Joseph C. Phillips, Imani Uzuri and Numinous played The Ecstatic Music Festival (pics)
photos by David Andrako
Singer and composer Imani Uzuri teamed up with composer and Numinous ensemble founder Joseph C. Phillips, Jr at the Kaufman Center’s Merkin Hall on Saturday (3/16) as part of the 2013 Ecstatic Music Festival. They performed new works, commissioned especially for the festival. One of them, Changing Same, was a six-movement composition by Phillips “that musically reflects a liberating pursuit of individuality where contemporary classical music melds with Prince, Stevie Wonder, Curtis Mayfield, Chuck Brown, Barry White and Gamble and Huff to create an evocative, intimate and affirming musical and cultural ‘memory book.'” The recorded version of this will come out later this year on New Amsterdam Records.
The Ecstatic Music Fest wraps up this week with its two final shows: Steven Mackey & Rinde Eckert with Big Farm & JACK Quartet on March 20 (tickets); and Simone Dinnerstein & Tift Merritt on March 21 (tickets). More photos from Saturday’s show, plus the program notes, are below.
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Program:
Joseph C. Phillips Jr. – Changing Same (2013)
1. 19
2. Behold the Only Thing greater than Yourself
3. Miserere
4. The Most Beautiful Magic
5. Alpha Man
6. UnlimitedImani Uzuri – Placeless (2013)
1. Evenly Yoked
2. Hush Arbor
3. Shall Guide Me
4. My Place is Placeless (words: Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi)Joseph C. Phillips Jr. & Imani Uzuri – Awe & Humility (2013)
Phillips 1. Es stehen unbeweglich (Words: heinrich Heine)
Uzuri 2. Peonies (Words: Mary Oliver)
Uzuri 3. Present
Phillips 4. Serendipity
Phillips/Uzuri 5. Follow Your Bliss (Words: Heinrich Heine, Mary Oliver, Imani Uzuri)
