42nd Annual Jazz Concert Expanded Set List
- Jun 26
- 9 min read
A Concert of Creative Jazz Music in African American
and Global Traditions
Sunday, June 28, 2026, at 11 am, at the First Unitarian Church of New Bedford, 71 8th Street, New Bedford, MA.
Welcoming the Akoma Ensemble, Guest Vocalist Candida Rose, and Poet Erik Andrade
Song List (Click the Arrow to Expand the Text)
Evidence (1948) Thelonious Monk
Thelonious’s composition adapts the harmonic framework of Jesse Greer’s 1929 piece, ‘Just You, Just Me.’ Mr. Monk subsequently renamed it ‘Just Us’ and ‘Justice,’ reflecting civil rights activist/comedian Richard Pryor’s question, ‘Is it Justice or Just Us?’ Thelonious finally named it ‘Evidence.’
Our arrangement is in a fast 7-pulse cycle (divided as 2-2-3) parallel to the misra capu tala (7-time cycle) of South Indian classical music, in a swing feel throughout its AABA form.
Linda Chicana (1969) Mark Levine
Mark Levine, a San Francisco Bay Area pianist, composed the Latin Jazz work, ‘Sheila,’ eventually renamed as ‘Linda Chicana.’ It became popular when recorded by vibraphonist Cal Tjader in 1980. Our arrangement employs accents from Mr. Levine’s original piece, plus features from Tito Puente’s version and an interlude from Mr. Tjader’s recording.
St. Louis Blues (1914) W. C. Handy; arrangement by royal hartigan
royal's arrangement of this classic comes from outrage at the murder of Michael Brown in Ferguson, MO, a town near St. Louis, by police in August 2014. While a Fulbright scholar in Ghana at the time, I had been studying Max Roach’s version of St. Louis Blues from his 1966 Drums Unlimited recording.
The piece begins with Blues for Mister Charlie and Miss Ann, inspired by author and dramatist James Baldwin’s 1964 play, Blues for Mister Charlie. A drum and collective ensemble solo speaks the names of victims of racial and political violence through the drum set tones, and moves into the three themes of Mr. Handy’s composition. Solos by bass, piano, and saxophone are based on the three themes’ harmonies. A closing section includes drum and ensemble sounds expressing lost lives and dreams, traced to the initial contact and genocide against millions of native peoples in 1492, African slavery since 1532 (Brazil; 1619 in North America), to the current pogrom against immigrants and disenfranchised peoples.
The introductory solo names spoken musically are Emmett Till (1955, Money, MS), Vincent Chin (1982, Detroit, MI), Rodney King (1991, Los Angeles, CA), Amadou Diallo (1999, Bronx, New York, NY), Trayvon Martin (2012, Sanford FL), Sandra Bland (2015, Hempstead, TX), George Floyd, (2020, Minneapolis, MN), Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti (2026, Minneapolis, MN), and Michael Brown (2014, Ferguson/St. Louis, MO).
Author and activist Imamu Amiri Baraka’s 1966 essay ‘The Changing Same,’ is applied here to the political and racial history of the U.S. How and when will it end?
In pianist, composer, Solar Arkestra leader Sun Ra’s words, ‘It’s after the end of the world, don’t ya know that yet?’
Short Intermission
Candia Rose is the guest vocalist for the second set.
Afro Blue (1959) Mongo Santamaria; arrangement Candida Rose Baptista
This classic was made famous by Mr. Santamaria, saxophonist John Coltrane, and vocalist Aminata Moseka/Abbey Lincoln. Candida’s arrangement combines features from both of her influences: Batuku style rhythms from Kabu Verdi, a multiple rhythmic layering of 3 with 2, with its continental West African dance drumming origins. The West African donno hourglass drum is played in a vocal scat section prior to the return of the theme.
Nha Terra Kabu Verdi (2002) Candida Rose Baptista
A beautiful meditative ballad in AABA form that expresses the longing to experience the sights, sounds, fragrances, touch, and tastes of Kabu Verdi culture and homeland. Candida’s lyrics express her concept of Reverse Sodade, a longing for a place that you have never been but resides in your heart; in contrast to Sodade, an intense
longing or feeling of nostalgia for a place or people you had to leave and may never see again.
This performance is part of the larger Kabu Verdi recognition and heritage celebrations during July and marked by its 51st anniversary of independence on July 5th.
A Night in Tunisia (1942) John Birks ‘Dizzy’ Gillespie; arrangement royal hartigan
Mr. Gillespie’s composition includes a bass vamp/ostinato, leading to the main statement of the theme in AABA form, completed by a 12-measure interlude with an added 4-measure break for the soloist.
Our arrangement begins with a rubato vocal introduction based on the Persian traditional 8-tone mode Dastgah e Chahargah, accompanied by a piano/bass drone, flute melodic reflections, and the circular bendir frame drum. Bendir speaks traditional usul rhythmic cycles of aksak (‘limping,’ 5 stretched beats), devri hindi (‘India cycle’ in 7 stretched beats), and evfer (‘plentiful’ in 9 stretched beats). This is followed by a free bass solo, which resolves into the opening vamp cast in a fast 7-pulse time cycle felt as 2-2-3. The arrangement remains in this fast 7-feel, with the A sections adapting Afro-Cuban Rumba rhythms, and the B section and Interlude in a swing groove.
Following the saxophone solo, piano, bass, and drum set move into a free collective improvisation in 7, whose conclusion marks an open piano solo. The opening vamp is restated and leads into the A theme sung rubato over the harmonic structure, all leading to the final phrase and two held sonorities.
“if you are not a myth, whose reality are you? If you are not a reality whose myth are you?”― Sun Ra, Prophetika Book One
Artist Bios
Charles Langford
Charles Langford has been writing music since his teenage years. This Springfield, Massachusetts, jazz artist plays tenor, alto, soprano sax, clarinet, and flute. Mr. Langford came to the Northeast United States after attending the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and the New School for Social Research in New York City. He studied composition and teaching with Billy Harper, Donald Byrd, and Barry Harris, among others. Before that, Mr. Langford studied with Archie Shepp, George Coleman, and Yusef Lateef. Since then, Charles Langford has become one of the Boston area's top A-list players. He currently writes music for the daytime show The Young and the Restless on CBS. With his new release, "Powerless", Mr. Langford has great things in store, featuring industry leaders Jimmy Haslip, Russell Ferrante, and Elan Trotman.
Charles continues to perform, record, and compose in many media and styles, collaborating with creative artists in multiple disciplines around the world.
Art Hirahara
Art Hirahara is a jazz keyboardist and composer based in New York, NY. Originally from the San Francisco Bay Area, Art moved to New York in 2003 to be challenged by its pool of world-class musicians. Here, he has honed his craft, performing in a wide range of musical situations, ranging from straight-ahead standards to time cycle-based progressive jazz to free improvisation. From the traditional to the avant-garde, Art has found a sound of his own that cuts across genres and boundaries.
Art began his training in music at the age of four, studying with Sue Shannon, an unconventional classical piano teacher who taught improvisation and composition from the earliest stages of musical development. This provided the foundation for his awakening to jazz during his studies at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, where he earned a degree in Electronic and Computer Music. During his junior year, he began jazz piano studies with the Cleveland jazz giant, Neal Creque.
He then continued at California Institute of the Arts, where he was mentored by David Roitstein, Charlie Haden, and Wadada Leo Smith. It was there that he immersed himself in world music, focusing on West African drumming and dance, Balinese gamelan, and North Indian tabla. After his move to New York, Art studied at the Banff Workshop in Jazz and Creative Music program with Dave Douglas in 2004.
Art has had the privilege to perform with Stacey Kent, Freddy Cole, Akira Tana, Rufus Reid, Don Braden, Roseanna Vitro, Dave Douglas, Vincent Herring, Victor Lewis, Travis Sullivan's Bjorkestra, Jim Black, Jenny Scheinman, Greg Cohen, Fred Ho, Sean Nowell, royal hartigan, and Hafez Modirzadeh. He has performed around the world in Europe, Asia, Africa, South America, the Middle East, and extensively around the United States.
In New York, he has played at the city’s premier venues, including Birdland, Smalls, Jazz at Lincoln Center, the Jazz Standard, and 55 Bar. In addition to performing, Art is an educator. He has taught master classes both domestically and abroad. He taught at the Brooklyn-Queens Conservatory and was a performing member of NY PopsEd, an educational organization focusing on bringing music to elementary and secondary schools.
Art’s piano and compositional sound are an amalgamation of the varied musical influences he has studied and the wide range of leaders he has worked for. Art is constantly seeking new situations to challenge his musicality. Most recently, has worked as a producer for recordings and musical director for various artists of different genres.
Avery Sharpe
Avery Sharpe is a bassist/composer/educator/producer, and is considered a major force of his generation. Avery worked with piano jazz legend McCoy Tyner for 20-plus years, playing hundreds of gigs worldwide and appearing on more than 20 recordings with Tyner.
Sharpe’s credits also include sideman stints and recordings with jazz greats like Dizzy Gillespie, Wynton Marsalis, Yusef Lateef, Bobby McFerrin, Pat Metheny, Billy Taylor, and many more. In 1994, he started his own artist record label, JKNM Records. To date, he has more than 13 titles as a leader for JKNM Records.
Sharpe is equally adept at songs and longer compositional forms. He has composed for films, jazz bands, orchestras, choirs, and plays. His monumental work 400: An African American Musical Portrait has been premiered to audiences worldwide.
Avery Sharpe was the Sterling Brown ‘22 Distinguished Visiting Artist in Residence in Music at Williams College and is now Artist Associate in Jazz Bass, and Jazz Coach at Williams College. He is also Faculty Advisor for the Williams Gospel Choir and affiliated faculty for Africana Studies.
Avery has served on the panels of National Endowment for the Arts, Chamber Music America, Meet the Composer, Rhode Island Foundation (for Composers), and more.
He continues to record, perform, and share his artistry with audiences across the world, and through these, has changed the lives of countless students and the jazz community.
royal hartigan
royal hartigan is a drummer, pianist, teacher, and author who has studied, lived, and performed the music of Asia, Africa, Europe, West Asia, and the Americas, as well as African American traditions. He has made a life focusing on the sounds and meaning from world cultures, bringing new concepts to drum set and jazz ensemble interactions, including time cycles and rhythms from India, West Africa, and the gong cultures of the Philippines, China, Korea, and Java. royal has produced four CDs and appears on over 50 others, many with the late Fred Ho. His books and films have documented the connections among global traditions, West African music, and the African American tradition known as jazz.
Author of the books blood drum spirit, West African Rhythms for Drumset, Dancin’ on the Time, and West African Eve Rhythms for Drumset, royal has spent decades studying with master artists and adapting rhythms, songs, and structures from global music traditions. He was a Fulbright scholar to the Philippines and Ghana. royal has lived and worked extensively in Ghana, the Philippines, and China. He brings the music he has learned into the jazz tradition as a natural extension of the African Diaspora music he has dedicated his life to, first introduced to him by his mother and uncle (he began tap dancing at three years old). royal has met and been inspired by many great artists, including Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk, Randy Weston, Reggie Workman, Archie Shepp, and Sun Ra. He has studied with Lenny McBrowne, Clifford Jarvis, Max Roach, Ed Blackwell, Abraham Adzenyah, Freeman Donkor, Helen Abena Mensah, Kwasi and Kwaku Agbeli, C. K. Ladzekpo, and Attah Poku, among others. His blood drum spirit ensemble has performed, given workshops, and collaborated with artists in Asia, West Africa, the Caribbean, and across the U.S.
Guest Vocalist Candida Rose
A proud KabuVerdiana hailing from New Bedford, Massachusetts, Candida Rose is dedicated to studying and educating about the transnational musical legacy of Cabo Verdean Americans; she has published a book on this topic, KabuMerikanus - the Sum of US, based on original research for which she received a Master’s degree in Transnational, Cultural, and Community Studies from UMass Boston.
She shares this research with the broader community through educational presentations at institutions like the Cape Cod Cape Verdean Museum, the New Bedford Public Library, and Bridgewater State University; recently, she and her collaborator J.L. Santos Spencer conducted a 5-module workshop series on Cabo Verdean music at Keith Middle School with support from the Mass Cultural Council. Candida’s educational efforts have received national attention through a feature on PBS’s No Passport Required; her scholarship on Cape Verdean women in music was published in a scholarly edited collection, Kriolas Poderozas; and her research travels to Cabo Verde are the topic of a forthcoming documentary film directed by Dr. Rosalyn Negrón, called Candida.
Erik Andrade
Erik Andrade is a father, cultural and community organizer, and poet of Cape Verdean and Irish ancestry whose work centers around peace, justice, and liberation.
He is a founding member of La Soul Renaissance and has performed nationally and internationally, using poetry, music, and storytelling as tools for cultural memory, healing, disrupting negative power, and cultural resistance.
Erik has been recognized with honors, including 2026 & 2024 Motif Magazine Spoken Award for Social Justice, 2016 New Bedford NAACP Civil Rights & Environmental Justice Trailblazer Award, the 2012 SouthCoast Music Awards Poet of the Year.
He has shared stages with legendary artists, writers, and movement leaders, including Angela Davis, Sonia Sanchez, and Mos Def, and has performed across the United States as well as internationally in Cuba, Canada, Standing Rock, and Cabo Verde.
His poetry has been featured on award-recognized music projects and published in Black Fire This Time Vol. 2, alongside luminaries like Maya Angelo, Audre Lorde, bell hooks, and Everett Hoagland.
His spoken word poetry has also been highlighted by national media outlets including USA Today, CNN Headline News, and WGBH’s Emmy Award-winning The Culture Show.
This program is funded in part by grants from the New Bedford, Dartmouth, Mattapoisett, and Acushnet Cultural Councils, local agencies which are supported by Mass Cultural Council, a state agency.
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