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Cubism was a brief but significant art movement lead by Pablo Picasso between 1907 and 1914. Cubists represent objects in a single plane, simultaneously opening the object in all its sides in relation to the observer. This multi-viewpoint treatment of a two-dimensional canvas revealed an intentionally ambiguous, fragmented image of reality.
Cubism in music also exists: sound and time can be perceived from various viewpoints and centers of gravity. Combinations of natural elements (wood, metal, skin); music tradition (African, Indian, Middle Eastern); metric structures and unusual subdivisions can open music in all its sides for the listener. New angles in composition and arrangement unfold.
Music can even be represented using geometric shapes: as vectors of sound in motion, as particles of musical thought. In South India the rhythm yatis are derived from the curl of a cow's tail, the barrel shaped mridangam drum, an hourglass of the damaru drum. North Indian rhythm cycles, math concepts of tihai and ginti, and African bell cycles can be realized as a compass, circles, flowing waves. "Cubist" represents the third of a trilogy of recordings I produced under the skillful work of Randy Roos at his Squam Sound studio in New Hampshire.
Featuring Guest Artists
Randy Roos (guitars, controlled synth), Noam Sender (Turkish ney, zurna, vocals, duduk), Mister Rourke (turntables), Rohan Gregory (violin), Lisa Leake (vocals), Derek Beckvold (bass sax and bari sax), horn arrangements by Ken Schaphorst featuring: Stan Strickland (tenor sax), Dave Harris (trombone, tuba), Mike Peipman (trumpet), Mike Rivard (bass), Brad Hatfield (keyboard), Will Graefe(guitar).
Jerry Leake Plays
Keyboards: balafon (African xylophone), vibraphone, marimba, glockenspiel, gender wayang (gamelan), chimes, piano
African Percussion: atsimevu and boba (Ewe master drums), sogo, kidi, kagan, totoji, shakers, bells, gung-gong and lunga (Dagomba bass drum and talking drum), djembe, log drum, sticks
Indian Percussion: tabla, tabla tarang, udu clay drum, naqqara (stick drums), damaru, elephant bells, misc. bells.
Latin/Spanish: congas, bongos, tambora (merengue drum), clave, cowbells, cajon, palmas
Metallohones: Chinese hanging gongs, Gamelan gongs, Japanese bowl gongs, tam tam, Tibetan bells, tunes bells, hanging noah bells, Chinese cymbal, ice bell, nipple gong
Miscellaneous: davul (Turkish bass drum), karakab (Moroccan metal castanets), riq (Egyptian tambourine), tar (N. African frame drum) drum set, snare drum, crash cymbals, vocals, thunder maker, jingles, triangles, temple blocks, devil chasers, timpani, orchestral bass drum, glass wind chimes.
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World Music Central, CD Review >>
Jerry Leake - Cubist (Rhombus Publishing; Jan 1, 2010)
The world of percussion has a new wonder named Jerry Leake. His latest album, Cubist, is an impressive voyage through the world of global percussion that crosses genres easily.
Joined by a group of excellent musicians, Leake blends his masterful technique with fascinating pieces that include world beat as well as elements of jazz and rock. “You can almost feel the characters living inside some of these creations,” Leake said of Cubist.
Unlike other percussion albums that focus on a single instrument, Cubist exposes a view of numerous instruments from all corners of the world, including numerous types of bells, gongs, cymbals, balafon, congas, bongos, orchestral concert drums, udu, tabla and konakol (rhythmic vocal percussion from India). Cubist was recorded at Jordan Hall at the New England Conservatory of Music, where Leake to experiment and mix. The result is truly remarkable. “Everything I create is based on some integral and traceable origin,” said Leake. “I strive to add my own contemporary composing and arranging skills to find a common thread with the present into the past—a sort of future-ancient perspective where today has already become history."
Jerry Leake became interested in percussion at a young age. “I savored the discovery of connecting dots in my music to those in my life. I was able to see myself through the history of various drums and my own process of learning about each of them.” His passion for percussion led him to studies at Berklee College of Music, and later to India, various African countries, and Latin America.
Fellow percussionist Jamey Haddad, who is one of the most reputable percussionists in the United States has great things to say about Cubist “ Cubist by percussionist/vibist/ Jerry Leake is about as eclectic an album as you can make, but it does not tread lightly.
Cubist is well informed on so many fronts that it is rather staggering. Many people attempt this kind of thing by virtue of sampling bits from various diverse musical traditions; not here, Jerry plays them all.
I can relate at a certain level being an American who feels his duty is to follow his heart, but Jerry takes it a step further. Some tunes are purely in line with West Africa, some with north India and some with the Grateful Dead and more, but mostly the diverse musical ideas, forms and techniques in Mr. Leake's head have become a very evolved and complex tasting stew. If you take the time to really check it out you will find mastery on many levels. Only devotion and constant evolution in life and music could produce "
Cubist: shapes of sound & time".
Jerry Leake currently teaches at the New England Conservatory and the Berklee College of Music in Boston (Massachusetts). In addition to his recordings, he has published a collection of percussion books.
Cubist presents dazzling percussion interplay, infectious rhythms and mesmerizing musical pieces by one of the United States' most interesting percussionists. 03/04/10
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