Harrison, Joel - America At War
SKU
28-SYS1590.2
Joel Harrison - composer, arranger, guitar, voice
Matt Holman - conductor
Seneca Black - trumpet
Dave Smith - trumpet, flugelhorn
Ingrid Jensen - trumpet (1, 3, 5, 6, 8)
Chris Rogers - trumpet (2, 4, 7, 9)
Marshal Sealy - French horn
Alan Ferber - trombone
Sara Jacovino - trombone
Curtis Hasselbring - trombone
Ben Staap - tuba
Ben Kono - English horn, soprano, alto saxophone & flute
Ken Thomson - alto saxophone, Bb clarinet & bass clarinet
Stacy Dillard - tenor saxophone
Jon Irabagon - tenor saxophone, flute
Lisa Parrot - baritone saxophone & bass clarinet
Daniel Kelly - piano
Gregg August - electric & acoustic bass
Jard Schonig - drums
Wilson Torres - vibraphone, timpani, concert bass drum, bongos, bells & shaker
Ned Rothenberg - shakuhachi (3)
“The United States has been in the midst of a foreign military engagement nearly every year since composer Joel Harrison's birth in 1957. This endless state of war has had lasting impacts on the country’s wellbeing, and far reaching repercussions on generations of soldiers and their families. Guitarist and composer Joel Harrison’s new large ensemble recording, America At War, is a musical meditation on a lifetime of ruinous armed conflicts conducted by the United States.
After composing and recording his first large ensemble works, he looked for a strong theme upon which to build his new work. It was 2014 and the United States was still immersed in an unending 13-year conflict in Afghanistan and the “War on Terror,” as well as the longstanding Iraq military conflict. He was aghast at the waste of it all and the effects on those in battle, along with the effects on those expected to finance them.
The more that he wrote, the more effective the music became. There were a number of goals: to create music with pathos and intensity, to utilize unusual orchestration such as timpani, English horn, and shakuhachi, to embrace his roots in rock music, and to elicit both fire-breathing and poignant performances appropriate to the work’s theme.”
- LabelSunnyside
- UPC016728159029