The David Dominique Ensemble at Brooks Hall At Uva

The Charlottesville Jazz Society and WTJU present the surrealistic, stream-of-consciousness dreamscape music of The David Dominique Ensemble. Dominique is based in Richmond, Virginia, and is a professor of music composition and theory at the College of William & Mary. He will bring a stellar band of some of the best regional talent to The University of Virginia’s Brooks Hall on Sunday November 11th at 7:00pm. For this special concert the group will include Charlottesville saxophonist Charles Owens, and cornetist Victor Haskins, director of the Kennedy Center’s Jazz Outreach Program. Dominique will conduct the eight-piece ensemble and play flugabone, (a compact form of a valve trombone). ...

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The Charlottesville Jazz Society and WTJU present the surrealistic, stream-of-consciousness dreamscape music of The David Dominique Ensemble. Dominique is based in Richmond, Virginia, and is a professor of music composition and theory at the College of William & Mary. He will bring a stellar band of some of the best regional talent to The University of Virginia’s Brooks Hall on Sunday November 11th at 7:00pm. For this special concert the group will include Charlottesville saxophonist Charles Owens, and cornetist Victor Haskins, director of the Kennedy Center’s Jazz Outreach Program. Dominique will conduct the eight-piece ensemble and play flugabone, (a compact form of a valve trombone).

Dominique’s inside-outside take on modern music is as entertaining as it is cerebral, with points of entry from jazz, indie-rock and contemporary classical music. During the period in which he composed this music, Dominique, a Ph.D. with a thriving academic career, moved across the U.S. three times. He also endured tremendous loss, with his Afro-Caribbean father and Jewish grandmother and uncle passing away within a span of 18 months. Often rollicking and joyous on the surface, these sonic collages are rooted not only in the feeling of loss but in Dominique’s lifelong effort to communicate through multiple heritages.

The brilliantly raucous small-group music of Charles Mingus might be a good touchstone - but there’s so much more in the mix, built up and then refracted in cubist fashion. “Picture Charles Mingus staging a hostile takeover of the Sun Ra Arkestra with arrangements by Sonic Youth,” DownBeat said. Dominique writes: “Licks and rhythms are reimagined and warped from multiple perspectives, techniques I’ve learned from Stravinsky - especially the ballet Petrushka,” “In many of these cases, a particular lick or groove is repeated obsessively, in the mode of American minimalists like Steve Reich.”

This concert is part of a tour that will take the band to Brooklyn, Philadelphia and Washington DC, among other cities. Tickets to see The David Dominique Ensemble are available online at DDEnsemble.brownpapertickets.com. The cost is $20 general admission, $15 for paid supporters of The Charlottesville Jazz Society, and $10 for students. All tickets will be $25 at the door. For more information visit cvillejazz.org or call (434) 249-6191.

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