Crossing Genres Gives Him ‘Freedom’

The attention given Wynton Marsalis’ Pulitzer Prize-winning oratorio “Blood on the Fields” reminds us that there are other, less visible musicians who work in both jazz and classical traditions. One of the busier members of that group is L.A.-based flutist James Newton.

Newton, a professor of music at UC Irvine, doesn’t stay idle during his summer breaks. Earlier this summer, he and San Francisco-based composer-pianist Jon Jang spent 16 days in China preparing for a collaboration with the Beijing Opera on a forthcoming piece inspired by Chinese operatic composer Mei Lanfang. In turn, members of the Beijing company traveled to the United States during the first week of August to continue laying the groundwork for the piece. The meetings, held in Minneapolis, coincided with Newton’s in-residence program at the Walker Art Center.

But before Newton can begin the actual writing of the piece, he’ll first complete his two-act chamber opera, “The Songs of Freedom,” commissioned by the Virginia Opera. It’s a chronicle of the civil rights movement written for orchestra, gospel choir and five lead voices; its libretto includes texts from oral histories that Newton and writer Nancy Fales Garrett collected from veteran civil rights activists in Virginia. Portions of the piece, some already performed in Italy, will be aired in 1998 as part of the Virginia Opera’s educational programs.

No stranger to the bridge that spans jazz and classical traditions, Newton has previously written a first symphony that premiered in Germany in 1995, as well as chamber music and a ballet score. His 1990 piece for flute and chamber orchestra, “The Lake of Resolution,” was performed by the Moscow Virtuosi ensemble in Moscow in 1990. With the exception of his 1992 chamber piece, “The Line of Immortality,” none of these compositions have been performed in his hometown.

While admitting that the lack of attention he gets from Los Angeles musical institutions can be frustrating, Newton says it doesn’t interfere with his work.

“All of us here working on this type of music can get on airplanes and go to Europe, where there’s a wide range of opportunities,” he explains. “I was recently composer in residence at the New Music Festival in Pescara, Italy, where I conducted an Italian big band in the works of Ellington. One night, I had the opportunity to hear a two-hour program of my chamber music performed. That would never happen in L.A.”

The 44-year-old Newton, who was born in Los Angeles, was part of the Southern California free jazz clique of the early ‘70s that included Arthur Blythe, David Murray (whom Newton will join in Paris this November for symphonic concerts), Horace Tapscott and drummer-turned-social-critic Stanley Crouch. Since that time, he’s recorded for a host of jazz labels including ECM, India Navigation and Gramavision. A pair of Blue Note recordings in the mid-’80s inspired by Duke Ellington-Billy Strayhorn (“The African Flower”) and Charles Mingus (“Romance and Revolution”) received wide critical acclaim. His last ensemble album, “Suite for Frida Kahlo,” was released on the San Clemente-based Audioquest Music label in 1994.

Typically, Newton’s forthcoming album, “Above and Above All,” is something completely different, consisting of electronic compositions that suggest both Arnold Schoenberg and the early fusion of Miles Davis. Newton says the album, slated for early fall release on the Contour label, is his “Electric Ladyland,” Jimi Hendrix’s sonically ambitious psychedelic testament of the late-’60s.

“Why can’t someone move between jazz and electronic music, music that grooves and opera and chamber music?” Newton asks. Indeed, why not?

In the Bins: Jon Jang’s octet recording of “Island: The Immigrant Suite Number” is being released in the United States this week on the Italian Soul Note label. . . . Trumpeter Wallace Roney is out this week with “Village” on the Warner Bros. label. The disc includes appearances from Pharoah Sanders, Chick Corea and Michael Brecker. . . . Coleman Hawkins’ classic 1961 recording, “Good Old Broadway,” originally released on Moodsville, has been issued for the first time on CD by JVC’s XRCD jazz series. The album features Hawkins’ touring band of the time, with pianist Tommy Flanagan. Also reissued on the audiophile-oriented series this week is Art Tatum-Ben Webster’s “Group Masterpiece,” Gene Ammons’ “Boss Tenor” and “Bill Evans Trio at Shelly’s Manne-Hole,” originally recorded in 1963 for Riverside at the landmark Hollywood night spot.

Jazz Escape: The San Jacinto Mountains provide the setting for Idyllwild Jazz in the Pines, a benefit for the Idyllwild Arts Academy and Summer Program, scheduled for Aug. 23. Saxophonists James Moody, Charles McPherson and Gabe Galtazar, keyboardist Billy Mitchell, drummer Chiz Harris and many others will lead bands at three different venues, one dedicated to dancing. The jazz happening takes place on the Idyllwild Arts Academy campus on Tollgate Road. Cost is $25; children 12 and under free. (800) 946-3860 or (909) 659-3774.

Free Music: Multi-reed man Vinny Golia leads a quintet tonight and Aug. 22, at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 5:30 p.m., (213) 857-6000. . . . Keyboardist-composer Dave Grusin appears with the Henry Mancini Institute Big Band and saxophonist Tom Scott tonight and Saturday at the Carpenter Performing Arts Center on the Cal State L.A. campus, 8 p.m., reservations required, (562) 985-7000. . . . Saxophonist Michael Sessions fronts a quintet Thursday at MOCA at California Plaza, downtown, 5 p.m. (213) 621-1749.