Music for Yoruba Proverbs, by Bill Cole & Untempered Ensemble

Music for Yoruba Proverbs

by Bill Cole & Untempered Ensemble

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	1.	He who beats a drum for a mad man to dance is no better than the mad man 10:44
	2.	One should not go to bed with the roof on fire 07:54
	3.	A man sees a snake, a woman kills it; no matter as long as it is dead 12:27
	4.	To sow is to reap, one who excretes on the road finds flies when they return 12:36
	5.	To live with a humble man refreshes the spirit 12:31
	6.	A tormentor makes his victims hardy 10:37
	7.	One man's hatred cannot alter another man's destiny 19:18

about

In the late 1970’s I was given 500 proverbs that came from the Yorubas of Nigeria by my mentor Chief Fela Sowande. At first I just read them and felt they were wise sayings, lessons that gave insight on how to live life. Later, in speaking them to myself I realized that they had a flow, a rhythmic sense. I began to use the syllables to create melodic lines. After writing for about 10 of them I saw that they each had many dual meanings depending on the person who read them.

It was time to perform the lines and I contacted Julius Hemphill to arrange them for Asian double reed horns, cello, cornet, alto sax, soprano sax, baritone horn, bass guitar, metal flute, atenteben wooden flute, euphonium, had drums, drum kit, and balophone.

On September 26, 1986 at Symphony Space, NYC we performed several of the proverbs for the first time.

Bill Cole: Chinese sona, Korean hojok, atenteben wooden flute
Joseph Daley: euphonium
Julius Hemphill: alto saxophone, flute, soprano sax
Olu Dara: cornet
Abdul Wadud: cello
Gerald Veasley: bass guitar
Warren Smith: drum kit, balophone
Hafiz Shabazz: hand drums

credits

released January 1, 2019

Compositions by Bill Cole (BMI)
Arrangements by Julius Hemphill

Recorded by Michael Ungar and Ed Kizer
Produced by Bill Cole

Cover art by Terry Jenoure
Layout & design by Alexia Cota
Photograph by R.I. Sutherland-Cohen

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about

Bill Cole Thetford, Vermont

Bill Cole is an American jazz musician, composer, educator and author. An admired innovator, Cole successfully combines the sounds of untempered instruments with an American art form – jazz. Cole specializes in non-Western wind instruments, especially double reed horns. Cole is the leader of the Untempered Ensemble, a group he founded in 1992. ... more