Out of The Galleon: A Program of James Hall Compositions

As an instrumentalist and composer, James Hall has been inspired by the rich and uniquely expressive jazz language pioneered in the USA by Sidney Bechet, Bunk Johnson, Louis Armstrong, J R Morton and countless African American musicians. It has evolved out of the Blues, Gospel, Boogie Woogie, New Orleans marching bands, Ragtime and later the impressive compositions of the Great American Songbook, Swing and the Charlie Parker-inspired Bebop. Anyone who is serious about using this richly creative musical language must dig into its African roots, its expression of a suffering, enslaved and uprooted people, and the cultural collision of Africa and Europe wherever the enslaved were deposited.
The title of this concert is James Hall’s acknowledgement and tribute to an early jazz giant now sadly overlooked by music historians. The saxophonist Sidney Bechet, born in New Orleans in 1897 never learned to read music, yet became famous in his lifetime as an outstanding soloist and was responsible for introducing the soprano saxophone to jazz. He recorded “Out of the Galleon” around 1930. It is a powerful 12-bar blues lament through which he reminded the world that it was out of the galleons and their suffering African humanity, that a great music was created.
However, the North American roots and influences listed above, leave out the parallel evolution of creative jazz music that took place in the Americas of the Caribbean and South America. The cruel galleons of our title transported massive numbers of enslaved Africans to Cuba, Puerto Rico, Haiti, Dominican Republic, Central America, Jamaica and Brazil. In those inhospitable jungles and sugar plantations, emerging African culture absorbed Spanish, French, and Portuguese influences, producing jazz that was wonderfully rich in melody, dance rhythms, and percussive instruments – each one distinctive. Only much later did these African-rooted music styles come together in places like New York, where “Afro-Cuban” and then “Latin Jazz” became genres we now take for granted.
James Hall has long been fascinated by the rhythms, melodies and sounds of this “Latin Jazz”. For this afternoon’s program, he has brought together three musicians he admires, who share his love for this music and who can play it well. Josh Mercado (whose ancestry is from Puerto Rico) on trumpet, Jamesly Jean-Mary (whose ancestry is from Haiti) on percussion, Doug Mathews on bass and James Hall on piano hope you enjoy it as much as they do.
James Hall has built an impressive reputation as a solo jazz pianist and vibist, with many concert performances in California’s Bay area and more recently in NSB and Orlando. He is less well-known as a composer, though composing has been a rival for his creativity almost as long as his jazz playing. In his third year at Rollins College, he has had the opportunity to extend his knowledge of European classical music and composition, as well as continuing to refine his technical skills as an instrumentalist.

Host or Publisher Timucua Arts Foundation