Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » William Roper: If I Ran the Circus

173

William Roper: If I Ran the Circus

By

View read count
William Roper: If I Ran the Circus
William Roper makes an auspicious launch of his Tomato Sage Consortium Records with If I Ran the Circus, a collection of solos and small ensembles composed by Roper and featuring improvisations by veterans of the EAR Unit, the Terry sisters, Alex Cline, and of course Roper himself, among others. The compositions reflect the tuba player's unique sense of whimsy, drama, and spatial relations.

Playing out like a suite, "Three Guys on a Hilltop... features Roper, EAR Unit's Dorothy Stone on flute, and Alex Cline on percussion. The piece belongs to Stone, whose impassioned flutistry holds dominant voice. After a tinker toy opening with Stone vocalizing and blowing, Cline creates solo thunder. Roper and Stone double a haunting theme that Stone beautifully explores a capella. Roper returns to once again argue the overlooked subtlety of fine tuba playing, resolving in duo with Stone. Cline rejoins to stir the pot to boil.

Roper solos on his "Images of Issey Miyake, an open and unhurried set of sonorous impressions. Symphonic orchestral veterans Lesa Terry on violin and Zela Terry on cello join Joseph Mitchell on glockenspiel for the emotional "Throttle-Up!-In Memorium 51-L. Both Terrys play with a warmth and urgency that make this rich track heart-wrenching.

Speaking of heart wrenching, Roper's "Poem for Emmett Till... revisits that epically ugly episode in American racism in which a black fourteen year-old Chicago boy was savagely beaten, tortured, and shot to death for talking to white woman on a visit to relatives in the south. Erika Duke-Kirkpatrick plays cello, vocalizes, and stomps the hi-hat cymbal, her cello slurring mournfully downward. Her screams and string slashes create an appropriately harrowing soundtrack. His softly spoken name and the ethereal harmonics ending the piece make for unforgettable listening.

The set ends with Roper sampling wind and wild animals for "Darkest Night... Joseph Mitchell joins Roper on hypnotic percussion as the tuba journeys through an animated soundscape.

Roper uses his label's debut to showcase the breadth of his compositional ambitions, erecting a big top full of wonders.

Track Listing

Three Guys on a Hilltop-The Ascension (If I Ran the Circus); Images of Issey Miyake; Throttle Up!-In Memorium 51-L; Poem for Emmett Till-A Freedom Song; Darkest Night- Balthazar Joins the Sacred Company.

Personnel

William Roper, tuba, voice, sona, keyboards, samples, singing bell, percussion; Dorothy Stone, flute, voice; Alex Cline, percussion; Lesa Terry, violin; Zela Terry, cello; Joseph Mitchell, glockenspiel, drums, and percussion; Erika Duke-Kirkpatrick, cello, hi-hat, voice.

Album information

Title: If I Ran the Circus | Year Released: 2005 | Record Label: Tomato Sage Consortium

Tags

Comments


PREVIOUS / NEXT




Support All About Jazz

Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

More

Tramonto
John Taylor
Ki
Natsuki Tamura / Satoko Fujii
Duality Pt: 02
Dom Franks' Strayhorn
The Sound of Raspberry
Tatsuya Yoshida / Martín Escalante

Popular

Old Home/New Home
The Brian Martin Big Band
My Ideal
Sam Dillon
Ecliptic
Shifa شفاء - Rachel Musson, Pat Thomas, Mark Sanders
Lado B Brazilian Project 2
Catina DeLuna & Otmaro Ruíz

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.

Install All About Jazz

iOS Instructions:

To install this app, follow these steps:

All About Jazz would like to send you notifications

Notifications include timely alerts to content of interest, such as articles, reviews, new features, and more. These can be configured in Settings.