BRATTLEBORO — The Vermont Jazz Center presents Eugene Uman's Convergence Project on Saturday, June 9, at 8 p.m.
Uman, the director of the VJC, uses the Convergence Project as a vehicle to present his original compositions and music that has influenced him.
It includes Wanda Houston, vocals; Michael Zsoldos, saxophones; Jeff Galindo, trombone; Uman, piano; David Picchi, bass (electric and acoustic); and Jon Fisher on drums. There will also be surprise musical guests performing at this event.
After many musically formative years in Colombia, Uman became drawn to blending the many rhythms of the country, such as cumbia, bambuco, and pasillo, with jazz harmonies. While living in Antioquia, the Big Band of Medellín commissioned Uman to write for their 20-piece orchestra, resulting in Blues para Urabá.
With its rousing climax using a rhythm called currulao from the Atlantic coast of Colombia, the piece is a tribute to the strength of the common people of Urabá who were, at that time, in the midst of a civil war.
After that intense experience, Uman delved even deeper into the rhythms and musical forms of his newly adopted homeland, while internalizing some of the many rhythms from the richly varied catalog of the country.
Uman returns regularly to Latin America and says in a news release that his relationship “to Colombia, its people, and their highly developed art and music will never be shaken.” His current focus, which is also the repertoire of the Convergence Project, has evolved into a personalized amalgam of jazz-influenced styles, consistently referencing Colombian rhythms, all the while giving greater voice to Uman's love of vocal jazz, bebop, rock, gospel and funk roots.
As Eugene puts it: “the music that I compose is a reflection of my accumulated experiences. It is affected by what I am currently paying attention to but is also strongly influenced by the listening and performing experiences of my formative years in rock, jazz, classical contexts.
“But probably most importantly, my writing is impacted by my observations of the natural world, emotional upheavals, current events, the sounds of where I have lives and visit and what I am studying. The syntax and language I use is primarily informed by my jazz training and by observing and analyzing other musicians.
“The beauty of this jazz language is that it is utilized in a process that gives us numerous options. The improvisational (and compositional) vocabulary is both personal and based on a historical precedent that by definition gives us permission to blend styles and express innovation. This combination of options offers me and my band mates opportunities to riff off of given frameworks and take each composition towards new and exciting directions.”
This year's concert will feature a handful of new compositions including One for the Mothers. Other new tunes are Crazy Times, a piece in 7/8 that will feature guitarist Archer Parks, as well as Snowy Day Bossa, with lyrics by Verandah Porche and Patty Carpenter.
The newest composition is When Prayers Aren't Enough, written the day after the shooting at a high school in Santa Fe, Texas. The piece attempts to serve as both an homage to the young lives lost to gun violence in schools and a plea for legislative action.
The title is directed at the comments of people in power who, “in the face of gun violence, use prayer as an empty crutch.” Uman suggests that the problem would be better managed though gun control and education and hopes that performing this composition will help to keep awareness of this dire situation in the spotlight.