Bang on a Can and Jewish Museum Present the Music of MacArthur Recipient Steve Coleman Tonight

By: Nov. 06, 2014
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Bang on a Can: From the Margins, a concert featuring recent MacArthur "Genius" Fellowship recipient Steve Coleman & Friends, will take place at the Jewish Museum tonight, November 6 at 7:30pm. Tied to the Museum exhibition From the Margins: Lee Krasner I Norman Lewis, 1945-1952, which features innovative works by two powerful abstract painters, the performance will highlight the relationship between Abstract Expressionism and jazz in mid-century New York City. This program is the second concert of the Jewish Museum and Bang on a Can's partnership to produce a series of dynamic musical performances at the Museum from June 2014 to May 2015, inspired by the Jewish Museum's diverse slate of exhibitions.

The collision between Abstract Expressionism and jazz began in the galleries and clubs of New York in the 1940s, as avant-garde artists from each world learned more about each other's artforms. This connection pushed jazz in a more formal, intellectual direction exemplified by a number of thoughtful composer/performers. An heir to this great tradition is the Chicago composer, saxophone player and bandleader Steve Coleman, who has performed with the big bands of Thad Jones and Mel Lewis, Cecil Taylor, and Sam Rivers, released more than 25 records, and is a 2014 recipient of a prestigious MacArthur Fellowship. Coleman is joined by musicians and frequent collaborators Jonathan Finlayson (trumpet) and Anthony Tidd (bass).

The November 6 performance will feature Steve Coleman in a rare appearance without percussion accompaniment. Normally the drums are an important element in his music, however, in this case, the audience will hear the rhythm being accentuated by the melodic instruments: alto saxophone, trumpet, and bass. The musicians will interpret the paintings of Lee Krasner and Norman Lewis, spontaneously composing and improvising with each other live on stage. Spontaneous composition has been at the forefront of Coleman's work throughout his career. The musical language, or syntax, between these three musicians has been developed over the course of many years, and moves through space and levels of intensity similar to the works of Lee Krasner and Norman Lewis.

About From the Margins: Lee Krasner | Norman Lewis, 1945-1952
From the Margins: Lee Krasner I Norman Lewis, 1945-1952, on view through February 1, 2015, features key 1940s and 1950s works by two powerful painters during a transformative period in American art when both artists were experimenting with innovative approaches joining abstraction and culturally-specific references. Lee Krasner (1908-1984) and Norman Lewis (1909-1979) were major contributors to Abstract Expressionism but as a woman and as an African American, respectively, they were often overlooked in mainstream criticism of the time. The work of Krasner and Lewis has intriguing formal similarities while reflecting each artist's personal background. Krasner's Little Image pictures relate to her childhood upbringing and study of Hebrew, and are today considered significant contributions to Abstract Expressionism. Lewis's Little Figure paintings reference African American cultural heritage, including urban life, Harlem, jazz, and textiles. Beneath the formal elegance of Lewis's paintings runs a characteristically subtle inflection of his lifelong social activism and humanitarian concerns. Both artists' work of this formative period embodied the allover approach characteristic of the style. Yet, rather than the bold, gestural strokes of their peers they focused on smaller, repeated images with self-reflective cultural references. Their paintings-brimming with gesture, image, and incident-are dynamic yet modest in scale compared with the canvases of many of their contemporaries.

Public programs are made possible by endowment support from the William Petschek Family, the Trustees of the Salo W. and Jeannette M. Baron Foundation, William Halo, Benjamin Zucker, the Marshall M. Weinberg Fund, with additional support from Marshall M. Weinberg, the Rita J. and Stanley H. Kaplan Foundation, the Saul and Harriet M. Rothkopf Family Foundation and Ellen Liman. Public support is provided by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.

The partnership launched in June with a free, outdoor, kick-off performance by Asphalt Orchestra as part of the Museum Mile Festival, and a July concert in conjunction with the exhibition, Other Primary Structures. Upcoming events include:

Bang on a Can: Beauty Is Power, featuring Maya Beiser on January 29, 2015, in conjunction with Helena Rubinstein: Beauty Is Power.

Bang on a Can: Revolution Of The Eye featuring the Bang on a Can All-Stars, on May 14, 2015 in conjunction with Revolution of the Eye: Modern Art and the Birth of American Television.

Tickets for the November 6 program are $18 general public; $15 students and senior citizens; and $12 for Jewish Museum members and Bang on a Can list members, and include exhibition admission prior to the performance. Further program and ticket information is available by calling 212.423.3337 or at TheJewishMuseum.org/calendar. The Jewish Museum is located at Fifth Avenue and 92nd Street, Manhattan.



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