ALMENDRAAbelardito Valdés (1911-1958)/Arr. Nicky Aponte

A NIGHT IN TUNISIAJohn Birks “Dizzy” Gillespie (1917-1993)/Arr. Dave Glenn

THE GIRL FROM IPANEMAAntônio Carlos Jobim (1927-1994)/Arr. Dave Glenn

TAKE THE “A” TRAINBilly Strayhorn (1915-1967)/Arr. Paul Chihara

:: intermission ::

EPÍLOGOAldo López-Gavilán (b. 1979)

TALKING TO THE UNIVERSEAldo López-Gavilán

ECLIPSEAldo López-Gavilán

PAN CON TIMBAAldo López-Gavilán

1july

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8 PM

Ilmar Gavilán, violin

Melissa White, violin

Jaime Amador, viola

Felix Umansky, celloWITH

Aldo López-Gavilán, piano

the program

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GENEROUSLY SPONSORED BY ALLAN AND KATHE COHEN

harlem quartet

ALMENDRAAbelardito Valdés (b. Havana, November 7, 1911; d. Havana, December 9, 1958)/Arr. Nicky AponteComposed 1938

Abelardito Valdés was the beloved leader of a highly popular Cuban dance orchestra thatbore the same name as this danzon, its theme song: “Almendra” [Almonds]. During theperiod of its greatest fame, in the 1940s and ’50s, ballroom dancers flocked to Almendra’slive performances of its extensive repertoire, which their devoted public also knew from themany albums that Almendra recorded.

A NIGHT IN TUNISIAJohn Birks “Dizzy” Gillespie (b. Cheraw, South Carolina, October 21, 1917; d. Englewood, New Jersey, January 6, 1993)/Arr. Dave Glenn

Composed 1941-42

The great Dizzy Gillespie was a trumpeter in the Earl Hines Band during the hey-day of bebopwhen he composed this piece, which he called “Interlude.” Both Sarah Vaughan and AnitaO’Day recorded it (with lyrics by Jon Hendricks) under that title, respecting Dizzy’s disdainfor the other title. “Some genius,” said Dizzy, “decided to call it ‘Night in Tunisia.’” By the

Notes on the

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Sandra Hyslop

70 :: NOTES ON THE PROGRAM

John Birks “Dizzy” Gillespie

Abelardito Valdés

In their work together, the quintet of Harlem Quartet and Aldo López-Gavilán has developed a repertoire that honors composers, arrangers, jazz musicians, and other performers whoincorporate improvisation into their music. All the works on this evening’s concert areperformed in that tradition. The composers and arrangers who are named have provided amusical platform for the unique interpretations of the Harlem Quartet and their partner, Aldo López-Gavilán.

In 1979 the pianist and composer Aldo López-Gavilán was born in Cuba into a family of talentedand accomplished musicians. His mother, Teresita Junco, was a well-known concert pianist andpedagogue. She performed and recorded both with Aldo and with his brother, the concertviolinist Ilmar Gavilán, the founding leader of the Harlem Quartet. Their father, Guido, is aconductor and composer.

As a pre-schooler, Aldo wrote his first music compositions and had his first piano instructionfrom his mother. He began formal studies at the age of seven and made his debut as a pianistat the age of twelve. In addition to learning the demanding classical piano repertoire, Aldodeveloped remarkable improvisational skills at a very young age.

Aldo López-Gavilán has an active international career, performing as soloist and in ensemblesthroughout the world. In 2006 the conductor Claudio Abbado invited him to perform as a concertosoloist in a concert honoring the 250th anniversary of Mozart’s birth, and in 2007 he performedProkofiev’s First Piano Concerto with Abbado in Caracas and Havana. In 2012 he made his debutat Carnegie Hall in the concert “Voces de Latino América.”

Aldo’s seven CDs reflect the breadth of his repertoire, which ranges from classical to jazz andincludes many of his own compositions and improvisations. His first CD won the 2000 Grand Prixat Cubadisco, and he was included in the DVD set Cuban Pianists: The History of Latin Jazz.

• • •

name “Interlude,” Dizzy Gillespie and his Sextet recorded it for Victor in 1946, a 78 rpm discthat in 2004 was added to the Grammy Hall of Fame. It is currently available on severalhundred recordings, adapted and arranged for every conceivable combination of instrumentsand voices. In his memoir “To Be or Not to Bop,” Dizzy Gillespie explained the origin of themusical idea. Sitting at the piano, he noticed that the notes of chord progressions he wasimprovising created a melody with a Latin, or oriental, feel. Playing it with a bebop rhythmcreated “a mixture with a kind of syncopation in the bass line,” different from the regularfour-beat bass. He subsequently referred to it as an “anthem to bebop, ” which introducedAfro-Cuban rhythms into American jazz.

THE GIRL FROM IPANEMAAntônio Carlos Jobim (b. Rio de Janeiro, January 25, 1927; d. New York City, December 8, 1994) /Arr. Dave Glenn

Composed 1962

In 1962 the composer Antônio Carlos Jobim and his friend, the poet Vinicius de Moraes, created a song for the musical theater piece Blimp, a work that they were creating in theirhome city, Rio de Janeiro. Originally titled “The Girl Who Passes By,” the samba became oneof the most-performed, most-recorded popular songs in the history of the genre. Eventually,the original Portuguese lyrics were supplemented for international purposes by NormanGimbel’s English lyrics, so that the tall and tan, young and lovely Girl from Ipanema wassoon “passing by” her fans all over the world. By one estimate, the song has been recordedca. 250 times. Although its popularity made “Tom” Jobim’s name familiar in internationalhouseholds, his work as a prolific composer, arranger, singer, pianist, guitarist, performer,and recording artist would have stood alone, even without his famous Girl, as one of themost extraordinary bodies of musical endeavors in the twentieth century.

TAKE THE “A” TRAINBilly Strayhorn (b. Dayton, Ohio, November 19, 1915; d. New York City, May 31, 1967)/Arr. Paul Chihara (b. Seattle, 1938)Composed in 1939

In September 2007 the Harlem Quartet released its first CD, entitled “Take the ‘A’ Train.”The title track features an arrangement by Paul Chihara of the famous Duke Ellingtontheme song composed by Billy Strayhorn.

In this energized four-minute piece, a diverse world comes together: the African-Americancomposer Billy Strayhorn, who wrote so many famous compositions for the Duke Ellingtonorchestras; the Japanese-American composer and arranger Paul Chihara, who has createdsoundtracks for countless cinema and television films; and the Harlem Quartet, whosestated purpose is “to advance diversity in classical music while engaging young and newaudiences through the discovery and presentation of varied repertoire, highlighting worksby minority composers.”

35TH SEASON | ROCKPORT MUSIC :: 71

The Brazilian songwriterAntônio Carlos Jobim, alsoknown as Tom Jobim, was aprolific composer, arranger,singer, pianist, guitarist,performer, and recordingartist.

Take the “A” Train, theHarlem Quartet’s first CD(White Pine Music), featuresthe title song.

The composer and pianist Aldo López-Gavilán has provided commentary for the final fourpieces on the program.

EPÍLOGO Aldo López-GavilánComposed before 2009; 7 minutes

From the DVD Más allá del Ocaso [Beyond the sunset]: “Epílogo” was originally written for solopiano, solo clarinet, and orchestra. The central theme explores a dream-like lyricism, highlymodulatory, as well as a triumphant musical gesture reminiscent of “Nueva Trova,” a stylepioneered and made famous by troubadour singers Silvio Rodriguez and Pablo Milanés. Italso showcases Aldo López-Gavilán’s characteristic canon in the development section,where all instruments stagger a rhythmic figure that constructs a sonic kaleidoscope.

TALKING TO THE UNIVERSE Aldo López-GavilánComposed before 2009; 7 minutes

From the DVD Más allá del Ocaso [Beyond the sunset]: “Talking to the Universe” has gonethrough several transformations from piano solo to piano jazz band to piano jazz band withorchestra. The quintet version captures the intimate and yearning quality of a person sendinga message in a bottle out to the vast universe, as well as the vibrancy and wholeness offeeling in union with the cosmos. It culminates in a complex and exhilarating counterpointof gradually increasing energy as preparation for launching out of planet earth.

ECLIPSEAldo López-GavilánComposed before 2009; 4 minutes

From the DVD Más allá del Ocaso [Beyond the sunset]: Originally written for violin and piano,“Eclipse” is a personal piece that expresses great vulnerability. It was written for Aldo’s brotherIlmar, addressing the emotional toll taken by the involuntary separation of the two brothersdue to political circumstances, as Ilmar went to the United States, while Aldo remainedin Cuba.

PAN CON TIMBAAldo López-GavilánComposed before 2014; 4 minutes

From Aldo López-Gavilán’s most recent (2014) CD, De todos los colores y tambien verde[About all the colors, and green, too]: “Pan con Timba” is a quintessential Cuban piece, joyfuland contagiously optimistic. The title means “bread with unknown something,” classicpost-Cuban revolution humor, as the younger generation, instead of indulging in self-pity,embraced humor as a psychologically uplifting device to deal with the scarcities of theirlives. This humor is now a staple, an essential component, of the current Cuban identity.The piece features many types of “Cuban tumbao”—a reiterative rhythmic pattern—andintertwined elements derived from popular contemporary Cuban dances.

Notes on the

program

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Aldo López-Gavilán’s seventh, and most recentCD (2014) isDe todoslos colores y tambienverde [About all the colors,and green, too]