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PH3T *%u2014-s %u2666%u2014s.m.S R TIC A ' : IXLearning To Reid: 'Aferica' TacklesPerspective In Eyes Of ComposerBY DREW BAILEYThe fall performance series of Celebrate Brooklyn once again features a wide array of talented Brooklyn-based performers, artists, dancers and choreographers, along with some of the finest musicians from around the world.The first native to take the stage is the outspoken Vernon Reid, directing a band as actors, singers and dancers perform his %u201cAferica,%u201d this Sunday at 3pm. Making return appearances from last fall will be Tania Leon and the Brooklyn Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra, who will present an afternoon of new works by leading Hispanic composers. Native composer Adrienne Torf will join librettist June Jordan in a production of their collaborative musical, %u201cBang Bang Uber Alles.%u201dProbably most representative of the Brooklyn spirit of iconoclasm is the production of a new work by Vernon Reid.Guitarist and composer Reid is a highly accomplished musician who has worked extensively with well-known drummer Ronald Shannon Jackson, progressive black pop bands such as Defunkt, and Living Color, his own band.Mr. Reid is also one of the founding members of the Black Rock Coalition, an organization formed to counter what he regards as %u201cthe music industry%u2019s indifference to the creative black musician.%u201dThe coalition includes some 35 musicians and interested individuals whose specialties range from jazz and blues to funk and rock. %u201cWe all have a personal vision to create original music choosing from all the available spectrums,%u201d Reid explained. BRC performed in the 9th Street bandsheil under the banner of Celebrate Brooklyn this past summer, and its huge success inspired Mr. Reid%u2019s efforts toward %u201cbringing it all back home%u201d again this fall.%u201cAferica%u201d is a work in progress that Reid describes as %u201cprimarily about black people%u2019s perception of themselves, all played out in, I%u2019d say, the arena of the fantastic.%u201d The protagonist of Mr. Reid%u2019s play is a young black urban professional whose existential question %u201cwho am I?%u201d leads him on a journey into the black subconscious.Accompanied by a spirit guide, he confronts the elements and attitudes that Bind and separate blacks. Both the life-giving and destructive elements of black culture are encountered. A pentecostal preacher, musician, priest and black Hebrew are allowed their say as are characters from the world of drugs and prostitution. A battle between light and dark skinned blacks exposes the abomination of racism translated into black self-hatred.Sekou Sundiata has joined Reid in writing the libretto, and Jawole Zallor has choreographed the dance segments. The story%u2019s concept was influenced by author Amos Tutula%u2019s %u201cThe Brave African Huntress,%u201d %u201cMy Life in the Bush of Ghosts,%u201d the neo-primitive sound collage-music album by Brian Eno and David Byrne of Talking Heads, %u201cThe Wizard of Oz,%u201d and %u201cAlice in Wonderland.%u201d They illustrate the idea of journey, %u201cthe quest,%u201d Reid explained.The music of %u201cAferica%u201d can be described as a written score with improvised passages. %u201cThe compositions use a real minimal approach; one particular part is not that complicated, but when you put them together, it becomes quite dense. You can have a lot of different ways of hearing the piece,%u201d Reid explained. There is a segment that is primarily choreography entitled: %u201cWords Are Meaningless.%u201d %u201cIn this segment,%u201d he says, %u201cI took samples of Ozzie Davis, Ruby Dee, and James Earl Jones. I also took samples of an unidentified chain gang from Arkansas. I chopped it up to form a new dialogue. Individual statements are usually very simple, one line things, but put together it becomes very complex.%u201dReid shares the generally positive feeling about the series that sparked the air of the Prospect Park Picnic House last Sunday, October 5, during Celebrate Brooklyn%u2019s reception that preceded the Rova Saxophone Quartet%u2019s electrifying seasonopening performance. %u201cI feel good about the performance. Somebody has to care about the art of the whole thing, everything else really fights against it.%u201d The guitai .st feels the artistic community%u2019s sense of itself in Brooklyn has changed: %u201cI see that people don%u2019t have to make excuses for coming from Brooklyn. I%u2019ve always been proud of that fact. Artistically, I think the borough is starting to come into its own. No matter what I do, when people ask me where I come from, it%u2019s always Brooklyn; it%u2019s part of my makeup.%u201dReid went on to explain that the borough has a built-in nurturing effect on young musicians. %u201cI went to Brooklyn Tech; and a lot of fine musicians came out of Brooklyn Tech: Raymond Jones, Trevor Gail, Miles J. Davis, and ah the musicians I went to school with are still playing music. Raymond has been writing for Geoffrey Osbourne, Trevor has been playing with Whitney Houston, Miles has been with Phyllis Hyman and about to do his own record. %u201cI think there are going to be a lot more great players,%u201d he forecasts, %u201csince Brooklyn is the one place where you can have that separation that you would have in a smaller town, yet at the same time it its very much an urban experience.%u201dCelebrate Brooklyn%u2019s Fall Performance Series continues Sunday, Oct. 12 with Vernon Reid%u2019s %u201cAferica.%u201d Oct. 19 features Adrienne Torf and June Jordan%u2019s %u201c Bang Bang Uber Alles.%u201d Tania Leon conducts the Brooklyn Philharmonic playing Hispanic composers, Oct. 26. The series continues through Nov. 23. All performances Sunday 3pm. Tickets are $5 or free with TDF vouchers, children under 12 $2.50. For more information call 788-0055.Brooklyn CelebratesThe Success O f TheROVA Quartet In ParkThe ROVA Saxaphone Quartet brought their world-inspired new jazz to the Prospect Park Picnic House last Sunday, October 5, to open Celebrate Brooklyn%u2019s adventurous fall music series. Fusing ethnic music from East and West with jazz and avant garde performance styles, ROVA%u2019s exciting and inventive playing hinted of the musical carnival scheduled for the coming months.The quartet is composed of Bruce Ackley (soprano sax) Larry Ochs (tenor) Jon Raskin (baritone) and Andrew Voigt (alto). They have performed internationally, inducing Western Europe and the USSR as well as here in New York City. They have received several awards and grants from prestigious organizations such as the National Endowment for the Arts, Meet the Composer, Downbeat and Jazz Forum.ROVA%u2019s music draws on a wealth of exotic influences: the rhythmic complexities of African drumming, the modal beauty of Indian classical improvisation, the economy of Japanese court music and the textural density of the Balinese Gamelan. The band is also influenced by Charles Ives, John Cage, Duke Ellington, John Coltrane and Ornette Coleman, as well as classical and folk, theater, dance and silence-as-music.The piece %u201cThe Unquestioned Answer%u201d demonstrated ROVA%u2019s gift for juxtaposing diverse elements and textures. It begins with Ochs uttering a placidly mournful melody on the tenor, which is joined by the baritone eerily producing a repetitive pedal tone, creating the aural illusion of rotation. The other instruments enter, almost imperceptibly, creating soft tone clusters which modulate microtonally. This impressionistic dialogue leads to a piercing high register duet by Ackley and Ochs. Trills and quarter tones were used to startling effect as the players made full use of theContinued on Pune 20BROOKLYN ACADEMY OF MUSIC PRESENTS 7 CHAMBER MUSIC CONCERTS Scott Nickrenz and Paula Robison, DirectorsS A T U R D A Y , D E C E M B E R 1 3 , 1 9 8 6 , 8 : 0 0 P.M .GIAN CARLO MENOTTI, composerMARVIS MARTIN, sopranoKATHERINE CIESINSKI, mezzo-sopranoDAVID GORDON, tenorRAIMON BOLIPATA, celloCARTER BREY, celloNANCY ALLEN, harpJEAN-YVES THIBAUDET, pianoCHARLES WADSWORTH, pianoRIDGE STRING QUARTETA salute to Gian Carlo Menotti on his 7Sth Birthday and featuring a retrospective of hischamber music including the Nocturne. Harp Quartet. Song Cycles t ami II. and Cello SuiteS A T U R D A Y , J A N U A R Y 1 7 , 1 9 8 7 , 8 : 0 0 P .M .JAIME LAREDO, violinJEAN-YVES THIBAUDET, pianoRIDGE STRING QUARTETTERRY RILEY: Sunrise of the Planetary Dream CollectorBEETHOVEN: String Quartet, Op. S9. No ICHAUSSON: Concerto for String Quartet, Violin and PianoS A T U R D A Y , F E B R U A R Y 7 , 1 9 8 7 , 8 : 0 0 P.M .KATHRYN SELBY, pianoMELIORA STRING QUARTETMOZART Hunt Quartet in B flat major, K 4S8LISZT: Mephisto Waltz for solo pianoBRAHMS Quintet for Piano and Strings in E minorS A T U R D A Y , F E B R U A R Y 2 8 , 1 9 8 7 , 8 : 0 0 P.M .EMERSON STRING QUARTETSCOTT NICKRENZ, violaCOLIN CARR, celloBOCCHERINI: Cello Quintet in C major SHOSTAKOVITCH: String Quartet No HMENDELSSOHN: Viola Quintet in A majorS A T U R D A Y , M A R C H 2 1 , 1 9 8 7 , 8 : 0 0 P .M .PAULA ROBISON, fluteFRANK MORELLI, bassoon(11 WINDS, CELLO AND DOUBLEBASS)VILLA LOBOS: Bacchianas Brazilieros for Flute and BassoonBEETHOVEN: Excerpts for Wind Octet from Fidelw GOUNOD: Petit Sym phonyDVORAK: Wind Serenade in D minor. Opus 44S A T U R D A Y , A P R I I . 1 8 , 1 9 8 7 , 8 : 0 0 P .M .ANI KAVAFIAN, violinPAULA ROBISON, fluteDOUGLAS BOYD, oboeFRANK MORELLI, bassoonKENNETH COOPER, harpsichordWENDY YOUNG, harpsichord%u201c F R O M B A R O Q U E T O J O P L I N %u201d J.C BACH: Quintet in D majorHANDEL: Flute Sonata in B minor TELEMANN: Trio Sonata in C m inorCOUPERIN: Musettes STRAVINSKY: Eight Easy PiecesSCOTT JOPLIN: Rag HENRY BRENT: Country Dances in SwingJAMES P. JOHNSON: Carolina Shout VIVALDI: La PastorellaS A T U R D A Y , M A Y 2 , 1 9 8 7 , 8 : 0 0 P .M .JOSEPH SWENSEN, violinSCOTT NICKRENZ, violaCARTER BREY, celloYEFIM BRONFMAN, pianoMICHAEL ALEC ROSE: Sonata for Solo Violin (N Y Premiere)BEETHOVEN: Trio for Strings in C m inor, Op 9, No .1SCHUMANN: Piano Quartet in E flat ma|orSUBSCRIBE NOW A N D GET 7 CONCERTSFOR THE PRICE OF ONLY 5!LOCATION REGULAR SUBSCRIPTION SAVEFront Oreh ./Fron t M m---- >70.00 Sold Out <50.00--------------------- >20.00Rear Oreh./Rear Mezz. 152.50 >38.00 SM50Number of seats Location Price per seal%u25a1 Orch%u25a1 Mezz ITotalSN A M E ______________________________________ADDRESS________________________________CITY ___________________________________PHONE (home) .............n iNC.IOSHI IS MV U IH k MADE HAVAHIt III HAM___________ STATE ______________ ZIP_ . __(business)____________________________________________m a s t eiiAiii.r m mv visa m a s th h aiu i amm ui a s r v m s sAct mint number Expiration date Signature as on cardPlease complete and return this form along with your payment to Subscription. Brooklyn Academy of Musii, 30 Lafayette Avenue, Brooklyn. New York, II2I7-I4R6. Eor further information call ( %u2019 IB) (vV, illHtO c to b e r 9 , 1986, T H E P H O E N IX , Page 19