Charles Gayle February 28, 1939 to September 7, 2023
In addition to an evening which will attempt to reflect the breadth of creativity that is the Great Charles Gayle, We will also present an excerpt from a new Charles Gayle biopic by MoonLasso and Arts for Art.
Charles Gayle’s music was steeped in the entire history of African music which he brought into the present tense. His Free music did not replace the great African or African American music that came before. It is a part of the whole. The music reflected the church, the streets, the liberation movement, and the experience as an African Human Being in America.
An intense and uncompromised artist, Charles Gayle made music that was spirit filled. Spirit was always at the center of his music.
Seating
Opening by Ekwambu Gayle (Charles Gayle’s son)
Video clip of Charles Gayle talking about his belief
Bass Choir (William Parker, Michael Bisio, Christopher Dean Sullivan with Sax by Joe McPhee)
Michael Wimberly speaks on Charles Gayle
Michael TA Thompson – drums
Jason Kao Hwang – violin
2nd video clip by Dwayne and Ebba Jahn “Instruments My Father Played”
Drum Choir (TA Thompson, Michael Wimberly, Jay Rosen)
Cooper Moore – percussion and hoe harp
Cisco Bradley on Charles Gayle
Charles Gayle Biopic by MoonLasso
Matthew Shipp playing hymns with dance by Miriam Parker and Patricia Nicholson
Michael Wimberly and Michael Bisio
Speaker TBA
Bible passage sung by Kyoko, Kitamura, Ellen Christi, Lisa Sokolov
Michael Wimberly – piano
Michael TA Thompson – reflections on conversations with Charles Gayle
Isaiah Collier – sax
William Parker – bass
Dave Burrell – piano
William Parker leads extended PocketWatch featuring: Michael Foster, Alfredo Colon, Aakash Mittal, Devin Waldman, Diego Hedez, Masahiko Kono, Steve Swell, Melanie Dyer, William Parker, Hans Young Binter, Juan Pablo Carletti
Below is excerpted from article in the NYTimes by Andrey Henkin:
“Charles Gayle, an uncompromising saxophonist who spent years living and performing on the streets of New York before beginning a recording career when he was nearly 50, died on Sept. 5 in Brooklyn. He was 84. His son Ekwambu, had been caring for him as he dealt with Alzheimer’s Disease. Mr. Gayle’s playing was documented on nearly 40 albums under his name on a host of labels; Notably, he recorded with the pianist Cecil Taylor, the bassist William Parker and the punk artist Henry Rollins. Talking about his character Streets, ”It wasn’t a gimmick or anything like that. I looked at myself one day in the mirror and said to myself, ‘Stop thinking about Charles.’ So I put a rubber nose on and said ‘That’ll work.’ ”It was really that simple,” he continued. ”I saw a lot of clowns when I was young in the circus, but it was so liberating to go out in an audience while the band is playing and give a lady a rose or get rejected by her and everything — I can’t do that with regular clothes on. It helps a person mentally to escape — there’s a purpose in the escape, and it is the same thing as being in the music and trying to get past certain things. In order for me to do that I had to disappear.”
Mr. Gayle had a notable collaborative group with Mr. Parker and the drummer Rashied Ali and was a guest on two albums by Henry Rollins. In addition to tenor saxophone, he played alto and soprano saxophones, piano, viola, upright bass and drums. He is seen and heard in an interview and playing with the German bassist Peter Kowald’s trio in a 1985 documentary, ”Rising Tones Cross,” produced and directed by his former wife Ebba Jahn. The drummer Michael Wimberley, who worked with Mr. Gayle from the early 1990s well into the new millennium, called him ”a father, mentor and friend whom I had the pleasure of creating some of the most adventurous improvised sounds, shapes and musical dialogues with.” “Charles’s intensity on the horn,” he added, ”was so powerful in person. I had never experienced anything like music of that intensity before! He pulled me into the sonic center of his sound and raptured me.” “
