Leroy Jenkins: Themes and Improvisations on the Blues
Liner Notes   Cat. No. NWCR663     Release Date: 1994-01-01
The Soldier String Quartet: Laura Seaton, violin; David Soldier, violin; Ron Lawrence, viola; Mary Wooton, cello; Leroy Jenkins, violin; Henry Threadgill, flute; Don Byron, clarinet; Marty Ehrlich, bass clarinet; Janet Grice, bassoon; Vincent Chancey, French horn; Frank Gordon, trumpet; Jeff Hoyer, violin; Jane Henry, violin; Lindsey Horner, bass; Thurman Barker, traps; and Myra Melford, piano. Tania León, Conductor


Leroy Jenkins was born in Chicago, Illinois on March 11, 1932. A student of Walter Dyett at Dusable High School in Chicago and of Oscar Frederick, Jenkins’s talent was demonstrated on violin and reeds at an early age. Oscar Frederic, church musician and champion of contemporary African-American music, instilled Jenkins with the music of Will Marion Cook, Grant Still, Coleridge Taylor, and particularly Clarence Cameron White’s Bandana Sketches. Earning his music degree from Florida A&M University, Jenkins studied the baroque and classical masters, but nevertheless developed an increasing interest in improvised music. Under the spell of jazz greats Charlie Parker, Ornette Coleman, and John Coltrane, Jenkins returned to Chicago after college, where he became a charter member of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM), the legendary collective of which he is still an active member. He made his first recordings with Anthony Braxton and the Art Ensemble of Chicago. In 1970, Jenkins moved to New York where he founded the influential improvising trio, the Revolutionary Ensemble which toured North America and Europe and recorded five albums.

Since the early 1970s, Jenkins has worked in virtually every field of American music, including continued work in jazz, as well as writing commissioned scores for chamber ensembles, orchestras, dance and theater, and giving solo violin recitals. He has been an artist-in-residence at the Atlanta Arts Center and been featured in the American Composers Series at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. In 1990, Jenkins completed the dance opera The Mother of Three Sons in collaboration with the choreographer Bill T. Jones on a commission from Hans Werner Henze and the Munich Biennale Festival. The work was seen at the New York City Opera in 1991 and has been broadcast on German television. His newest work for the stage, Fresh Faust, which utilizes hiphop rappers along with jazz improvisers, was commissioned by the Institute of Contemporary Arts in Boston.

This title, originally issued on the CRI label, is now available as a burn-on-demand CD (CD-R) or download in MP3/320, FLAC or WAV formats. CD-Rs come in a protective sleeve; no print booklet or jewel case included. Liner notes are accessible via the link above.

Soldier String Quartet

Leroy Jenkins: Themes and Improvisations on the Blues

MP3/320 $9.99
FLAC $9.99
WAV $9.99
CD-R $9.99
CD-Rs come in a protective sleeve; no print material or jewel case included.
A *.pdf of the notes may be accessed here free of charge.
   Liner Notes



Track Listing

Themes & Improvisations on The Blues
Leroy Jenkins
Buy
Panorama I
Leroy Jenkins
Buy
Off Duty Dryad
Leroy Jenkins
Buy
Monkey on The Dragon
Leroy Jenkins
Buy

You may also like