George E. Lewis Explained

George E. Lewis
Background:non_vocal_instrumentalist
Birth Date:1952 7, mf=yes
Birth Place:Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Genre:Experimental, contemporary classical, avant-garde jazz, computer music
Occupation:Musician, composer, professor
Label:Sackville, Charly, Black Saint, Soul Note, Avant, Music & Arts, Pi, Incus, Tzadik
Associated Acts:AACM, John Zorn, Anthony Braxton, ICP Orchestra, Musica Elettronica Viva, Globe Unity Orchestra

George Emanuel Lewis (born July 14, 1952) is an American composer, performer, and scholar of experimental music.[1] He has been a member of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) since 1971, when he joined the organization at the age of 19.[2] He is renowned for his work as an improvising trombonist and considered a pioneer of computer music, which he began pursuing in the late 1970s; in the 1980s he created Voyager, an improvising software he has used in interactive performances. Lewis's many honors include a MacArthur Fellowship and a Guggenheim Fellowship,[3] and his book A Power Stronger Than Itself: The AACM and American Experimental Music[4] received the American Book Award. Lewis is the Edwin H. Case Professor of American Music, Composition & Historical Musicology at Columbia University.[5]

Early life

Lewis was born July 14, 1952, in Chicago, Illinois.[6] Lewis's father, George Thomas Lewis, was a postal worker who studied electronics under the GI Bill and had a deep love of jazz music; his mother, Cornelia Griffith Lewis, liked blues, soul, and R&B singers.

Lewis began his education at a public elementary school, but he was one of many Black students who could only attend half-days, allegedly to relieve "overcrowding"; this was widely understood to be an excuse to enforce de facto segregation under superintendent Benjamin Willis, whose policies led to the 1963 Chicago Public Schools boycott.[7] An African American teacher convinced Lewis's parents to enroll him at the University of Chicago Laboratory School, where he started classes at age 9. Lewis attended the Lab School from 1961 until his graduation in 1969.[8]

His parents wanted him to learn an instrument as a way to make friends, and Lewis chose the trombone, which was paid for in monthly installments. He played in the school orchestra and concert band, took private lessons from University of Chicago graduate students, and as a teenager joined the school's new jazz band, run by jazz historian Frank Tirro (then working on his PhD) and Dean Hey. In the late 1960s, classmate Ray Anderson took Lewis to hear Fred Anderson at an AACM concert, and Lewis first heard the Art Ensemble of Chicago at another concert on his high school campus.

Education and joining the AACM

Lewis was accepted to Yale University in 1969, and at age 17 began his studies in prelaw. He also took music theory classes and met a number of artists in the community, but began to lose interest in school after his sophomore year and decided to take a break.

In 1971, during his time off in Chicago, Lewis heard some musicians practicing together near his parents' house; he introduced himself, and met Muhal Richard Abrams, John Shenoy Jackson, Steve Galloway, and Pete Cosey. Lewis was invited to check out a show at the Pumpkin Room, but misunderstood the invitation and brought his trombone; they let him play anyway, as part of a group that also included Joseph Jarman, Kalaparusha, and Steve McCall. Lewis worried about his performance, but McCall invited him to play another concert; at rehearsal, he was introduced to Roscoe Mitchell, Malachi Favors, Sabu Toyozumi, Aaron Dodd, and Douglas Ewart. Lewis became more involved with the AACM, and Jackson encouraged him to apply to join the group. After his acceptance, Lewis was voted reading secretary and began taking minutes at weekly meetings. Lewis regularly played late gigs with the Muhal Richard Abrams Big Band during his year off, and in the daytime held a United Steelworkers union job at Illinois Slag and Ballast Company.

Lewis returned to Yale in 1972, just as the university began its Duke Ellington Fellowship Program; artists brought to campus during Lewis's remaining years included Duke Ellington, Charles Mingus, Max Roach, Dizzy Gillespie, William Warfield, Papa Jo Jones, Willie "The Lion" Smith, Marion Williams, Tony Williams, and Slam Stewart. Lewis met many more musicians among Yale's students, faculty, and others living near New Haven such as Wadada Leo Smith, who began visiting Lewis early in the morning before his classes.

Lewis graduated from Yale in 1974 with a degree in philosophy.

Career

In 1976, Lewis released Solo Trombone Record to great acclaim.[9]

Lewis has long been active in creating and performing with interactive computer systems, most notably his software Voyager, which "listens" and reacts to live performers.

Lewis has recorded or performed with Anthony Braxton, Anthony Davis, Bertram Turetzky, Conny Bauer, Count Basie, David Behrman, David Murray, Derek Bailey, Douglas Ewart, Alfred Harth, Evan Parker, Fred Anderson, Frederic Rzewski, Gil Evans, Han Bennink, Irène Schweizer, J. D. Parran, James Newton, Joel Ryan, Joëlle Léandre, John Zorn, Karl E. H. Seigfried, Laurie Anderson, Leroy Jenkins, Marina Rosenfeld, Michel Portal, Misha Mengelberg, Miya Masaoka, Muhal Richard Abrams, Nicole Mitchell, Richard Teitelbaum, Roscoe Mitchell, Sam Rivers, Steve Lacy, and Wadada Leo Smith, as well as Frederic Rzewski and Alvin Curran's Musica Elettronica Viva[10] and the Globe Unity Orchestra and the ICP Orchestra (Instant Composer's Pool).[11]

In the 1980s, Lewis succeeded Rhys Chatham as the music director of The Kitchen.[12]

From 1988-1990, Lewis collaborated with video artist Don Ritter to create performances of interactive music and interactive video controlled by Lewis's improvised trombone.[13]

In 1992, Lewis collaborated with Canadian artist Stan Douglas on the video installation Hors-champs, featuring Lewis in an improvisation of Albert Ayler's "Spirits Rejoice" with musicians Douglas Ewart, Kent Carter and Oliver Johnson; the installation was featured at documenta 9 in Kassel, Germany.[14]

Since 2004, he has served as Edward H. Case Professor of American Music at Columbia University in New York City. He previously taught at the University of California, San Diego.[15]

Lewis is featured extensively in Unyazi of the Bushveld (2005), directed by Aryan Kaganof,[16] a documentary about the first symposium of electronic music held in Africa.[17] Lewis gave an invited keynote lecture and performance at NIME-06, the sixth international conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression, which was held at IRCAM, Paris, in June 2006.[18]

His work "Morning Blues for Yvan" was featured on the compilation album (Bridge Records), produced by Mendi + Keith Obadike.

In 2008, Lewis published a book-length history of the AACM titled A Power Stronger Than Itself: The AACM and American Experimental Music (University of Chicago Press).[19] Lewis later wrote an opera based on the book, titling it Afterword: The AACM (as) Opera; the work premiered at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago in 2015.[20]

In April 2022, the International Contemporary Ensemble announced the appointment of Lewis as its next artistic director, effective April 2022.[21]

Honors and awards

In 2002, Lewis received a MacArthur Fellowship. His many honors also include a Guggenheim Fellowship (2015), a United States Artists Fellowship (2011), the Alpert Award in the Arts (1999), and the American Musicological Society's Music in American Culture Award in 2009. He became a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2015, a Corresponding Fellow of the British Academy in 2016, and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 2018. Lewis has received four honorary degrees: Doctor of Music from the University of Edinburgh in 2015, Doctor of Humane Letters from New College of Florida in 2017, Doctor of Music from Harvard University in 2018, and Doctor of Music from the University of Pennsylvania in 2022.[22] [23]

His monograph A Power Stronger Than Itself: The AACM and American Experimental Music received the 2009 American Book Award.

Discography

As sole leader

Released Album Title Label Personnel Rec.
1976Solo Trombone RecordSackvilleLewis (trombone)[24] 1976
1978Monads-Triple Slow Mix-Cycle-Shadowgraph, 5 (Sextet)Black SaintLewis (alto and tenor trombones, sousaphone, Moog synthesizer, sound-tube), Anthony Davis, Douglas Ewart, Leroy Jenkins, Roscoe Mitchell, Adbul Wadud, Muhal Richard Abrams[25] 1977
1979Homage to Charles ParkerBlack SaintLewis (trombone, electronics), Ewart, Davis, Richard Teitelbaum1979
1981Chicago Slow DanceLovelyLewis (electronics, trombones), Ewart, J.D. Parran, Teitelbaum[26] 1977
1993VoyagerAvantLewis (trombone, computer, compositions), Roscoe Mitchell[27] 1993
1993Changing With the TimesNew WorldLewis (trombone), Daniel Koppelman, Ruth Neville, Jerome Rothenberg, Ewart, Jeannie Cheatham, Bernard Mixon, Peter Gonzales III, Mary Oliver, Quincy Troupe[28] 1993
2000Endless ShoutTzadikLewis (computer, conductor, trombone), Sarah Cahill, Steven Schick, Quincy Troupe, and the NOW Orchestra[29] [30] 1995–1997
2001The Shadowgraph Series: Compositions for Creative OrchestraSpoolLewis (trombone, conductor, compositions) / The NOW Orchestra[31] 1999
2006Sequel (For Lester Bowie)IntaktLewis (trombone, laptop, Buchla Lightning, compositions), Siegfried Rössert, Guillermo E. Brown, Jeff Parker, Kaffe Matthews, Miya Masaoka, DJ Mutamassik[32] 2004
2011George Lewis: Les Exercices SpirituelsTzadikLewis (compositions, live electronic processing, live electronics and spatialization performance) with large ensembles (Ensemble Erik Satie, Wet Ink, Vancouver Olympiad)[33] [34] 2008–2010
2020Rainbow Family (1984)CarrierLewis (computer programming, hardware hacking), Ewart, Joëlle Léandre, Derek Bailey, Steve Lacy[35] 1984
2021The Recombinant TrilogyNew FocusWorks for solo instrument and electronics: Claire Chase & Levy Lorenzo, Seth Parker Woods, Dana Jessen & Eli Stine, software by Damon Holzborn[36] 2016–2020

As co-leader

Organized by year of release; year(s) of recording noted if known to be earlier.

As sideman

Organized by year of release; year(s) of recording noted if known to be earlier.

With Muhal Richard Abrams

With Anthony Braxton

With Anthony Davis

With Gil Evans

With Globe Unity Orchestra

With ICP Orchestra

With Steve Lacy

With Roscoe Mitchell

With David Murray

With Richard Teitelbaum

With others

Compositions

Solo and chamber music

Electronics

Installations

Interactive computer music

Music Theatre

Creative orchestra

Graphic and instructional scores

Books and articles

Monographs

Edited collections

Articles and book chapters

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: George E. Lewis . MacArthur Foundation . 4 July 2021.
  2. Web site: Schinto . Jeanne . George Lewis, 20th Century musician at UCSD . San Diego Reader . 4 July 2021 . 19 April 2001.
  3. Web site: George E. Lewis . John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation . 4 July 2021.
  4. Book: Lewis . George E. . A Power Stronger Than Itself: The AACM and American Experimental Music . 2008 . University of Chicago Press . 9780226477039 .
  5. Web site: George E. Lewis . The Department of Music at Columbia University . 22 April 2016 . 4 July 2021.
  6. Web site: Wriggle . John . Lewis, George . Oxford African American Studies Center . 22 March 2023 . 2013. 10.1093/acref/9780195301731.013.37354 . 978-0-19-530173-1 .
  7. News: Strauss . Valerie . Fifty years ago today, the school boycott that rocked Chicago . The Washington Post . 22 March 2023 . 22 October 2013.
  8. Web site: George E. Lewis . The HistoryMakers . 4 July 2021 . 24 October 2016.
  9. Web site: Palmer . Robert . The New Intimacy Of Solo Jazz . The New York Times . 4 July 2021 . 2 October 1977.
  10. Web site: Robin . William . Frederic Rzewski, Politically Committed Composer and Pianist, Dies at 83 . The New York Times . 4 July 2021 . 27 June 2021.
  11. Web site: [{{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p10815|pure_url=yes}} ICP Orchestra ]. Allmusic . Joslyn . Layne . 2007-10-03.
  12. Web site: Hunter . Trevor . George E. Lewis—The Story's Being Told . NewMusicBox.org . 2010-06-01 . 2014-07-26.
  13. Web site: Don Ritter Biography . Aesthetic-machinery.com . 2014-07-26.
  14. Book: Gale . Peggy . Gale . Peggy . Steele . Lisa . VIDEO Re/VIEW: The (best) Source for Critical Writings on Canadian Artists' Video . 1996 . Art Metropole . Toronto . 0920956378 . 363 . "Stan Douglas: Evening and others.". 35330872 .
  15. Web site: Sutro . Dirk . UC San Diego Composer Rand Steiger Wins 2015 Guggenheim Fellowship . UC San Diego News Center . 2015-04-30 . 4 July 2021.
  16. Web site: Lewis . George E. . Recharging Unyazi 2005 . Herri . Africa Open Institute . 4 July 2021.
  17. Web site: UNYAZI Electronic Music Symposium and Festival 2005 . Art Africa Magazine . December 2005 . 4 July 2021.
  18. Web site: NIME 06 Session Program . NIME . 4 July 2021.
  19. Web site: Chinen . Nate . A New Book Assesses the Four-Decade Legacy of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians . The New York Times . 4 July 2021 . 2 May 2008.
  20. Web site: Gottschalk . Kurt . The Creative Constructions of George Lewis . Musicworks . 7 February 2023.
  21. News: Outspoken Composer to Lead International Contemporary Ensemble . The New York Times . Javier C. Hernández . 2022-04-08 . 2022-04-18.
  22. Web site: Harvard awards seven honorary degrees. News.harvard.edu. May 24, 2018.
  23. Web site: Penn's 2022 Commencement Speaker and Honorary Degree Recipients. 2022-05-30 .
  24. Web site: Margasak . Peter . The daring debut album of AACM historian George Lewis gets reissued . Chicago Reader . 26 August 2021 . 30 October 2015.
  25. Web site: Swed . Mark . Why George Lewis' revolutionary 'Shadowgraph, 5' can last 3 minutes or 4 hours . The Los Angeles Times . 26 August 2021 . 19 August 2020.
  26. Web site: Rockwell . John . The African Influence on Pop and Jazz Musicians . The New York Times . 23 March 2023 . 1 March 1981.
  27. Web site: Steinbeck . Paul . Listening to Voyager . PaulSteinbeck.com . 23 March 2023.
  28. Web site: George Lewis: Changing With the Times . DRAM . 23 March 2023.
  29. Web site: George Lewis: Endless Shout . AllMusic.com . 23 March 2023.
  30. Web site: George Lewis : Endless Shout . Tzadik . 23 March 2023.
  31. Web site: The Shadowgraph Series: Compositions for Creative Orchestra . NOW Society . 20 November 2008 . 23 March 2023.
  32. Web site: Sequel (For Lester Bowie) . All About Jazz . 23 March 2023.
  33. Banfield . William C. . George Lewis, Les Exercices Spirituels. Tzadik Records TZA 8081CD, 2011. . Journal of the Society for American Music . November 2012 . 6 . 4 . 493–494 . 10.1017/S1752196312000405 . 193098793 . 23 March 2023.
  34. Web site: George Lewis : Les Exercices Spirituels . Tzadik . 23 March 2023.
  35. Web site: Broomer . Stuart . Atelier George Lewis: Rainbow Family 1984 - George Lewis; Joëlle Léandre; Derek Bailey; Steve Lacy . The WholeNote . 7 February 2023 . 5 February 2021.
  36. Web site: DeGroot . Jillian . George Lewis' The Recombinant Trilogy Reimagines the Boundaries of Experimental Music . I Care If You Listen . 23 March 2023 . 22 February 2021.
  37. Web site: George Lewis: Album Discography . AllMusic. 10 January 2017.
  38. Web site: Joëlle Léandre / Pauline Oliveros / George Lewis - Play As You Go (Trost, 2021) ***** . Free Jazz Collective . 7 February 2023 . 13 September 2021.
  39. Web site: Scott Yanow . Live at the Public Theater in New York, Vol. 1 - Gil Evans | Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards . . 2014-07-26.
  40. News: BBCSSO/Volkov review – brisk and beautiful Beethoven but Lewis premiere is hard to like . The Guardian . Tim Ashley . 2021-08-27 . 2022-04-18.

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