The Thrill is Gone

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In this trio setting of The Thrill is Gone, rhythm and forward motion is important when imitating Chris Connor’s characteristic rhythmic flexibility.               
– Skyler Lim

Gus Kahn, Nacio Herb Brown | You Stepped Out of a Dream

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You Stepped Out of a Dream is one of these love songs where nothing goes wrong. What a relief! Happy Valentine's Day.                                                                
– Itay Dayan

Duke Ellington | Come Sunday

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Come Sunday, a movement from Ellington’s landmark tone poem, Black, Brown and Beige, strongly evokes the Black spiritual, both musically and emotionally. At its 1943 premiere, a violin and an alto saxophone presented the supremely tender melody (one in a highly embellished version, the other straightforward). Mahalia Jackson later recorded a version with lyrics, and both versions now remain in the repertoire.

INTERMISSION

Joe Green | All About Ronnie

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This song was written by Joe Greene, who worked extensively for Stan Kenton during the 1940s and 50s.  Chris Connor recorded versions of it with the band in both 1953 and 1954, and it remained a staple of her repertoire for many years thereafter.

Joe Green | All About Ronnie

Duke Ellington | Psalm 23

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The Bible’s Psalm 23 is filled with imagery of God-given peace, restoration, perseverance, comfort, and blessing.  The setting of this Psalm, recorded in 1958 on Black, Brown and Beige, shows the heart of these words beautifully and exemplifies their themes musically.  In our performance, we hope to capture Mahalia Jackson's artistic decisions and honor Duke Ellington's setting and arrangement, but with paired-down instrumentation and the addition of a second voice.         
– Emily Mitchell

David Raksin/Clara Ward | Laura/How I Got Over

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Tonight I will blend together two pieces, Laura as sung by Chris Connor and How I Got Over as sung by Mahalia Jackson. Some people might know the film Laura where the main character fell in love with Laura when he saw her portrait, but she had already passed away. In the lyric, there’s a phrase: “That was Laura, but she’s only a dream.” I’d like to express his hopeless and vulnerable, but beautiful, adoration - like the magic of night that fleetingly disappears with the rising of the sun…
        In contrast to Laura, Mahalia Jackson sang How I Got Over in front of Martin Luther King, Jr. just before his "I Have a Dream" speech. According to many articles, Mahalia told Dr. King, "Tell'em about The Dream!" She had such a powerful impact on that grand historical moment, like the sun shining on all things.
        Even though the dreams we dream at night are fleeting and fade away, we could live strong in the dreams we see when we wake up. I’d like to express all those elements with my playing.                                                                                          – Hidemi Akaiwa

Thomas A. Dorsey | It Don't Cost Very Much

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I want to present the idea of creating a world infused with peace and love through music, featuring the Korean traditional instrument, ajaeng, and a piano duo with Anthony Coleman, inspired by the way Mahalia Jackson sang in It Don't Cost Very Much                                                                                                                                    
– Yoona Kim

Cole Porter | Get Out of Town

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Through the improvisation aspects in our piece we are able to establish a constant conversation with all the elements in our performance. By doing so we honor the lyrics and the story behind the original piece. Staying true to Chris Connor’s style while adding our personal touch.                                                                              
– RosarioRivas

Traditional | Didn't It Rain

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From the vantage point of 2024 there's something deeply beautiful, and even haunting, about traditional gospel music. Yet, when Mahalia Jackson first sang the traditional spiritual Didn't It Rain with an uptempo feel in 1954, it was considered contemporary for gospel music. A move away from its original expression, and its noted arrangement (1919) by renowned African American Spirituals arranger, Harry T. Burleigh, Didn't It Rain does the work it is intended to do... it spreads the good news! Didn't It Rain embodies the good work of music in the Black Church, keeping alive the witness and testimony of a Bible story, reminding us of how a never seen before outpouring of water came down from the sky… oh! what a troubling time it was, and then... the flight of a bird marked salvation.                                     
– Nedelka F. Prescod

Traditional Black American Spiritual | I'm On My Way (to Canaan Land)

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Part of the brilliance of a traditional African American Spiritual is that it speaks more than it says. Embedded in the canon of religious AfAm spirituals is an artistic technology for sending messages that is devoid of tangible technologies while offering healing balms, and they, quite literally, saved lives. In the same way that traditional African religions were preserved behind the veil of Christianity, the AfAm Spiritual lifted Biblical names and places, transforming them into tools that kept the Underground Railroad running. Mahalia Jackson's I'm On My Way (to Canaan Land), in true form, weaves the characteristic enchanting repetition of the AfAm Spiritual with hints of Latin rhythms that further marks the bitter path of enslaved Africans from their homeland, through the Diaspora, and to America.          
– Nedelka F. Prescod

Clara Ward | How I Got Over

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How I Got Over was born in 1951, gained its independence as a stand-out song, and was further developed into a gospel golden hit that has stood the test of time by the iconic renditions of Gospel music matriarchs. Clara Ward birthed it, Mahalia Jackson further exposed it, and Aretha Franklin helped it to stand without apology. In the many ways that Gospel music embodies and expresses the woes and lamentations of its original expressors, it also inherently celebrates their miraculous overcomings. Clara Ward composed How I Got Over as an inspired response to a moment of racial terror. Through the wit of her singing group-mate and sister, Gertrude Ward, their band of women singers, and Mother Ward, lived to tell how they got over. The NEC CGME Ensemble will offer a version in the way of Queen Aretha Franklin.                                                                               
– Nedelka F. Prescod

NEC Contemporary Gospel Music Ensemble
      —Neldelka F. Prescod, director
Kayden Carter, Anouk Chemla, Pitiki Aliakai, Hayley Yu Qin, Aviana Gedler, Andy Messier, Haijie Du, Cedrine Brission, Emily Mitchell, Ruochen Zang, Haoyu Zheng, voice
Sammy Davies, trumpet
Weza Jamison-Neto, bass trombone
Peter Vazquez, piano
Kai Lance, guitar
Ben Walker, electric bass
Paul Joseph, Victor Giraldez, drums, percussion