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Goes Free

by Domino Ensemble

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todd steed
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todd steed A brilliant romp through sonic now. Each listen reveals something new. Favorite track: The Boy with the Axles in His Hands.
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about

“Goes Free” is a project where free improvisation becomes a bridge for inclusion. The album is made out of freely improvised versions of compositions written by enslaved-born composers. The selection contains works by Ignatius Sancho (1729-1780), Thomas Greene “Blind Tom’ Wiggins (1849-1908), and Basile Barés (1845-1902). The bonus track “Jan” offers a short duo introspection.

Performers

Cullen Burke (synth and live electronics)
Hunter Deacon (drumset)
Matt Nelson (double bass)
Jorge Variego (soprano and tenor saxophone)

Tracks

1- Just So in the North (1767)
Ignatius Sancho (1729-1780)

2- Le Vieux Garçon (The Old Boy – 1767)
Ignatius Sancho (1729-1780)

Ignatius Sancho was born on a slave ship off the coast of Guinea, West Africa, and was taken to the Spanish colony of New Granada in South America. When he was two years old he was brought to England. He grew up enslaved to three sisters in the town of Greenwich. Later, the Duke of Montague bought him. Despite being Sancho’s enslaver, the Duke helped him learn to read and write. When he was older, the Montagues taught him literature, writing and music. After the Duchess of Montagu died, Sancho was freed. He married and opened a small grocery store. He was probably best known as a public intellectual, publishing many letters about abolishing slavery. Sancho was also responsible for a number of important firsts. He was the first black composer in history to ever have his music published. He wrote songs, minuets, and country dances and also published a book on music theory. He was also the first black person to vote in a British election. When he died, he was the first black person to have an obituary in the newspaper.

3- The Boy with the Axles in His Hands (1866)
Thomas Greene “Blind Tom’ Wiggins (1849-1908)

Thomas “Blind Tom” Wiggins was born blind and enslaved near Columbus, Georgia, but he became one of the most famous American entertainers of the 1800s. The Bethunes, who enslaved Wiggins and his family, had seven children who played piano and sang, and young Wiggins loved to listen to their music. When he was still only four years old, he began to play back the music he heard on the piano. James Bethune could see that Wiggins was very talented, and so he paid for teachers for the boy. By the time he was eight years old, Wiggins was performing public concerts around Georgia, and eventually throughout the country, for the profit of Bethune. By the time he was 11 years old, he was already so famous that he became the first African American to be invited to perform for the president at the White House! He had incredible abilities to remember and reproduce sounds. He could play back music on the piano that he had only heard once, play difficult classical pieces with his back turned to the piano, and could even perform three songs at once (one with his right hand, another with his left hand, and a third sung, each in a different key!). He also wrote his own music, often used music effects that mimicked sounds that he heard in his everyday life, like the sound of rain the wind, and even a sewing machine.
Even though the end of the Civil War in 1865 should have freed all enslaved African Americans, the Bethunes found ways to keep legal and financial control of Wiggins. They kept all of the money he earned playing thousands of concerts. Even so, Wiggins was able to create music that was striking and unique. Listening to his music today, we can hear that Wiggin’s creativity went farther than other composers would go until the middle of the 1900s.

4- Jan

Originally conceived as a "bonus track", Jan offers an introspective free improvisation in duo format.

5- La Lousianaise (1860)
Basile Barés (1846-1902)

Basile Barés was an American composer who was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. His father was a French carpenter and grocer, and his mother was an African-American woman enslaved by a man who owned a music and piano store. Since his mother was enslaved when he was born, Barés was also enslaved from birth. He grew up working in his enslaver’s music store, which is where he probably first learned to piano the piano and began to compose. He eventually took piano and composition lessons, and was very skilled at a young age. In fact, he wrote “Grande polka des chasseurs á pied de la Louisiane” when he was only 16 years old. What is even more amazing is that this is the only America piece that was published and given copyright protection to an enslaved composer.
Like other enslaved African Americans, Barés was made legally free at the end of the Civil War in 1865. But he continued to work at the same music store, which was then owned by his former enslaver’s widow. He traveled to Paris on business for the store, where he also played piano at the Paris International Exposition in 1867.
Back in New Orleans, Bar´s has become a well-known pianist. He often played with other Creole musicians and was involved in movements to help desegregate music venues in the city. He was so well-regarded that he was often hired to play for Carnival balls for members of the white community, where he also led a string band. He stayed active as a composer, and had many more compositions published for several decades after the Civil War.

References:

Howard-Tilton Memorial Library. Tulane University Digital Library. Louisiana Sheet Music collection. digitallibrary.tulane.edu/islandora/object/tulane:p15140coll47

Music by Black Composers. Violin Volume 1. Ludwig Masters Publications (2018). ISBN 978-1-
68296-781-2. Rachel Barton Pine Foundation. www.musicbyblackcomposers.org

credits

released January 18, 2021

Recorded @ Arch Audio in Chattanooga on December 4th.
Recording engineer: Tyler Reddick
Produced by the Domino Ensemble. Jorge Variego - Founding Director.

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Domino Ensemble Knoxville, Tennessee

The mission of the Domino Ensemble is the promotion, commission and performance of new music with improvisation. Through educational workshops and performances of new and commissioned compositions by young student composers, the Domino Ensemble serves as a unique bridge between young creative artists, their communities and future audiences. ... more

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