Sunday, October 1, 2023 The Makanda Project

We had such a good time last year, that we are thrilled to bring back the Makanda Project, a 13-piece ensemble that has become an important part of the Boston jazz scene. Led by pianist, bandleader and arranger, John Kordalewski, the Makanda Project explores and celebrates the richness of the unrecorded music of multi-instrumentalist, composer and educator Dr. Makanda Ken McIntyre.

Makanda Ken McIntyre (1931-2001) was among the group of innovative jazz musicians who emerged during the early 1960s.  He was well schooled in the jazz conventions of the 1940s and 1950s, but he created a path of his own, in which the improvisational language and compositional structures extended in some different directions.  Makanda’s music defied categorization.  His playing was both “inside” and “outside.”

After Makanda passed away unexpectedly in 2001, we discovered that he had about 350 original compositions that had not been recorded - in addition to the approximately 75 that had. These compositions are marked by a distinctive rhythmic and lyrical quality often writing pieces in unusual time signatures, and with unusual chord changes. Yet his music is always swinging! Makanda was a brilliant composer.

Pianist and leader John Kordalewski, who studied and performed with Makanda, formed the Boston-based Makanda Project in 2005 to explore this music with fellow musicians and introduce it to the public. John has arranged over 60 of the compositions - some of which we will hear this evening.  With new arrangements, and without the opportunity to hear Makanda’s performances of these pieces, the Makanda Project’s approach differs from that of the “ghost bands” that sometimes form to honor the legacy of a great musician.  Whereas those bands essentially revisit the original, with the same repertoire and instrumentation, the Makanda Project is extending Dr. McIntyre’s work in new ways, and has developed its own identity with his compositions as a vehicle. We invite you to join us for this wonderful and rare opportunity to hear the Makanda Project in Brooklyn!

Sunday, October 1, 2023 at All Saints’ Church 286 Seventh Avenue, Park Slope Brooklyn (at 7th Street). Take the F/G train 7th Ave stop or R train to 4th Ave/9th Street.

Event is free but a $10 donation is appreciated.

CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS!

Personnel:

Kurtis Rivers - alto saxophone 

Noah Becker - alto saxophone 

Sean Berry - tenor saxophone 

Temidayo Balogun - tenor saxophone 

Charlie Kohlhase - baritone saxophone 

Sarah Uyar - trumpet 

Haneef Nelson - trumpet 

Alfred Patterson - trombone 

Richard Harper - trombone 

Bill Lowe - bass trombone 

John Kordalewski - piano 

Avery Sharpe - bass 

Yoron Israel - drums 

Mickey Davidson - dance 

Trashina Conner - dance 

Brian Davis - dance 

Brandon Barker - dance

 Shani Worrell - dance