The Mission
The mission of the ensemble is to present exceptional, uniquely American art that inculcates our values, celebrates our identity, inspires us, and enhances American life and, in so doing, to work to form a society wherein such art may thrive.
An American Story
Dear Fellow New Music Advocate and Champion of American Arts & Culture:
I would like to tell you about a new project that I have started in the most improbable of all places, deep in the heart of “oil & agg” country in the San Joaquin Valley of California where streets are named after the likes of country music legends, Buck Owens and Merle Haggard. I am speaking specifically of Bakersfield, home of the “Bakersfield Sound” for which the aforementioned are known. What “Bako” is not known for is a kind of serious, advanced, chamber music that I will go into brief detail about elsewhere.
In deference to the Kern County city primarily known as California’s oil and agricultural engine, I have long felt that there is a cauldron of creative energy and intellectual and cultural vitality in Bakersfield that has not had the voice or outlet it deserves, perhaps due in no small part to its image and stereotypes that have persisted for decades beyond the last grain of truth if ever there were any. This is a passion project of mine, a “giving back” of sorts to a community that took me in during my 3-1/2 year stint up in Bakersfield (2010-2013) as well as means to bring to the national stage this irreverent experimentalism that no one knows exists in a right-leaning city more known for oil, agriculture, and country music. Moreover, it is a tribute to the father of American serialism, Milton Babbitt, re-imagined in a more inclusive and contemporary, hip fashion with DJ mashups and live instruments embarking on improvisational forays over electronic sounds and 12-tone rows leaving nary an idle ear!
With the prolonged downturn in oil prices in the mid-2010s, the region fell upon particularly hard times and unemployment was severe. Far from a panacea for these economic challenges, the Collective could nevertheless provide a badly needed bright light and play a small part in an awakening that will allow local composers and performers to present new works to the local Community and try and build from there. This is only the maiden voyage.
Very truly yours,
Ray Zepeda, Founder & Artistic DirectorHermosa Beach, California, USA
Press
New in the KUCI Jazz Library
KUCI 88.9FM (University of California at Irvine) – 11/23/2017
The Babbitt pieces address the dilemma of the American 20th century experience, an age of anxiety, violence, self medication and delusion, as well as age of promise, revolution, and global communication. Zepeda reflects on the personal significance of that dilemma. Where the two sensibilities coalesce is in Zepeda’s stunning arrangement of Babbitt’s “None But The Lonely Flute”. One of the conductors on the CD, Doug Davis, adds a composition “Stones”, a relentless march in the dark that is a special treat. This is music for folks that love music.
– Hobart Taylor, KUCI 88.9FM
Purchase CD on SoundsketchRecords.com
