{"id":5577,"date":"2015-12-24T19:16:38","date_gmt":"2015-12-24T19:16:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.artinfo.com\/blunotes\/?p=5577"},"modified":"2015-12-24T19:16:38","modified_gmt":"2015-12-24T19:16:38","slug":"trumpeter-tom-harrells-music-moves-choreographer-michele-wiles-to-well-move","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/larryblumenfeld.com\/index.php\/2015\/12\/24\/trumpeter-tom-harrells-music-moves-choreographer-michele-wiles-to-well-move\/","title":{"rendered":"Trumpeter Tom Harrell's Music Moves Choreographer Michele Wiles to, Well, Move"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"harrel<\/a>
photo Emilie Pons<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\nFrom time to time, I invite a guest blogger to fill this space. The last time I ran into Emilie Pons<\/strong>, she had her camera around her neck and she had good things to say about a collaboration between trumpeter Tom Harrell, a uniquely expressive presence in jazz, and choreographer Michele Wiles. Pons asked if I could use some of her photos. I told her to write the short piece you’ll find below.<\/em>
\nWhen choreographer Michele Wiles<\/strong> heard trumpeter Tom Harrell<\/strong> for the first time, she felt touched by his music and compelled to work with him. Wiles then set about creating choreography for her contemporary ballet company, BalletNext, to two Harrell compositions, \u201cBaroque Steps\u201d and \u201cTrances.\u201d In early November, a few months after hearing Harrell lead his band at Manhattan\u2019s Village Vanguard, she presented her intepretations in collaboration with him at New York Live Art Theater<\/a>. The program, titled \u201cApogee in 3,<\/em>\u201d included a third piece\u2014an improvisation for which she responded to the sound of Harrell\u2019s trumpet with her body and he, in turn, to her movements.
\n\u201cWhat drew me to Tom\u2019s music is an emotional energy,\u201d Wiles said. \u201cI just felt every note he and his quintet played expresses how I want to dance\u2014with my soul.\u201d
\n
\"photo<\/a>
photo Emilie Pons<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\nWiles\u2019s four-year-old company (dancers Gracie Huber, Tiffany Mangulabnan, Jordan Miller, Amy Saunder and Jessica Tretter) shared the stage with Harrell\u2019s quintet, featuring drummer Adam Cruz, bassist Ugonna Okegwo, pianist David Virelles, and saxophonist Ralph Moore. Wiles\u2019s choreography took Harrell\u2019s band concept as its starting point: The dancers\u2019 movements seemed to extend the melodies Harrell played, and their interaction at times loosely mapped the band\u2019s overall sound.
\n\u201cBaroque Steps,\u201d a powerful composition built on rhythm, lends itself easily to dance. \u201cIt has two chords that people solo over,\u201d said Okegwo after the performance. \u201cIt also has a strong forward movement.\u201d The tune\u2019s use of modal orientation creates an sense of urgency much like a suspense film, an ambience that ran through the choreography as well.
\n\u201cTrances,\u201d a slower tune, lacked such tension. Its sense of freedom\u2014the piece is based mostly on a single chord\u2014was reflected by notably lyrical trumpet and saxophone solos and the waves and lines the dancers created with their bodies.
\nHarrell\u2019s music employs many different forms and harmonic environments and is rhythmically complex. Yet for all his sophistication as a composer, he prizes melody and a clear sense of narrative. His is, above all, an accessible approach.\u00a0Similarly, Wiles\u2019s elaborate choreographic concepts never take away from the pure flow and consistent energy she communicates on stage; neither she nor Harrell, each in their distinct ways,\u00a0ever fail to tell their audiences captivating stories through abstract means.
\n\u201cI started this collaboration with a blank slate,\u201d Wiles said, \u201cand allowed things to come naturally to me while in the process of getting used to Tom’s style.\u201d\u00a0Such collaborations between jazz musicians and ballet dancers lend a new perspective to both forms. If this joint project begs for more, Wiles is working on it: She is preparing a new show that will and add 3 more Harrell pieces to the program.
\nEmilie Pons is a New York based reporter. She writes for Hot House Jazz<\/a>, the news agency France USA Media<\/a> and The Tico Times<\/a>. She has also written for NPR<\/a> and JazzTimes<\/a>. Her Twitter is\u00a0@emilie_pons.<\/em>
\n\u00a0<\/em>
\n\u00a0<\/em>
\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From time to time, I invite a guest blogger to fill this space. The last time I ran into Emilie Pons, she had her camera around her neck and she had good things to say about a collaboration between trumpeter Tom Harrell, a uniquely expressive presence in jazz, and choreographer Michele Wiles. Pons asked if … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Trumpeter Tom Harrell's Music Moves Choreographer Michele Wiles to, Well, Move”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5580,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[362,363,364],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/larryblumenfeld.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5577"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/larryblumenfeld.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/larryblumenfeld.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/larryblumenfeld.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/larryblumenfeld.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5577"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/larryblumenfeld.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5577\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/larryblumenfeld.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/larryblumenfeld.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5577"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/larryblumenfeld.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5577"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/larryblumenfeld.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5577"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}