Chris Coles — 9 Lives
about
In retrospect, the need for a project like this (a large-scale artistic memorial in the wake of the Emanuel AME massacre) seems self-obvious. I’ll note that, at the time Professor Chris Coles conceived it, it did not, and that is part of the problem and the urgency we hear Coles translate into sound. This piece addresses a gap left by the tragic carelessness with which local and federal governments, media, and large swaths of the public treated these nine lives.
Rather than dwelling on the horror, The Nine Lives Project expresses abundant life, audacious joy, and collective power. Coles selected his team with nuance; the ensemble’s cumulative chops and his own brilliance as a composer and instrumentalist propel the work without ego. Professor Coles in his modesty won’t claim it, but he deserves full credit for this vision, the joy the participants felt in making it, and its impact.
In movement I, ‘400 Years (And I Still Have Joy In My Soul),’ the ensemble celebrates, dances, affirms, chants, and soars, Sam Blakeslee’s trombone solo supporting the ensemble. Accompanied by Hannah Taddeo’s heartfelt animations, movement II, ‘Nine Lives,’ takes a more reflective tone, addressing the events of June 17, 2015 narratively with harmonic nods to the church by Theron Brown on piano/keys and a celebratory-yet-ominous alto sax solo by Bobby Selvaggio. Suspense builds and time ceases during Brown’s atonal full-range clusters, a moment of cognitive dissonance in which the celebratory vision fails to reconcile with reality. Blurts and cries by the ensemble and Zaire Darden’s ‘shots’ on the drums conclude the movement.
Movement III, ‘In Spite Of You We Rise,’ drives forward, defiant. The ensemble is joined by members of Elevated Hip Hop Dance Group and Kent State University Dance Ensemble members executing Gregory King’s commanding and tear-jerking choreography (The World Premiere Performance in 2019 at The Rubber CIty Jazz and Blues Festival in 2019); Electronic effects and Emily Laycock’s floating vocals mirror the fuzziness of traumatic memory and try to make sense out of that which cannot be made sensible. Tommy Lehman’s trumpet and Darden’s drums lend a marching determination. Movement IV, ‘New Birth,’ features emcee Jul Big Green and spoken word artist Orlando Watson enjoining listeners to take responsibility for ending white supremacy and violence against Black people once and for all, while simultaneously rejoicing in life and its achievements. Chris Anderson on trombone, Sean Jones on trumpet, and Laycock on vocals lay fiercely into this track.
The Nine Lives Project draws on Coles’ extensive knowledge of multiple musical traditions and performance media, and it continues a great creative tradition of resilience, a resilience which should never have had to exist but which nonetheless galvanizes and pushes us all forward. Most of all it’s about living! Remember that! - Molly Jones
