The IJO is all about performing great music. Music that is not only supremely entertaining but music that is significant and not just because it is compositionally interesting and challenging to perform and listen to. What makes the music significant are the stories behind its creation and performance. We tell many of those stories when we introduce the music at concerts and at listening parties and in the concert programme notes that we write. Behind those stories of individual compositions are even more significant stories of history. These are stories about the lives of artists and of entire races and groups of people. They are stories about people who struggled in the face of adversity that was sometimes overwhelming. Yet those that survived achieved great things, not the least of which was to create wonderful art that constitutes part of their legacy.

In February 2006, I staged two concerts about Black History: Voice in a Strange Land and Suite Freedom. That initial exploration of Black History was just the tip of the iceberg and you can be sure that Black History will continue to feature in our programming. How can it not when African culture is the lifeblood of jazz? However jazz is not simply about Black culture. Jazz is a melting pot which has been influenced by many cultures and in turn has influenced the music of other cultures.

This season, we will explore the Harlem Renaissance in our show about the 1920s. Our Christmas musical theatre extravaganza, The Canuckracker is all about inclusivity and multiculturalism with important messages especially for younger people. Our tribute to Johnny Richards will focus on the Mexican composer's penchant for Latin rhythms. Our tribute to Gil Evans will include selections from the classic work, Sketches of Spain, in which Evans and Miles Davis interpreted Spanish music in a jazz context. Of course with the birthplace of jazz being New Orleans and the city having once been held by the Spanish, the influence of Spain is arguably inherent in jazz. Ferdinand "Jelly Roll" Morton, one of the earliest jazz musicians, said “if you can't manage to put tinges of Spanish in your tunes, you will never be able to get the right seasoning...for jazz.”

In forthcoming seasons other socio-historic forays in IJO programming will include further coverage of the Harlem Renaissance, a study of the Jewish influence in jazz, an exploration of jazz in Russia, and a journey to the Middle East and Far East that will focus on the beauty of the regions. I believe the latter is sorely needed in light of the current political and military situations in those parts of the world.

Amongst my other musical activities, I am a member of Los Badasikas, a small folk music ensemble that performs Sephardic Jewish music. You might wonder why a jazz musician (and one that is not even remotely Jewish) would be interested in music of the Sephardic Jews. Sephardic music is a vital part of the Jewish diaspora in the same way that jazz is a vital part of the African-American diaspora. In each case, the music is a powerful artistic expression that reflects the experiences of people forcibly relocated across the globe. The music of the Sephardim began with a fusion of Spanish and Jewish musical traditions after the Fall of Jerusalem in 70 CE and the subsequent scattering of Jews throughout the Mediterranean world including the Iberian peninsula. In the same way, jazz was borne of a fusion of African and European musical elements after the horrendous Middle Passage brought African slaves to America.

Later, with the Inquisition and the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492, their relocation to the Balkan and North African territories and then later northwestern Europe and the New World, Sephardic music would integrate Balkan rhythms, Arabian modes, and African ululation. Similarly in the 20th century, jazz would eventually incorporate global influences including (not surprisingly) Jewish Klezmer, and Spanish and Middle Eastern folk music.

Sephardic music like jazz has a rich and diverse cultural history and is very exciting and addictive to listen to. In both styles of music, the syncretism is a testimony to the resilience of people who fought to retain their cultural heritage and embraced the cultures of others, even when faced with great oppression and struggle. It is ironically, beauty borne of tragedy. It is estimated that between 9 to 15 million African slaves were brought to the Americas with some 3 to 5 million perishing during the journey. Then there is the matter of how they, their descendants and other Black immigrants were treated in their new homeland. As Paul Whiteman, known as the King of Jazz (and coincidentally also Jewish) said, “Jazz came to America three hundred years ago in chains.”

I mention all this as a mere example of what can sometimes be found behind the music. I hope that through the programming of the IJO you will learn more about these amazing and important stories of history and the lessons they contain.

Adrian Cho
Founder and Artistic Director

April 6, 2007