This folio of photographs was taken over a three day period, May 1, 2 and 3, 2013, when Wadada Leo Smith premiered, on the East Coast at Roulette in Brooklyn, New York, his epic composition Ten Freedom Summers, to which he added one part, "The March on Washington, D.C.: August, 1963."
The groups Wadada led are his Golden Quartet and Pacifica Red Coral and also, for a special appearance, The Flux Quartet. The Golden Quartet is John Lindberg on bass; Anthony Davis at the piano; and Pheeroan Aklaff on the drums. Pacifica Red Coral is Shalini Vijayan and Mona Tian on violin; Andrew MacIntosh on viola; Ashley Walters on cello; and Alison Bjorkedal at the harp; Jesse Gilbert creates the video art accompanying the performance. The Flux Quartet joined these groups on the third night for the premiere of "The March." The Flux Quartet is Tom Chiu and Conrad Harris on violins; Max Mendel on viola; and Felix Fan on cello.
The photographs, where the lighting is whiter than yellow, were taken at an afternoon rehearsal on May 2. The pictures which have a view from the audience of the left of the stage were taken on the first night; the ones that have a view from the right were taken on the second night. The majority of the performance photos were taken on May 3 when the view was center stage.
copyright 2013 Lyn Horton
All photos: Lyn Horton