IRVIN MAYFIELD AND THE NEW ORLEANS JAZZ ORCHESTRA PREMIERE A NEW JAZZ COMMISSION, THE ELYSIAN FIELDS JAZZ SUITE, AT FREE OUTDOOR CONCERT COMMISSION Jazz, Food and Spirits in Washington Square Park on Elysian Fields, Saturday, May 15, 2010
Musically, the Elysian Fields Jazz Suite is an exploration of liberty, family, death, and rebirth. The score is named after the historic Elysian Fields Avenue in New Orleans that connects the Mississippi River to Lake Pontchartrain. Spiritually, the piece is inspired by both the ancient Greek belief in the Elysian Fields as a resting place for the souls of the heroic and virtuous, as well as the Egyptian concept that Elysian Fields was a paradise where the dead spend eternity. The ancient mythology converged with the reality of our time in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, when Mayfield’s father –Irvin Mayfield Sr.—drowned, and was found on Elysian Fields Avenue. The Elysian Fields Jazz Suite is dedicated to Irvin Mayfield Sr. and all others who perished during the storm. “The Elysian Fields Jazz Suite is a clarion call that triumph can come out of tragedy,” said Mayfield. Adding, “Jazz is democracy in action and we wanted to premiere the Elysian Fields Jazz Suite as a free concert in the park so that everyone could attend.” The Elysian Fields Jazz Suite is also an ode to New Orleans’ historical ties to France and the streets namesake, the Champs Elysees, the storied boulevard where liberty is honored. With aspirational thoughts, and with the University of New Orleans serving as a beacon, Mayfield envisions New Orleans’ Elysian Fields Avenue someday mirroring the grandeur of its namesake in France. The Elysian Fields Jazz Suite was made possible by a grant from the Board of Regents Atlas Awards to Louisiana Artist and Scholars Program received by University of New Orleans in 2009. “The orchestra is very excited to perform this new body of work,” said Ronald Markham, CEO & President of the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra. “Irvin has written other major jazz works, each with its own mystery and challenges, however, the Elysian Fields Jazz Suite has the entire orchestra clamoring to breathe life into it.” The New Orleans Jazz Orchestra includes Ed Petersen, saxophone; Jason Marshall, saxophone; Herlin Riley, drums; Victor Atkins, piano; Leon Brown, trumpet; Ashlin Parker, trumpet; Barney Floyd, trumpet; Eric Lucero, trumpet; Terrance Taplin, trombone; Mitch Butler, trombone; Andre Hayward, trombone; Derek Douget, saxophone; Evan Christopher, clarinet; Aaron Fletcher, saxophone; David Pulphus, bass; After being nominated by President Barack Obama, Mayfield was unanimously confirmed to the board of the National Council on the Arts, the advisory body of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), by the US Senate. As a member the National Council on the Arts, Mayfield advises Chairman Rocco Landesman on policy and planning directions, application guidelines, and budgeting, and he also recommends nominees for the National Medal of Arts to the President. Mayfield was also appointed to the post of Cultural Ambassador for the State of Louisiana and the City of New Orleans in 2003. Mayfield has released numerous recordings, including the 2010 Grammy Award-winning Book One with the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra; Love Songs, Ballads & Standards with Ellis Marsalis, 2008; Higher Ground, 2005 (on Blue Note); Strange Fruit, 2005; Half Past Autumn Suite, 2003; How Passion Fails, 2001; Jaz Sawyer/Irvin Mayfield 20/20: Live at the Blue Note, 2000; Irvin Mayfield/Irvin Mayfield, 1999; and The Irvin Mayfield Sextet: Live at the Blue Note, 1999. His discography also includes four recordings with his critically acclaimed Latin jazz band Los Hombres Calientes, which he co-founded with drummer Jason Marsalis and percussionist Bill Summers. Their debut CD, Los Hombres Calientes (Basin Street Records), won Billboard’s Latin Music Award for Contemporary Jazz Album of the Year in 1998; and Volume 3: New Congo Square was nominated for a Grammy in 2001. In 2009, Mayfield entered into a historic partnership with the Royal Sonesta Hotels, opening Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse on Bourbon Street in the French Quarter. The Playhouse provides over 50 Jazz musicians an opportunity to perform and build new audiences on a weekly basis. A prolific composer, Mayfield was commissioned by the Minnesota Orchestra to write The Art of Passion, which the Orchestra premiered alongside the Irvin Mayfield Quintet in July 2009. Among his additional compositions are Half-Past Autumn Suite, Strange Fruit, and All the Saints—which NOJO premiered in November 2005 in one of the first major cultural events held in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. A passionate advocate for New Orleans, Mayfield is Chairman of the Board of the New Orleans Public Library. He also serves on the boards of the New Orleans Recovery Authority, the New Orleans Arts Council, the New Orleans Police and Justice Foundation, the Louisiana State University’s Department of Psychiatry and Health Science, Unity of New Orleans, the New Orleans Public Library Foundation and Tulane University’s School of Architecture. A native of New Orleans, Mayfield received his first trumpet in the fourth grade and graduated from the famous New Orleans Center of Creative Arts in 1995. Mayfield studied in the University of New Orleans Jazz Studies program under the mentorship of Ellis Marsalis. Mayfield, a Grammy Award-winning trumpeter, will also present a musical excerpt of his new master Jazz work, Elysian Fields Jazz Suite, featuring the 15-piece New Orleans Jazz Orchestra (NOJO) at the 2010 UNO Commencement Exercise on Friday, May 14 at 7pm at UNO Lakefront Arena (private event for UNO graduates). The Washington Square Park performance is sponsored in part by The University of New Orleans, New Orleans Jazz Institute, Jones Walker, Jameson, Cordina Mar-go-rita, Russian Standard, Heineken, WDSU, WWOZ 90.7 FM, Clear Channel, SDT LLC, Gambit Magazine, Whole Foods, 3 Ring Circus and Offbeat Magazine. The Elysian Fields Jazz Suite will serve as the musical platform for Irvin Mayfield and the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra’s upcoming Road to Carnegie Hall Tour. Confirmed dates include: May 29 – Jacksonville, FL |
NEW
ORLEANS, LOUISIANA (May 3, 2010) Irvin Mayfield and the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra will kick-off their Road To Carnegie Hall Tour on Saturday, May 15, 2010 with the premiere of Mayfield’s newest Master jazz work – The Elysian Fields Jazz Suite at Washington Square Park on Elysian Fields and Dauphine Street, New Orleans from 5pm-8pm. The free, twilight concert is open to all ages and will feature for sale food from select French Market restaurants and specialty cocktails created by 3 Ring Circus. The concert will be broadcast live on WWOZ 90.7 FM.