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Reprising Gershwin, book review by Ray Allen Indian Concepts in the Music of John Coltrane by Carl Clements Max Roach: Bringing the (M)Boom Back by Salim Washington Women in Electronic Music, CD review by Doug Cohen |
Leroy Jenkins: Reflections
by George Lewis
Leroy Jenkins (1932-2007) Photo by Linda Harris Editor’s
note: On 13 May 2007, Saint Peter’s Church in Throughout his long and fruitful creative life, Leroy Jenkins seemed to be everywhere at once. The major improvising violinist of the twentieth century, Leroy invented the postmodern conception of the instrument. But for Leroy, mobility and range were key. Leroy produced operas, ballets, electronic and computer music, and collaborated with theater artists, writers, video artists, and choreographers. No form of creativity was foreign to him. Where did this drive to mobility come from? What were his “roots,” so to speak? Well, it all started with Uncle Buck. Leroy was the child of 1920s migrants who met in Like many migrants, Buck didn’t have train fare
anyway, so he simply hopped a freight from the little town of When Leroy was eight or nine, his auntie’s boyfriend Riley brought a violin to the house. Leroy was transfixed by the finger-busting classical marvels Riley played, and pleaded with his mother to get him a violin. Soon, a half-size, red-colored violin came from Montgomery Wards by mail order. It cost $25, which his mother paid for on credit. Leroy recalled that at first, he had “a terrible sound. I almost gave it up, but I figured I’d keep doing it and I’d sound like Riley.” Leroy was
listening to Billy Eckstine, Louis Jordan, Billie Holiday, and The Ink Spots.
But Leroy was becoming a classically trained musician in the orchestra and
the choir at Leroy attended
the historically black This was the beginning of the odyssey of Leroy
Jenkins. By 1969, he was in Paris,
where he and the first generation of AACM musicians—Joseph Jarman, Leo
Smith, Anthony Braxton, Roscoe Mitchell, Malachi Favors, Steve McCall, and
Lester Bowie—realized that their experimental music was succeeding in
an international arena. “L’école de Chicago” was breaking
all the rules. No sound was excluded and no tradition was sacrosanct, and as
audiences for the events sometimes approached rock-concert levels, Leroy
observed with his customary self-deprecating humor, “Country boys from The power of music is founded on soul-infused bodies—bodies that change, learn, grow, and decline. What musicians must do to keep both tradition and mobility alive is to work to create the conditions under which new bodies consecrate themselves to the musical act. This is one of two great gifts that Leroy gave to younger artists—Anthony Davis, James Emery, John Blake, Brandon Ross, Myra Melford, myself, and so many others. The other great gift was Leroy himself, playing the violin and bouncing around in ecstatic joy; conducting an ensemble with arms akimbo, gesturing wildly, eyes wide open, hopping on one foot; or simply excited about some new idea or sound, talking faster and faster and faster. Leroy Jenkins spent his life defending the spirit of the great musicians who realized that the absence of definite borders is the greatest strength of any music that seeks to endure as an international symbol of freedom and mobility. As Henry Threadgill told me, this kind of accomplishment requires a certain type of character. “These people kept stretching their own boundaries, in spite of adversity, and with great bulldog tenacity, have forged ahead when there was no payday, through all these years, and have not fallen by the wayside into obscurity.” These are just some of the many great lessons—of sacrifice, renewal, and triumph—that Leroy Jenkins has given us. —George Lewis ISAM home Who we
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