I begin
With words of wisdom
For the people who come after me
These words
Not only from my lips
But from the heart
Are from experience
The experience of someone who struggled with so much but couldn’t do anything about it
And they go like this:
You will meet people who you will never want to let go of
For the many reasons we come up with, they can fulfill our needs
But there comes a time that we have to let them go
Release them
Let them do good for other people
Let them reach their goal
Let them show others the way to safety
Let them free
That doesn’t mean you give up
That doesn’t mean that you stop being you
Never stop being you
Because we need to learn how to be ourselves
How to take control of our own world
How to become the better version of who we created
You.
-9:41 pm
may 25th, 2019
The guiding principle of my career from 2014 till the present has to been to amplify the voices of those who only can at present only speak to themselve.
The students surrounding Marquette Park fit this category.
They are largely neglected, not only by the city government in terms of arts funding or the provision of resources PERIOD, but also by my peers in the Chicago jazz scene. This is largely because of where they live--which is, of course, directly influenced by the redlining decisions of white supremacist city planners of the early 20th century.
They are, however, prodigious and precocious improvisers, who are quickly becoming known in their neighborhood for their capacity as instrumentalists.
As an experiment, to occupy my time during COVID-19, I asked them to send me in improvisations and poetry so that I could score around them with my own playing. To create a band sound where there could be none at present in a live context.
The result is this ground-breaking, correspondence-style album which serves to introduce these talented young people to the scene at large and the scene at large to these talented young people. The world to Marquette Park, and Marquette Park to the world.
As of this release on 6/5, there are 5 tracks. More will be rolling in as students complete their improvisations while fighting the pandemic and the rioting which is happening in their neighborhoods. These priorities will make sense to the reader.
I saw the band that's on Bending Bridges live at the Newport Jazz Festival around 2013 and it was the only group there that made me cry. Mary is a fantastic writer and a major influence. Matt Riggen
I'm lucky enough to know Matt and his humility doesn't belie what a deep composer he is, especially on 'Festival'. He also plays tuba and upright on this one, which sets the bar for the rest of us. Matt Riggen
I contributed ~50% of the compositions/arrangements to this record and played in the trumpet section. I believe art can expedite justice by lighting a fire under its audience, and I've seen it here. Matt Riggen