The Connecting Chords Music Festival presents Duke Ellington's sacred concert music this Saturday at 7 p.m. at First United Methodist Church in downtown Kalamazoo. The concert brings together a big band, vocal soloists, a choir and a tap dancer soloist. Cara Lieurance talks with Festival executive director Elizabeth Start, performer/researcher Dr. Beau Bothwell, and Western Michigan University jazz professor Dr. Scott Cowan to hear more about the one-of-a-kind event.
Bothwell explains that he's had this music on his mind for a long time. In college, he took an Ellington class taught by guitarist Kenny Burrell. Burrell brought in Brock Peters, the baritone from the 1965 premiere in San Francisco, who sang "In the Beginning God" a cappella for the students. "It just blew me away," Bothwell says.
Ellington twice turned down an invitation from an Episcopal church in San Francisco before agreeing to write the music. He went on to perform it dozens of times and called it the most important thing he ever did. Bothwell says the work does not tell a single story: "This is not a narrative. It's a series of vignettes that are really ecumenical." What ties it together, he says, is the joy of music and dance offered as praise.
Scott Cowan directs the Western Michigan University Jazz Orchestra, which provides the band. He calls the concert "kind of a once in a lifetime proposition when you're dealing with this many moving parts." He has his students study the original recordings of Ellington players such as Harry Carney and Cootie Williams. "It's always a thrill for me to see them go from the age of 19 and 21 to about a 45-year-old chain-smoking musician," he laughs.
The soloists are soprano Tiffany Gridiron of Lansing, baritone Brandon Harris of Grand Rapids, and Susan Anthony of Kalamazoo. About 12 local volunteers form the choir, and Bothwell sings with them. Start recalls what Bothwell said at the very first planning meeting: "Ideally there'll be a tap dancer," which led her on a search to a tap school in Chicago.
General admission tickets are $22. Seniors and veterans pay $18, and anyone 25 and under pays $5. Buying general, senior or veteran tickets online in advance saves money. Tickets and more information are at the Connecting Chords website.
The interview was summarized by Claude AI and edited by the author.
