The FGCU Jazz Combo will perform original student compositions inspired by multidisciplinary Miami artist Onajide Shabaka on Feb. 3. His exhibition, “Becoming Tomorrow’s Dream,” is on view in the Wasmer Gallery in the Arts Complex at Florida Gulf Coast University.
Shabaka’s artistic endeavors are deeply influenced by ecological concerns. But it was Shabaka’s interest in jazz that led Wasmer Gallery Director John Loscuito to ask the university’s jazz combo to compose music inspired by Shabaka’s practice and artworks.
“We brought the jazz students over to meet Onajide, and go on one of these nature walks that he does,” Loscuito explained. “That proved to be a fantastic experience to understand Onajide better for the jazz students. Magic started to happen and we started to see ecosystems in a new way.”
The members of the jazz combo fused these experiences and Shabaka’s art into original jazz compositions — with some direction from their Emmy-nominated FGCU professor, Brandon Robertson.
“We just started to formulate the songs together and then they went off on their own and started working together outside of class,” said Robertson.
One such number is “Mangrove Groove,” which reflects the layers of mangrove roots and plant life in the ebb and flow of Everglades waters.
Another is “Catching.” Inspired by Shabaka’s “Pursuit of Human Entanglements,” the composition explores the complexity of individual interactions with society.
Robertson believes the combo’s performance of the pieces inspired by Shabaka, his process and his art will underscore the power of collaboration.
“I want the audience to take away how we can collaborate with someone who has a completely different background from everyone in this group, who comes from a vastly different walk of life, and when they see the art and the music put together, gain a much greater appreciation of that collaboration,” said Robertson.
The WGCU Jazz Combo performs in the Wasmer Gallery from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 3.
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“Becoming Tomorrow’s Dream: Onajide Shabaka” explores themes of migration, healing, and African/Native American heritage and includes a collaboration with music. The exhibition runs through Feb. 19.
About the exhibition
Loscuito met Shabaka during Art Basel a couple of years ago.
“I was looking for someone that could correspond with the 250th anniversary of the United States,” Loscuito said. “I didn't really know what that looked like. I just knew I didn't want it to be something straightforward. I wanted to work with an artist who represented some of the complexity of ideas behind our country, and so when I first saw Onajide’s work, some of his star maps that related to understanding ancestors that he did not know, I felt like that was a really poetic point of departure for the complexity of us as a country and many of the people who live here who don't really know where they came from or who their ancestors were or their lineage. So that was the departing point.”
Then Loscuito discovered that Shabaka is also interested in ecology, natural habitats and other complex natural elements.
“I related them to insect paths and to other complex kinds of architecture not built by humans,” Loscuito added.
As Loscuito’s understanding of Shabaka’s art and interests deepened, so did his appreciation of the language he’s developed over this 50-plus year career, and the exhibition grew beyond works that reflect the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
“Onajide had expressed a deep interest in jazz, and jazz has an integral connection to the music of the United States,” Loscuito noted. “And going back to this 250th celebration, I thought that was perfect.”
Jazz history is American history.
Often acclaimed as America's greatest art form, jazz has become accepted as a living expression of the nation's history and culture. Since its inception with the Original Dixieland Jazz Band’s recording of “Livery Stable Blues” in 1917, jazz, its audiences, and its performers have accompanied, reflected, and informed every historical moment of the past 100 years.
“So, I talked to [FGCU Music Professor] Brandon [Robertson], and he said, yeah, they were up for a collaboration with the artist and the [Wasmer] gallery.”
So Loscuito and Robertson arranged a field trip to Miami so the jazz students could meet the artist, see some of the pieces he intended to exhibit at FGCU and learn about his process.
The trip
“So, back in October, myself and a few of my students from the Jazz Combo traveled to Miami with John to meet Onajide,” Robertson said. “He showed us a lot of pieces that he would be displaying here at FGCU and then took us on a nature walk at a nearby park so that they could take inspiration from nature and appreciate how the elements around us all kind of connect each other and how we use our natural space to create this comfort and this ambiance. So that was kind of the motivation that the students needed to gather.”
Loscuito describes their reaction.
“There was one instance where there was a passionflower vine, and there was the whole life cycle of a certain species of butterfly, from the caterpillars to the chrysalis to the butterfly, even being eaten by lizards,” Loscuito recounted. “And so the jazz students were like, wow, the whole thing is right here in front of us. Life itself is unfolding: birth, death, living with each other. It was a wonder to see the jazz students see that happen in such an unexpected way, and for me, too.”
Shabaka amplified what they saw during the walk with photographs he’d taken during his numerous forays into the Everglades, particularly what exists beneath the surface of the water.
The compositions
When they returned from Miami, Robertson and his students got right to work.
“They had to think about what we watched and witnessed and come up with titles and the nature sounds they could create using their instruments,” Robertson reported. “They started playing these sounds, and I said, OK, now just kind of run with that, and that's how many of them started to come up with the ideas of the compositions."
One such composition is called “Mangrove Groove.”
It was mostly based off the photos that we saw, the underwater shots, and the water flowing through the mangroves and how they move,” said drummer Nicholas Romig.
The first time he heard the piece, Shabaka was swept away.
“I could listen to it over and over again, you know what I'm saying?” he remarked.
Robertson readily agreed.
“I don't take credit for the students’ work. This is their project, you know,” he said. “But when that little funk grove melody first started out, it gave me chills because it's the kind of flavor that I like.”
The piece was written to have the musicians overlap or layer each other in much the same way mangrove roots are layered, particularly as water flows through and laps against them.
“It's like a spot that's near Bonita Springs,” Romig added. “It’s interesting to see how the tides switch out the currents, and when it's low tide, you see more of the roots exposed and just how deep and thick they are, and how when the tide is high, all you see is the shrubs. You just see the trees. So, there’s this other world, this other layer, and we were actually trying to figure out how to emulate that.”
“Convergence” is premised more on Shabaka’s artwork than on what the students saw during the nature walk.
“This one was inspired by all the celestial imagery that you have in your exhibit, but specifically, the one called ‘Celestial Convergence,’ said Romig. “The guitar instrumental was inspired by clouds covering the moon, and the baseline matches the energy that you see in the night sky in Florida with the stars and moon shining through the tree that's in the ‘Celestial Convergence’ piece of art. And then the horns have kind of a faster paced melody to kind of match that Florida nightlife feel … the chill vibe of the night with its exciting nightlife that’s happening when other animals are asleep.”
“Catching” was inspired by another of Shabaka’s art pieces, “Pursuit of Human Entanglements,” and specifically the section of the piece “where there’s these weaving, interconnected, swirling lines that represent that complex entanglement of human relationships in a society,” said bass player Gabe Burgos.
The fourth composition was inspired by Shabaka’s piece titled “Four Corners.” On first impression, the piece seems somewhat discordant. That’s intentional. The baseline was written so that as the notes are landed on the fret board, it mimics the cross shape of the artwork. It also incorporates divergent style changes from places around the world.
“It's going to sound very chaotic and strange, but I feel that also mimics our universe in general, which is an infinite chaos ever expanding,” Burgos noted.
The Jazz Combo
In addition to Nicholas Romig, the jazz combo consists of trumpeter Diego Figueredo, saxophonist Jonathan Esyaman, bass player Gabe Burgos and guitarist Alejandro Ramirez-Morales, and in all they created six compositions that incorporate the sights and sounds they experienced in Miami.
“They’ll be performing those compositions on the 3rd,” said Robertson. “They going to try to make it into a soundscape which they’ll order depending on how the exhibition is hung.”
They will be joined for the concert by a pianist from the Naples Philharmonic Youth Jazz Orchestra who will be attending FGCU in the fall.
Takeaways
Robertson hopes the Feb. 3 audience will appreciate two things. The first is Florida Gulf Coast University’s emphasis on ecological subjects.
“We're in a concert with the Everglades,” Robertson pointed out. “We're surrounded by nature. I want [the audience] to take away that our university is very environmentally aware and oriented, that the students are gaining that knowledge and appreciation. You just got to push them a little bit, poke the bear a little bit.”
Second is the power of collaboration.
“These collaborative moments are going to be memorable moments for the students, and that will be displayed to the audience,” said Robertson. “And I always feel that when audiences come to our jazz concerts, for instance, they always say that. The Bower School of Music and the Arts does a great job of collaboration in this region. That's the part I love about working here is the collaboration side of it.”
More about Brandon Robertson
Robertson is the director of jazz studies and director of the Basketball Band at Florida Gulf Coast University in Fort Myers. He is an honorary member of the Kappa Kappa Psi Mu Upsilon Chapter at Florida Gulf Coast University. He was nominated most recently for an Emmy Award for best documentary for educational collegiate programs featuring the FGCU Jazz Ensemble.
Robertson graduated from Florida State University with a bachelor of arts in music with a focus on jazz studies. In the same year, he became a member of the popular Florida-based jazz trio The Zach Bartholomew Trio. In 2012, the trio released its first album, titled “Out of This Town,” which received notable reviews from jazz critics. In 2015, Robertson performed at the world-famous Dizzy’s Coca Cola Club in New York City with the nationally recognized FSU Jazz Sextet, joining members of the JALC Orchestra.
Aside from being an active musician, Robertson is also an advocate in jazz music education. He has presented jazz clinics, workshops, master classes, and guest performances in schools K-12 throughout Florida and taught at the Florida State University Summer Jazz Camps for middle school and high school students. In the spring of 2016, he earned his master of music in jazz performance at Florida State University. During this two-year period, he directed jazz ensembles, small jazz combos, taught various music-related courses at the university each semester, and performed with traveling national acts visiting the campus. He was also a faculty member of Abraham Baldwin Agriculture College School of Music in Tifton, Georgia, where he taught applied bass and helped with the jazz ensemble.
As a prominent bandleader, Robertson has taken his band on multiple national tours, headlining at some of the top jazz venues in the country, such as The Palladium, Open Stage, Blues Alley, Andy’s Jazz Club, The Jazz Showcase, The Jazz Kitchen, Cliff Bells, NightTown, The BOP STOP, The Jazz Estate, Shapeshifter Lab, The Side Door, Twins Jazz, Velvet Note, B-Sharps Jazz Club, and many others. To add to his impressive resume, Robertson has performed with notable acts such as The World Famous Count Basie Orchestra led by director Scotty Barnhart, vocalist Carmen Bradford (singer for The Count Basie Orchestra), Laila Biali (2019 JUNO Award Winner), Jason Marsalis, Marcus Roberts, Marty Morell (drummer of pianist Bill Evans: 1968-1974), vocalist Carla Cook (Grammy-nominated NYC singer), Dan Miller (former member of The Harry Connick Jr. Big Band) , Lew Del Gatto (former member of the SNL Band), Leroy Jones, Charlie McCoy (international harmonica player and member of the country music hall of fame), Ray Coussins (pianist and former accompanist for Frank Sinatra), Eric Alexander, Wycliffe Gordon, Greg Tardy, Marcus Printup (member of the JALC Orchestra), Nick Finzer, and Canadian jazz singers June Garber and Halie Loren. Robertson has also toured 22 countries in Europe traveling from the Mediterranean, up to the capital of Iceland.
Robertson has performed in the South Carolina Jazz Festival, Atlanta Jazz Festival, Savannah Jazz Festival, Clearwater Jazz Festival, Sanibel Jazz & Blues Festival, The Landings Music Festival, Florida Jazz & Blues Festival, and In May of 2017, Brandon made his debut as a headlining act at the 2017 International Jacksonville Jazz Festival in Jacksonville.
Robertson has currently released his first album “Bass’d on A True Story” through Canadian label Slammin Media/Believe Distributions. The album has reached No. 16 on the iTunes Top 200 Jazz Releases.
For full disclosure, FGCU holds the broadcast license for WGCU. WGCU is a member-supported service of FGCU.
Support for WGCU’s arts & culture reporting comes from the Estate of Myra Janco Daniels, the Charles M. and Joan R. Taylor Foundation, and Naomi Bloom in loving memory of her husband, Ron Wallace.
