Live Concert: Wadada Leo Smith and N'da Kulture, Beauford Delaney: The Artist Untitled Red Bar

Introduction

Laura Hoptman:
Good evening. Welcome to the Drawing Center. I'm Laura Hoptman. I'm the Executive Director of the Drawing Center. It is really my great pleasure and actually my honor to welcome you tonight to our live performance with Wadada Leo Smith and N'da Kulture. What a great night we're going to have.

Wadada is known as a key figure in the field of creative music. He's a trumpeter, a multi instrumentalist, a composer, an author, an artist who's recognized for his distinctive musical language. For the performance this evening, Wadada will debut a new musical composition entitled Beauford Delaney: The Artist Untitled Red Bar, inspired by Delaney's wonderful drawing, Untitled Red Bar. It's also inspired by Wadada's personal connection to the artist we met in Paris in 1969, which is just thrilling. The band, N'da Kulture, tonight will feature Wadada on trumpet, Tom Chiu on violin, Joe Fonda on double bass and concert flute, Luke Stewart on double bass, and Eli Keszler on drums.

We're very grateful for sponsorship and support for In the Medium of Life: The Drawings of Beauford Delaney and this wonderful concert from Lonti Ebers, Agnes Gundt, Marie-Josée and Henry Kravis, Alice and Tom Tisch, and Isabelle Stano-Wilcox. We want to give special thanks to the Michael Rosenfeld Gallery and the estate of Beauford Delaney for their cooperation in the organization of this exhibition. And I want to give my special thanks to Aimee Good and her team in the Education Department for working so hard to create such a beautiful evening.

And now, it's my pleasure to introduce Wadada Leo Smith and N'da Kulture

Beauford Delaney: The Artist Untitled Red Bar

Wadada Leo Smith Introduction

Wadada Leo Smith:
I'm going to say a few words about the Red Bar... When I saw the Red Bar, I came here on the 1st, I believe it was. Aimee had invited me down to see the exhibit. And I looked at everything. Then, when I got to the Red Bar, I understood something that was really clear and direct and unclouded.

What does the Red Bar represent? It's not a bar, by the way, but it's a structure or a stroke in which any bar can be constructed and only understood by the receiver who understood... You like that? If I was you, I would like it. You know?

And the magnificent kind of a yellow tinge color that it floats on, I never seen that color like that before. And so I didn't have to think about what I was going to do. I was going to make this piece, the piece you just heard. If you were paying close attention, you would know that it was a lot of sounds, just sustained sounds. I didn't want melody and none of that crap. I wanted to make something so you could form your own opinion about what sound was as it was being demonstrated by the ensemble. And that's basically it. So, whenever you read what writers say about that piece, remember what I said.

I decided to fix a drummer with Beauford. And he's one of my favorite drummers. I don't know who to put on the top, so I just lined them all up in a straight line all the way around like that... Its Tony Williams. So, this piece is about Tony Williams Lifetime. That was one of his ensembles. I believe it's lotus flowers, a white one, white and something else, whatever other color was there. No, it's yellow and white. The reason I chose those is because they go in water, and water's a form of purification. And it's the only thing you're not supposed to offer people, because it's so precious and valuable. They're supposed to ask for it, and you give them a cup of water to drink. So, that's the significance.

Tony Williams Lifetime Piece

Wadada Leo Smith's Last Remarks

Wadada Leo Smith:
Tom Chiu, violin. Tom Chiu and Flux Quartet has been playing my string quartet for years. Give him another hand.
And it is the first time we've played together, which makes it also cool because when you have been together a long time, you have to fight hard to make something. But when you're fresh, you have to discover something. So that makes it cooler.

Luke Stewart. First tiume I met Luke he asked me if he could interview me on the radio at midnight. And I said yes, because I don't turn down interviews unless it's somebody I don't like. So I did it. But, we also played in D.C, like, I mean, what year was that? During the pandemic?

Luke Stewart:
It was before the pandemic, and during, and then a little after.

Wadada Leo Smith:
Yeah, yeah. But he's still new, with this language of necessity.

Joe Fonda. Joe Fonda used to drive to New Haven, North Hampton, where I was living, and we would play music together often. Very often. He met my daughters when they were like babies. And over the years, we've grown to love each other's music. He just did a tribute not too long ago to me, and he wrote all the music and it was just fantastic. Thank you, Joe.

Eli Keszler. I met him last year in one of those Dutch towns in Holland. And he had played just before I did and I was excited about his playing. So after we took information, and said that we should play together, and here we are. And this is our first time playing together, and he's also the newest person to play this music in this context.

Don't forget to create your memory by looking at these beautiful drawings. That's how it's here. They create new memories every time you see them. So don't forget to do that.

And I like to say, Good night, good night.