this is not the answer.
(recorded live 07.14.2010 at the Brooklyn Lyceum)
the Musicians:
ks
patrick cornelius
david dejesus
samuel ryder
andrew gutauskas
david richards
daniel urness
michael gorham
jonathan powell
philip dizack
benjamin griffin
barbara hamilton
matthew wright
max seigel
nathan hetherington
seth fruiterman
chris dingman
michael macallister
aaron kotler
joshua paris
will clark
Program Notes (by the composer):
this is not the answer is a four movement, through-composed symphonic work composed exclusively for the Awakening Orchestra. Programmatic on several levels, it is at its heart about frustration: outwardly, with a political structure no longer capable of serving its purpose; culturally, in response to a trend in the American arts (and specifically jazz) which continually and maliciously undermines the art which it presumes to serve; inwardly, well, that's not the reader's business.
It is absolutely essential to note that although this is not the answer is outwardly a political work dealing specifically and confrontationally with the American bureaucracy, it does not take sides. Equally disgusted with all factions, the real focus of the composition is the notion that our political structure has reached a point where the words 'Republican' and 'Democratic' are now mutually exclusive with the word 'American', and as such, has officially failed.
On a secondary level, American art music has now reached a point where it has been so abandoned by its major patrons that it can not hope to regain its prominence through what we view as conventional means. No longer able to rely on even the lip service support of the governmental bodies traditionally seen as crucial for its sustenance, and with the deadly combination of an aging and dying audience and insufficient education to be creating a new generation of listeners, we see a classical music world beginning to figure out alternatives while the organized Jazz world turns its hopes to a collection of smoke and mirrors that has appointed itself our royal pantheon in most self-righteous, indulgent, and undemocratic fashion. Jazz must find its feet through alternative means, as contemporary classical music is just now beginning to, or risk being demolished by the very institutions purporting to be saving it.
Also essential to note that this is not the answer, while expressing frustration, proposes no solutions, and makes no attempt to disguise this or apologize for it.
-ks
