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Two years ago, for the first time my wife Josephine and I toured the iconic Louvre Museum in Paris, France. Afterwards we walked the streets of Paris basking in a most unbelievable multicultural experience in this grand surrounding of a thriving cosmopolitan city. In this setting, in which history could not be lost, we stumbled upon Moreno, a guitarist, performing in the streets the great Django Reinhardt gypsy jazz style music that is now called Manouche. Here was a taste of the thriving Paris Hot Club jazz scene of the 1930’s in this modern day setting. It was the perfect juxtaposition of worlds.
When I looked at writing a hot jazz piece for the NCO, John Jorgenson, and Turtle Island, in celebration of the new Schermerhorn Symphony Center, my Paris experience leapt to mind. The iconic nature of the Louvre matching the Symphony Center and the multi-cultural worlds of John Jorgenson, Turtle Island and the NCO, building on a revitalized history.
With Groove in the Louvre I wanted immediate impact, just as entering the Schermerhorn Symphony Center for the first time captures and engages one immediately. And, I wanted to honor the tremendous and unique talents brought together through the NCO, John Jorgenson, and Turtle Island. Whereas I used a more interwoven integration of sounds in my earlier two works with the NCO, in this work, just as I felt the individuality of the heartbeat from different multicultural worlds in Paris, I wanted people to feel the gyspy swing of France, yet all three entities keeping their own identity, but mixed together in a stunning way. In essence, a conversational style with each “doing their own thing.”
I spent a lot of time transcribing John’s solos from his recordings. He plays with such elegance and clarity and with the spirit and style of Django—yet it is all John at the same time. Thus, I have a famous quote from Django in the piece, but also quotes of John as I have come to know and love his playing. Turtle Island has forged new directions for strings in the jazz world, and I wanted people to experience us “doing our thing.” The NCO is truly tops at the pulling together of styles and keeping their strong, energetic voice of the classical strings at the same time, and I wanted to capture the essence of their amazing ability to bring all styles together at such a high level.
And, with this, I wanted to share my gift for the NCO to welcome people to this wonderful new hall and to the world of this talented orchestra.
David Balakrishnan -
March, 2006
NCO Music Alive Composer-In-Residence (2005-2008)
The residency of David Balakrishnan with the NCO was made possible through Music Alive, a residency program of the American Symphony Orchestra League and Meet The Composer. This national program is designed to provide orchestras with resources and tools to support their presentation of new music to the public and build support for new music within their institutions. Funding for Music Alive is provided by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and The Aaron Copland Fund for Music.
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