KENDRICK SCOTT | UNEARTHED

Kendrick Scott, composer/drums
Deborah D.E.E.P. Mouton, poet, Poet Laureate Emeritus of Houston
Robert Hodge, visual artist
Harlem String Quartet ((Ilmar Gavilán, violin; Melissa White, violin; Jaime Amador, viola; Felix Umansky, cello)
Gerald Clayton, piano; Walter Smith III, saxophone; Joe Sanders, bass

A new DACAMERA production memorializing the Sugar Land 95, bringing together original music, poetry and visuals

Unearthed pays tribute to the tragic history behind the recent discovery of the remains of 95 Black people (94 men, 1 woman) in unmarked graves in Sugar Land, Texas. They were convict laborers, swept back into “slavery by another name” in the post-Civil War era, arrested for petty crimes like vagrancy and forced into back-breaking and often fatal labor in the sugar fields of Texas.

Now, Houston native jazz artist Kendrick Scott explores this untold story in a new production, teaming up with outstanding Houston-based creative team including the former Houston poet laureate Deborah D.E.E.P. Mouton and performed by the acclaimed Harlem String Quartet and a trio of first-call jazz musicians.

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CHRISTIAN MCBRIDE’S NEW JAWN

Eight-time Grammy Award-winning jazz bassist Christian McBride is a force of nature, fusing the fire and fury of a virtuoso with the depth and grounding of a seasoned journeyman. Powered by a relentless energy and a boundless love of swing, McBride’s path has described a continuous positive arc since his arrival on the scene. With a career now blazing into its third decade, the Philadelphia native has become one of the most requested, most recorded, and most respected figures in the music world today. Drawing from the lexicon of his hometown, Philadelphia, McBride calls his pianoless quartet The New Jawn.

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CÉCILE MCLORIN SALVANT

In just under a decade, Cécile McLorin Salvant has emerged as one of the most prescient and fearless voices in music today, evolving from a competition winner and favorite of jazz critics, to a three-time Grammy Award winner and MacArthur fellow. Her recording The Window topped best of the year lists everywhere from Jazzwise magazine and Rolling Stone to the NPR Music Jazz Critics Poll and The New York Times and her latest recording Ghost Song is sure to follow a similar path. Be there for her triumphant return to the DACAMERA stage, where she debuted early in her career in 2014.

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BRANFORD MARSALIS

After four decades in the international spotlight, the achievements of saxophonist Branford Marsalis continue to grow. He is an instrumentalist, composer and bandleader to be reckoned with, crossing stylistic boundaries while maintaining an unwavering creative integrity. With three Grammys and a citation by the National Endowment for the Arts as a Jazz Master, he is an avatar of contemporary artistic excellence.

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Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Alfred “Tubby” Hall was born October 12, 1895 in Sellers, Louisiana and his family moved to New Orleans, Louisiana in his childhood. His younger brother Minor “Ram” Hall also became a professional drummer. He played in many marching bands in New Orleans, including with Buddie Petit. His drumming style was forceful and sober, generally maintaining constant tempo on the snare.

By 1917 Hall had moved to Chicago, Illinois where he played with Sugar Johnny Smith. After two years in the United States Army, he returned to playing in Chicago mostly with New Orleans bands, joining Carroll Dickerson’s Orchestra and recording in 1927. He later played with the groups of King Oliver, Jimmie Noone, Tiny Parham, and Johnny Dodds.

He is seen in Armstrong’s Paramount movies of the early 1930s, including the live action and Betty Boop cartoon I’ll Be Glad When You’re Dead, You Rascal You and A Rhapsody in Black and Blue in 1932. Only Armstrong and Hall got closeups in the two films, and both get their faces transposed with those of racially stereotyped jungle natives in the cartoon. Hall morphs from a jazz drummer to a cannibal stirring a cooking pot with two wooden sticks.

Drummer Tubby Hall, considered one of the three greatest jazz drummers of his generation by jazz critic Hugues Panassié, along with Zutty Singleton and Baby Dodds, transitioned in Chicago, Illinois on May 13, 1945.

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