The CD:
Musicians: Robert Irving III (p, v); Laurence D'Estival Irving (as); Scott Hesse (g); Rajiv Halim (ss, f); Irvin Pierce (ts); Emma Dayhuff (ab, v); Charles 'Rick' Heat IV (d)
Tracks:
1 Poznan Dream 9:46 Theme melody is from a dream on 11/27/11 while at the Made In Chicago Jazz Festival in Poznan Poland. In my dream, I played the melody on a tree trunk from which sound emanated.
2 Generations 6:18 Main theme is also from a dream during 2014 and the tune was developed as the band’s theme song with a contemporary groove.
3 Energy 8:06 This title speaks of the fact that all is energy in different configurations. Bridge with successive bars of 6/8 and 7/8 was influenced by my work with Indian percussionist, Badal Roy, a fellow Miles Davis alum.
4 Aurora Australis (Interlude) 0:48 The title alludes to the “other” or southern aurora that we don’t often hear about. My poem is a parody on popular culture juxtaposed with a commentary on the plight of Australian Aboriginals.
5 Our Space In Time 6:34 It is estimated that 108 billion members of the human race (the only race) have occupied the earth since the beginning of time. Although, we only celebrate those that created something memorable. The title track is about the opportunity and obligation of contemporary humanity to leave something of lasting value for the generations to come. The main melody is from a dream of a big party in Paris attended by many of my musician friends. I make my "singing" debut on this track, "What we gonna do with our space in time..." joined by my wife Laurence d'Estival Irving with French spoken word, which translates, "What else is possible and how does it get better than this?" Bassist Emma Dayhuff sings the chorus melody, "How can you choose in the moment how to play it, what to say, when all that matters, is what comes from the heart; and when the stories end, who will even know you ever existed, if you didn't make a difference; now's the time to start: ("to figure out exactly what your contribution will be... in our space in time.").
6 Roads Less Traveled 6:35 I wanted to compose a modern jazz piece that broke boundaries with free jazz elements, however, “arranged and orchestrated”. I think of the passage just prior to the refrain as a “space tango”.
7 Octobre 10:54 This tune was inspired by autumn colors and melancholy experienced during trip to France and train ride through Brussels on the the way to a festival in Maastricht in the Netherlands during the month of my birth: Octorbre (French spelling).
8 Maat 10:42 Matt is the Ancient Egyptian concept of balance, truth order and morality as personified by the goddess of that name. The composition draws from the many rhythmic influences of the region as it moves between Latin, swing and African grooves.
9 Amor Incondicional (Interlude) 0:57 Melodic theme inspired by my love for Brazilian music. The full version will be released on the next Generations project.
10 Every Today 13:44 Title is based on the notion that in some indigenous African cultures, there is no word or concept for “yesterday” or “tomorrow” as all is one continuous today. All time is now, in 6/4! All songs composed and arranged by Robert Irving III Copyright © 2015 Vitasia Music Publishing Co./BMI
Notes of Robert Irving III:
Robert Irving III, known as the longest collaborating composer,
producer, pianist and musical director for the legendary Miles Davis
bands of the 1980’s, has released his third album as a bandleader,“Our
Space In Time” on the newly revamped Sonic Portraits
Jazz imprint. Irving says, “The brilliant idea of my wife, Laurence
d’Estival Irving to create a band with my young mentees from the Jazz
Institute mentoring program, espouses the notion of an ancient future
as we jazz musicians look back to find inspiration to move forward.” In
2014 as Irving planed his annual Miles Davis birthday commemoration
performance in Chicago, his wife implored him, “Just as Dizzy mentored
Miles and Miles mentored you, likewise, you must start utilizing the
young musicians you’ve been mentoring to make them a part of your
live performance groups.”
The first evolution of Robert Irving III- Generations featured an
exceptional young trumpet player, Barrett Harmon with Laurence
d’Estival Irving on alto sax and Irving’s 20-year old mentee, Irvin
Pierce on tenor saxophone with Bob Davis on guitar, Emma Dayhuff
on bass/vocals and Irving’s cousin, Charles “Rick” Heath IV on
drums. When Harmon damaged his lip, Irving decided to replace him
with a third woodwind player, who is also his Jazz Institute mentee, 25-
year old, Rajiv Halim on soprano saxophone and flute. Irving
explains, “I played trombone and other brass instruments in gradeschool
and high school, but I always had a passion for the sound of
woodwind ensembles.” Scott Hesse eventually joined the band on
guitar.
Although the band began with Miles Davis repertoire composed and/or
arranged by Irving, it soon evolved into a vehicle for Irving’s new
compositions created specifically for the group. Irving observes, “In
jazz, there are creators of the music and there are interpreters of those
creations. From the beginning my attraction has always been to the
former class, although, somehow, through years of integration of
lessons learned; I developed my own voice as a interpreter that has
become commensurate with my esthetic as a composer and arranger.”
The new CD features ten original compositions by Irving with four
originating from dreams. One of those is the title track, Our Space in
Time, which Irving says, “is about contemporary humanity’s opportunity
and obligation to create something of value for future generations. “In
my value creation process, I personally look back to Wayne Shorter as
a composer, Gil Evans as an arranger and Miles Davis as a stylist and
extraordinary bandleader. My forward looking is, confidently, towards
the gifted young musicians in this band.”
Group Biographical Sketch
Irving’s wife, alto saxophonist, Laurence d’Estival Irving, a native of
Paris, France, has performed with Archie Shepp, David Murray, Roy
Ayers, George Clinton, Fred Wesley and Pee Wee Ellis. Charles “Rick”
Heath IV is also currently the drummer for the Ramsey Lewis Group
and played the show The Color Purple. Bassist, Emma Dayhuff is a
recording engineer and producer of recordings for the Chicago
Symphony Orchestra in addition to being in high demand across genres
from jazz to country music. Guitarist, Scott Hesse is a music educator
who has performed internationally with Dee Alexander’s Evolution
Ensemble, Stafford James String Ensemble and the Victor Garcia
Organ Group. Rajiv Halim and Irvin Pierce are both leading their own
groups as highly recognized ‘young jazz lions’ who have been
compared to Cannonball Adderley and John Coltrane respectively
Although All Music Guide (allmusic.com) credits Irving as a
contributor on 97 album projects (26 of those as a producer),
“Our Space In Time” is only his third official outing as a
bandleader. The release is on the newly revived Sonic Portraits
label that is now rebranded as Sonic Portraits Jazz. The label
originally launched in 2007 with the release of Irving’s trio
project entitled, “New Momentum” that featured Buster Williams
on bass and Yuseff Ernie Adams on drums with appearances by
Marlene Rosenberg produced by drummer Terri Lyne
Carrington.
During the interim period, in 2009, Irving was commissioned by
the Jazz Institute of Chicago and the Chicago Department of
Cultural Affairs to create the orchestral suite, “Sketches of
Brazil,” which was premiered at Millennium Park in Chicago
with a 34-piece orchestra featuring trumpeter, Wallace Roney
and Fareed Haque on classical guitar to a crowd of 12,500 with
three standing ovations; but there was no commercial recording.
The piece was created in homage to Irving’s mentors, Gil Evans
and Miles Davis on the 50th anniversary of the pair’s Sketches
Of Spain recording. Irving hopes to remount this project in 2016
around the Brazilian Olympic games for subsequent release on
the newly re-formed Sonic Portraits Jazz label. Irving adds,
“2016 is also the 30th anniversary of my first trip to Brazil in
1986 with the Miles Davis Band.”
In 2011 Chicago bassist, Frank Russell released his second
solo project, “Circle Without End” on the Sonic Portraits imprint.
There are plans for several subsequent releases including the
third CD of Irving’s wife, Laurence d’Estival Irving, “No Limit”
and a live album project from the Irving couple’s collaboration
with French musicians bassist, Joachim Florent and drummer,
Dennis Fournier along with special guests, saxophonist, Ari
Brown and guitarist Jeff Parker in a program of spontaneously
created music recorded at PianoForte studios in November
2014 as a part of “The Bridge” project that fosters collaborations
between creative musicians from France and Chicago. Irving
also plans to re-release a remastered version of his 1988 debut
album “Midnight Dream” on the label along with a third Frank
Russell CD project now in production. Irving adds, “there are
several other releases being contemplated including a second
Generations recording.”
The band Robert Irving III Generations celebrated their oneyear
anniversary with a recent performance at the 37th
Chicago Jazz Festival. Prior to this the band had a pivotal twomonth
run every Tuesday night during March-April at Andy’s
Jazz Club in downtown Chicago. Irving notes, “This
engagement gave us the opportunity to expand our repertoire of
original compositions to 14 tunes. It also gave us a chance to
assess the audience response to new and unfamiliar music prior
to recording.” Building on this, the group continued to perform
club dates and large neighborhood festivals leading up to their
Chicago Jazz Festival debut on Labor Day weekend before an
audience of 5,000 fans. Irving says, “Someone came up to me
after that performance; as with almost every performance
and said,
‘I was blessed by the music.’ This is not something that
I would normally expect to hear about a jazz concert.
However, I think that because a large amount of the
music came from dreams and because we tune at A432
hertz; (and not the standard A440), there is something
otherworldly about our sound that people can feel on a
deep level. Some refer to what we do as being jazz
church.” Guitarist, Scott Hesse notes, “When people
hear this music there is a real connection that is made
and from the band’s point of view, what you really want,
is to connect with people.”
Irving’s wife and band co-founder, Laurence d’Estival
Irving says, “The band has accomplished a lot in one
year with 18- performances, a successful crowd-funding
campaign for our CD project and the Chicago Jazz
Festival engagement.” For her, all of this is full circle
from her childhood in Paris, France. She was 14
years-old when her mother purchased the album
“Decoy” by Miles Davis, with music composed and
produced by Robert Irving III. She recalls, “I heard
this album on a daily basis until the vinyl literally wore
out. The cosmic sound of this music inspired me to learn
the saxophone with the goal of playing with Miles Davis.”
She and Irving met about 12-years later during a David
Murray workshop in Paris in 1995, which also traveled to
Senegal the following year. Just after this, young Ms.
d’Estival spent three-months in Chicago working with
Irving’s bands, School of Cool and the African Arts
Ensemble in 1996. They remained close friends and
collaborators over the next 15-years. While in Chicago
in 2012 to mix her new album, Ms. d’Estival and Irving
realized they were both free and available at the same
time and decided to get married. Irving says, “For me,
our story is reminiscent of the love affair between Miles
Davis and French singer, Juliette Gréco when he was 22
years old… only our story eventually progressed to the
happy ending.” The band Robert Irving III-Generations is
pursuing 2016 festivals in France to continue extension
of that full circle and add some chapters to the story.
Enjoy this video of Robert Irving III-Generations in the recent Chicago Jazz Festival
www.facebook.com/robertirving3generations/ sonicportraitsjazz.com
Kate Smith Promotions
www.katesmithpromotions.com katesmithpromotions.kate@gmail.com
jazzglobalbeat@gmail.com
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