{"id":92747,"date":"2014-05-01T09:25:44","date_gmt":"2014-05-01T13:25:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=92747"},"modified":"2014-05-05T10:18:18","modified_gmt":"2014-05-05T14:18:18","slug":"jazzman-macdonald-debuts-first-orchestral-composition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2014\/05\/jazzman-macdonald-debuts-first-orchestral-composition\/","title":{"rendered":"Jazzman MacDonald Debuts First Orchestral Composition"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Earl<\/a>
Earl MacDonald, associate professor of music and director of jazz studies, conducts the combined UConn Symphony Orchestra and Jazz Ensemble during a rehearsal for the premiere of his composition ‘Dolphy Dance.’ (Ken Best\/UConn Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When Earl MacDonald was studying with Charlie Banacos, the legendary teacher of improvisation at Berklee College of Music and New England Conservatory of Music, Banacos suggested that he should focus on the multi-instrumentalist Eric Dolphy as part of their work together.<\/p>\n

MacDonald, director of jazz studies in the School of Fine Arts, says he was reluctant at first, thinking the dissonances in Dolphy\u2019s post-bebop style were unsettling. Banacos said, \u201cThat\u2019s what you should be studying.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was very eye-opening,\u201d says MacDonald, who will debut his composition for symphony orchestra, \u201cDolphy Dance,\u201d at the von der Mehden Recital Hall May 1. \u201cI developed an appreciation for his style. I continue to study those concepts.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDolphy Dance\u201d is part of the final Department of Music program for the academic year that includes works by Johannes Brahms, Edward Elgar, and Symphony No. 5 in D, Op. 47 by Dimitri Shostakovich. The composition represents the first time that MacDonald, an award-winning jazz composer and performer, has written for an orchestra, and he will conduct the performance by the UConn Symphony Orchestra, augmented with a rhythm section and jazz soloists.<\/p>\n

The composition is highlighted by a section featuring a salsa rhythm that grew out of a song MacDonald wrote for a friend\u2019s surprise birthday present last year. In preparating the birthday tribute, he listened to recordings by the legendary Latin jazz innovators Mario Bauza, Eddie Palmieri, and Tito Puente.<\/p>\n

\"Harvey<\/a>
Harvey Felder, left, associate professor of music and director of orchestral studies, and Earl MacDonald, director of jazz studies, review the score for Dolphy Dance. (Ken Best\/UConn Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Further exploring salsa rhythms came to mind after MacDonald was asked by Harvey Felder, director of orchestra studies, to consider composing a new work for a collaborative performance for students in the jazz studies and orchestral programs in the Department of Music.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had always wanted to write for strings,\u201d MacDonald says. \u201cAs I experimented with taking salsa melodies and harmonies further left of center, I began imagining what Eric Dolphy might have sounded like had he been featured with a salsa band around 1960.\u201d<\/p>\n

Felder, whose father was a jazz fan with a collection of recordings \u201cthat was the envy of many,\u201d says he has been long fascinated with the genre.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve listened to a lot of jazz in my life and always appreciated jazz artists and what they bring to our culture,\u201d he says. \u201cI thought it would be a great experience for our orchestral musicians to have some jazz experience. I think it\u2019s a very healthy thing to venture into all types of genres.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both faculty musicians say one of the challenges for the collaboration between jazz and classical players is matching up the rhythmic accuracy and precision of two varied styles. Orchestras do not typically have a rhythm section of bass and drums driving the music.<\/p>\n

\u201cAn 80-person orchestra doesn\u2019t swing the way a trio swings or the way a big band swings,\u201d says Felder, who has collaborated with trumpeter Doc Severinsen, singer Al Jarreau, and saxophonist Kenny G, among other jazz musicians over the years. \u201cThe larger an ensemble gets, the more unwieldy it is. It\u2019s an ocean liner, not a jet ski.\u201d<\/p>\n

MacDonald says the fact that the musicians performing his composition are also students who listen to a wide range of contemporary music \u2013 such as pop, rock, and hip-hop \u2013 that is based in rhythm, has helped to bring together the jazz and classical musicians.<\/p>\n

\"Colin<\/a>
Colin Walters ’14 (SFA) plays an alto saxophone solo during ‘Dolphy Dance.’ Macdonald says Walters ‘will play the role of Eric Dophy,’ for whom the composition is named. (Ken Best\/UConn Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In composing \u201cDolphy Dance,\u201d MacDonald says he was also faced with trying to balance writing for classical musicians who are trained to play what is on the written page, with some room for interpretation, and for jazz musicians who expect to have the freedom to improvise at some point. While the entire work is notated on the page, the composer has allowed for some solo improvisation by Colin Walters \u201914 (SFA), an alto saxophonist who, MacDonald says in the performances\u2019 program notes, \u201cwill play the role of Eric Dolphy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve allowed a little bit of space where he will be improvising,\u201d says MacDonald, who spent two years as musical director and arranger for trumpeter Maynard Ferguson. \u201cBut around that I\u2019ve dictated what the strings, brass, and woodwinds will be playing in the background. That\u2019s not much different than from a jazz big band context.\u201d<\/p>\n

Listen to MacDonald rehearsing his new composition ‘Dolphy Dance’<\/a> with the UConn Jazz Ensemble and Symphony Orchestra.<\/p>\n

Felder will conduct the Shostakovich work, the epic composition written in response to Joseph Stalin\u2019s limitations on artistic freedom in the Soviet Union in the 1930s. He says the requirement for a full orchestra of musicians, the historic context of the work, and the \u201cexquisite\u201d nature of the music all make it a special performance opportunity for students.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a great teaching piece,\u201d Felder says. \u201cIt allows you connect to history, politics, and social phenomena in an academic environment. This piece allows you to address all those things in the music. It\u2019s a fun piece to play. It moves quickly, and there are moments where time seems suspended. It covers every end of the emotional spectrum. It\u2019s great stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n

The program also will include \u201cAcademic Festival Overture, Op. 80\u201d by Brahms, and \u201cSerenade, Op. 20 in E Minor, for String Orchestra by Elgar, conducted by Paul McShee, a graduate student in orchestral studies.<\/p>\n

The performance will take place on Thursday, May 1, at 8 p.m. at von der Mehden Recital Hall. For more information go to the Department of Music website<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The UConn Symphony Orchestra and Jazz Quartet premiered ‘Dolphy Dance’ May 1.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":92637,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[55],"class_list":["post-92747","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-25 23:52:16","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92747","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=92747"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92747\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":92809,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92747\/revisions\/92809"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/92637"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92747"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92747"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=92747"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=92747"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=92747"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}