Sylvia Moy, 78

Sylvia Moy, Songwriter Who Worked With Stevie Wonder, Dies at 78
by Richard Sandomir, The New York Times, April 18, 2017

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And, with luck, coming to a theater near you: Stevie Wonder!

Stevie Wonder to Tour, Playing ‘Songs in the Key of Life’
by Ben Sisario, The New York Times, September 10, 2014

Jazz artist Esperanza Spalding calls for action on Guantanamo

Esperanza Spalding
(photo by Johann Sauty)

Esperanza Spalding: Guantanamo Doesn't Represent 'Our America'
by TELL ME MORE STAFF, NPR, November 22, 2013

In the key of Wonder: Robert Glasper at Harlem Stage Gatehouse

Robert Glasper

From a nightclub table at the edge of Harlem Stage Gatehouse stage, I had a revealing angle on Robert Glasper. The pianist, bent to his work, simply presented to my gaze one ear, the side of his neck, the whimsical watch cap stretched out behind his head. Facing a far corner of the stage, remaining in that humble, vulnerable position, Glasper flowed through a rippling, ringing solo he later called "I Wonder." With its layers of meditative and bluesy "voices," less driven than the sturdier, determined work of his ensemble--The Robert Glasper Experiment--and his guest performers, the solo expressed a wandering kind of wondering that eventually wends its way to clarity and serenity.

Commissioned by Harlem Stage's WaterWorks series, Robert Glasper: Songs in the Key of Life features the Grammy-nominated pianist's take on the legacy of Stevie Wonder--another artist with a profoundly expansive, eclectic musical toolbox--and it's a thoughtful show for folks who love Wonder but don't necessarily need to hear upbeat hits signed, sealed, delivered. Glasper's choices--and his guest collaborators--are quirky, soulful and sometimes soul-stirring.

Fervent r&b vocalist Eric Roberson serves as caller to the unified ensemble's ready, chugging response in the surprising opener, "Misstra Know It All," before Glasper and the band almost imperceptibly ease it into a  lilting jazz fantasia. Stokley (of the St. Paul, MN band Mint Condition) is all over "You've Got It Bad, Girl"--a song I appreciate far more for its silky instrumentation than its obnoxious lyrics--and "Rocket Love," strongly evoking not only the wonderful Wonder but Al Jarreau at the height of his powers. Lalah Hathaway's mocha voice deftly lifts "Overjoyed" beyond treacly pleading, and she makes you sit up and take notice--all you "Jesus Children of America"--that your bullshit ain't gonna cut it. But nevermind all that. Cool Mama Hathaway, with a big assist from Glasper and the band, ends up rocking us into a holy state of all-rightness. No matter where we're coming from, no matter what's going down now, it's going to be all right.

Check out Glasper's journey through Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit"--you can do that here--and you'll feel a similar sense of moving through darkness, with increasing strength and determination, to something all-embracing and reassuring. That's where Glasper--the unifier, the healer, the dedicated Knight of Cups--likes his music to take us.

The Robert Glasper Experiment includes Casey Benjamin (saxophone/keys/vocoder), Mark Colenburg (drums), Derrick Hodge (bass) with guest performers Ahmir ?uestlove Thompson (drums, Thursday only), Gregoire Maret (harmonica), Mike Moreno (guitar) and Yuki Hirano (synthesizer).

Robert Glasper: Songs in the Key of Life concludes this evening with two more 75-minute performances (7:30 and 10pm). With seating limited, nightclub-style, both shows have long sold out, but check for last-minute cancellations. For information on these shows and tonight's pre-performance discussion with Glasper (6:30pm) and after-party at Ginny's Supper Club, click here.

Follow Harlem Stage's programming here.

Harlem Stage Gatehouse
150 Convent Avenue (at 135th Street), Manhattan
(map/directions)

Leichter rocks his Joyce debut

I know a thing or two or two thousand about "As" and "Another Star"--a couple of back-to-back numbers from Stevie Wonder's 1976 album, Songs in the Key of Life. Mainly, I know what it's like to slap that vinyl down, play these two songs to smithereens and, further risking delirium, try to make a dance to them, too.

"As" starts off as typically smooth, bubbly Stevie before the man shifts into his hard-pumping roaring, and moralizing, mode. In Free the Angels (2001), choreographer Nicholas Leichter and his company members and guests get the initial melodic sinuosity right, and the dancers' flowing entanglements are enjoyable. But there's something obsessive about "As"--and the people who love it--and that obsessive insistence, if you're going to follow it closely, doesn't allow a lot of room. So, after a while, the dance becomes an exercise in finding ways to throw dancers together just to visualize the rhythm. The inventive Leichter manages to make it through "As," starting fine but with diminishing effectiveness. We soon see that there's little new to learn about Wonder's music here as it stretches on and, since the dancers are completely at its mercy, all we learn about them is that they sweat really hard for Leichter.

I used to love how "Another Star" starts up with absolutely no break after "As." Breathless! But it's impossible--just impossible--with a manic, even angry rhythm even more driven than "As." Watching Leichter's troupe work through this number, I began to hear something that bothered me. Wonder's music, although upbeat, sounded flat, compressed, tight, airless. The choreographer seemed to lose control of making movement and the overall stage picture creatively interesting, instead bowing even more to the music's dictates and to an audience's desire for more and more spectacle.

And, believe me, last night's Joyce audience desired and ultimately rewarded the spectacle. These dancers--of which, tall, watery, gorgeously guesting Will Rawls was the most unforgettable--danced the hell out of the song. Can't argue with that.

Let me say it another way: Leichter is blessed in dancers. He is, himself, a brilliant one. And now he has a crew that matches his own ability to make us sit up and take notice. His choreography, though, which often draws heavily from youth culture and has accessible, popular pizzazz, could use some substance, some sense that it is about and drawing on something of consequence. It's time.

So, along comes Killa, Leichter's world premiere, an ensemble working eight segments to music by MIA, Basement Jaxx, Lionrock and Monstah Black. Black--in a singing, dancing Trickster role--appears to preside over the piece. I'm impressed by the look and lyrics of his initial man-hopelessly-caught-in-a-huge-web number. I love his subsequent bust-out flamboyance--particularly how he bravely and quite skillfully prowls and prances atop the hoof-like wedges strapped to his feet. Killa is colorful, tuneful, marvelously danced by the company and guests, and that will be enough for most viewers. But, I have to say, I wish I came away with a stronger sense of Leichter's intention, of some emphasis and coherence. What's going on here, aside from crowd-tickling flash? Does Black's character--and his relationship to the other performers--have meaning? A meaning that we should understand and care about?

See nicholas leichter dance at The Joyce Theater, Friday, June 26 (8pm) and Sunday, June 28 (2pm and 7:30pm).

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