George Lewis

“Homage to Charles Parker” (1979)

Performed as part of “George Lewis: Chamber Music for Humans and Non-humans”

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UNISON (1978) Douglas Ewart, alto saxophone George Lewis, tenor trombone Richard Teitelbaum, synthesizers Abdul Wadud, cello

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(New Work) (1979) George Lewis, tenor trombone

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IMPROVISATION Douglas Ewart, bass clarinet AIM 65 microcomputer

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INTERMISSION

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IPLAYERS (1977) Douglas Ewart, bassoon, flute, percussion George Lewis, tenor trombone Richard Teitelbaum, synthesizers Abdul Wadud, cello AIM 65 microcomputer

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HOMAGE TO CHARLES PARKER (1978) Douglas Ewart, alto saxophone George Lewis, tenor trombone Richard Teitelbaum, synthesizers Abdul Wadud, cello

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DOUGLAS EWART was born in Kingston, Jamaica in 1946. He studied music first at the AACM School, and later at Vandercook College of Music and at Loop College, Chicago. He has been a member of the AACM since 1967, and in addition to being fluent on woodwinds, saxophones, and percussion, Mr. Ewart is an instrument maker, known for his Ewart bamboo flutes and shakuhachis. His compositions include works for ballet, creative orchestra, and his “Bamboo Forest’’ series of pieces for bamboo instruments alone. He has performed extensively throughout the United States and Europe, most recently in solo performance, as well as in collaborations with Muhal Richard Abrams, Fred Anderson, Joseph Jarman, George Lewis, Roscoe Mitchell, Leo Smith, and others.

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Mr. Ewart’s discography includes recordings with Muhal Richard Abrams (Arista), Abthoiny Braxton (Arista), Chico Freeman (Why Not), Roscoe Mitchell (Nessa) and George Lewis (Black Saint).

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RICHARD TEITELBAUM was born in New York City. He received degrees from Haverford and Yale, studying with Allen Forte, Mel Powell and Luigi Nono. He began playing one of the first Moog synthesizers in 1966, giving some 200 concerts throughout Europe, many with Musica Elettronica [sic] Viva group which he helped to found. In 1970-71 he studied Javanese, West African and Japanese music at Wesleyan, while performing with the World Band; In 1976-77 he lived and worked in Japan. He frequently performs with Anthony Braxton, Takehisa Kosugi, Steve Lacy, and George Lewis, among others, and has recorded for Arista-Freedom, Nippon Columbia, Horo, Tomato, Polydor and Mainstream. He currently resides in New York.

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ABDUL WADUD (b. Cleveland, Ohio) has played the cello for 24 years. A graduate of Oberlin Conservatory of Music and State University of New York at Stonybrook [sic], Abdul Wadud performs frequently with Arthur Blythe, Julius Hemphill, George Lewis, Oliver Lake, Sam Rivers and others. His discography includes a solo cello album on Bisharra Records and a duo record with Julius Hemphill (Red Records). Soon to be released albums include 2 solo albums, a duo album with Leroy Jenkins (Red Records) and a trio recording (from 1966) on Bisharra Records.

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Composer-performer GEORGE LEWIS (b. 1952, Chicago) studied philosophy at Yale College, trombone with Dean Hey and composition with Muhal Richard Abrams at the School of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians. Lewis has been a member of the Chicago-based AACM since 1971, and served as its chairman in 1975. Lews’ extremely varied performance experience has included work with large ensembles as conceptually divergent as the orchestras of Count Basie and Carla Bley; his flexible, highly individual work on the trombone, tuba, and live electronics has found place in the performances of experimental composers as well, including Jacques Bekaert, Anthony Braxton, Rhys Chatham, Leroy Jenkkins, Roscoe Mitchell, Phill Niblock, Sam Rivers, Leo Smith, Douglas Ewart and others.

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Appearing both as a solo performer and with his own ensemble (formed in 1977), Lewis performs his own music extensively in both the US and Europe. His compositions include new music for traditional instruments and performing ensembles (such as his Shadowgraph series of pieces for traditional “big band”), works for trombone, percussion and chamber ensembles. His recordings, with Muhal Richard Abrams, Anthony Braxton, Leroy Jenkins and many others, also include a solo trombone album (Sackville), an album of four Lewis compositions and a duet album with Douglas Ewart (both on Black Saint label).