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Marcus Shelby brings 'MLK' to Half Moon Bay
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Marcus Shelby is among Northern California’s in-demand bass players and most gifted composers. Both attributes will shine Sunday as Shelby’s Jazz Orchestra performs at Half Moon Bay’s Bach Dynamite and Dancing Society.
The performance starts at 4:30 p.m. at Douglas Beach House on Miramar Beach and features music from Shelby’s “MLK,” a jazz oratorio inspired by the life of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., and the recently commissioned “Calvin Jones Suite,” inspired by the Chicago painter and muralist. Topping it off will be works by Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn.
Here's what Shelby told me over the summer about his work.
Question: The place to start this is to ask you to discuss "MLK's" structure. What will we hear?
Shelby: What the audience will hear … is a work-in-progress of a new oratorio I've been composing called "MLK." The title "MLK and Jazz" is the name of a workshop that I conduct that combines the history of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the freedom songs and spirituals that were so critical to the success of the Civil Rights Movement and a study of select jazz compositions that were written in response to the Civil Rights Movement.
I have written original music about MLK that chronicles his journey from the Montgomery bus boycott until his untimely death on April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tenn. I have also re-arranged various freedom songs and spirituals that were born during the Civil Rights Movement and used – as King said – as the "soul of the movement." Finally, I have re-arranged select jazz compositions, such as Charles Mingus' "Fables of Faubus" that were a direct artistic and musical statement against the injustices of Jim Crow and segregation.
All of this music is written, arranged and orchestrated for my 15-piece jazz orchestra and four singers – Faye Carol, Kenny Washington, Jeannine Anderson, and Nicolas Bearde. I have created a musical narrative that incorporates these three rails to tell the story.
Question: You have experience melding jazz and African-American historical figures/events. As you see it, what are the challenges in that process?
Shelby: The challenge in chronicling these figures and events in music is always in deciding how much material to deal with. The approach I have followed always begins with a meticulous and exhausting period of research. With "MLK," I am in my second year of research, which has included once again having the opportunity to consult with the editor of the book "The Autobiography of Martin Luther King Jr.," Clayborne Carson, which was an initial inspiration on composing this piece. From that book, I have embarked on researching all of the various aspects of the Civil Rights Movement from the Montgomery bus boycott and Rosa Parks to … the Chicago Freedom Campaign (I'm currently in residence for a month with the Black Metropolis Research Consortium at Chicago University and the Columbia Black Music Research Center researching this movement).
So, as I pointed out, the challenge is organizing this massive amount of history and condensing it to a refined musical narrative, including all of the characters that are involved. Once I have an understanding of the story and a personal connection to the arc of this history, creating music has always been the easy part.
Question: MLK said this in 1964: “Modern jazz has continued in this tradition, singing the songs of a more complicated urban existence. When life itself offers no order and meaning, the musician creates an order and meaning from the sounds of the earth which flow through his instrument.” Is that what you are trying to do with these historical-themed works, create order and meaning?
Shelby: What I am trying to do with my historical-themed work is celebrate my history through music. I'm not bold enough to say that I can create order or meaning out of any of this. In fact, in most cases I choose these stories so that I can learn more about who I am. In doing so, I learn about those who came before me to make America live up to its promise of life, liberty, and justice for all.
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