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| Leroy Jenkins' multi-media opera 651 ARTS presents the second installation of Coincidents: a multi-media opera-in-progress composed by Leroy Jenkins and written by Mary Griffin, at Long Island University's Kumble Theater for the Performing Arts, February 10, 2006. This one-night-only performance fits another piece to Jenkins and Griffin's family history puzzle, meshing media, oratorio and opera as only they can. Coincidents is an oratorio/opera based on the artists' family histories. It jumps off from the unlikely hypothesis that although Jenkins is African American and grew up in Chicago, and Griffin, a white woman, grew up in Wales, they might be related. Griffin's mother's name was Jenkins--an indigenous Welsh name, and her family history reaches back into the 17th century. Jenkins' ancestry is more difficult to trace--it stops short at the auction block. They haven't yet found a blood relation, but they have discovered that Jenkins' ancestors took the name from a Wilton F.L. Jenkins, a slave owner who lived in Prospect, Tennessee. Renowned violinist/composer and arranger, Marlene Rice, joins the cast. Leroy Jenkins is internationally renowned as a virtuoso violinist and for his compositions, which bond a variety of sounds associated with the African American music tradition and European styles. A founding member of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians, Jenkins has worked with Muhal Richard Abrams, Anthony Braxton, George Lewis, and Roscoe Mitchell. He has received commissions from The Rockefeller Foundation, New York State Council on the Arts, Meet The Composer and the National Endowment for the Arts. Works include Mother of Three Sons, a dance opera with Bill T. Jones; Fresh Faust, a jazz rap opera; The Negro Burial Ground; and The Three Willies, an operatic collaboration with Homer Jackson. He is a member of Equal Interest, a trio including Joseph Jarman and Myra Melford. He was awarded a composition grant from the Fromm Foundation for Coincidents, and received a Guggenheim Fellowship. Some recorded works are Solo, Equal Interest, The Revolutionary Ensemble, plus And Now. Mary Griffin is a writer of fiction, poetry, and libretti. With composer Joseph Hannan she has written Christina the Astonishing, Lovers and Sick Cattle. She also collaborates with composer Frankie Mann, and Welsh video artist Terry Dimmick. She is a recipient of a fellowship from the New York Foundation for the Arts, and her work has been supported through residencies at Harvestworks, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Atlantic Center for the Arts, and with grants from The Phaedrus Foundation, The Rockefeller Foundation and The Lifton Foundation. write your comments about the article :: © 2006 Jazz News :: home page |