Etienne Charles and his band Creole Soul shall be performing with the New York Philharmonic to premiere his latest composition “San Juan Hill: A New York Story” (commissioned by Lincoln Middle for the Performing Arts; co-presented by Lincoln Middle and the New York Philharmonic) at Wu Tsai Theater, David Geffen Corridor (Lincoln Middle) on October 8, 2:00pm and eight:00pm.
Description: The anticipated reopening of David Geffen Corridor kicks off with a pair of live shows that includes Etienne Charles’ new work, San Juan Hill: A New York Story—carried out by Etienne Charles & Creole Soul, and the New York Philharmonic, performed by Music Director Jaap van Zweden.
An immersive multimedia work, San Juan Hill: A New York Story transports the viewers by way of music, visuals, and authentic first-person accounts of the historical past of the San Juan Hill neighborhood and the indigenous and immigrant communities that populated the land in and round the place Lincoln Middle resides. A large number of musical components—from Ragtime, Jazz, Stride piano, Swing, Blues, Mambo, Paseo, Antillean Waltz, Calypso, Funk, Disco, and Hip Hop—are woven along with historic movie and present-day interviews to showcase the myriad musical types and tradition that had been dropped at New York by migrants from the south and the Caribbean. Along with his band, Etienne Charles & Creole Soul, Charles is working with a variety of artists and lecturers on this fee, together with particular visitors Carl Hancock Rux, Elena Pinderhughes, DJ Logic, and collaborating with playwright Eljon Wardally, video artist Maya Cozier, graffiti/visible artist Depraved GF (Gary Fritz), visible artist Bayete Ross Smith, and historian Julia Foulkes, amongst others.
San Juan Hill: A New York Story combines the previous with the current, laying the muse for our group to construct a brand new future for Lincoln Middle. Within the leadup to the premiere, Charles, Lincoln Middle, and the New York Philharmonic are partnering for a collection of conversations and workshops that can discover the preservation and transformation of tradition, gentrification, group activism, in addition to resilience in resistance to adversity, in collaboration with Weeksville Heritage Middle, Nationwide Jazz Museum in Harlem, and others.
FEATURING
Etienne Charles, Composer/Trumpet/Percussion
CREOLE SOUL: Sullivan Fortner, Piano; Ben Williams, Bass; John Davis, Drums; Alex Wintz, Guitar; Godwin Louis, Saxophone; Elena Pinderhughes, Flute; DJ Logic, Turntables
CREATIVE TEAM
Maya Cozier, Movie Director; Bayete Ross Smith, 3D Media Artist; Eljon Wardally, Narrative/ Playwright; Hollis King, Images; Carl Hancock Rux, Spoken Phrase; Depraved GF (Gary Fritz), Grafitti Artist; Julia Foulkes, Historian
[Photo (cropped above) by Hollis King]
For extra info, see https://www.lincolncenter.org/venue/david-geffen-hall/san-juan-hill-773 and https://nyphil.org/concerts-tickets/2223/san-juan-hill