Iyer, Vijay/Mike Ladd - Holding It Down: The Veterans' Dreams Project
SKU
28-PIRC49.2
"Holding It Down: The Veterans’ Dreams Project is the result of a three-year collaboration between Grammy® nominee Vijay Iyer and poet/librettist Mike Ladd, with veterans of color from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is also the culmination of a trilogy of works spanning more than a decade of American life, including the critically acclaimed In What Language? and Still Life with Commentator. For Holding It Down, Iyer and Ladd explore the experiences of veterans of these wars, in particular their post-traumatic-stress-disorder-induced nightmares. They interviewed scores of veterans about their dreams, many of which are retold here. Iyer and Ladd also enlisted the help of Maurice Decaul, a poet who served with the Marines in Iraq, and Lynn Hill, who served in the Air Force. Their harrowing poetry and performances serve as the heart and soul of this project. With seething power, Holding It Down explores how post-9/11 war veterans go about their irreversibly altered lives."
Vijay Iyer: piano, Fender Rhodes, programming, live electronics
Mike Ladd: vocals, analog synthesizer
Maurice Decaul, Lynn Hill: vocals
Pamela Z: vocals with live processing
Guillermo E. Brown: vocals, effects
Liberty Ellman: guitar
Okkyung Lee: cello
Kassa Overall: drums