The Green Music Center (GMC) at Sonoma State University started off its online spring season with a recorded performance of “The Democracy! Suite” on Sat. Jan. 30, 2021. The performance was filmed Sept. 27, 2020 at the Frederick P. Rose Hall in New York City. 

Wynton Marsalis, renowned trumpeter and composer of “The Democracy! Suite”, led seven soloists in the jazz composition written as Marsalis reflected on challenges the U.S. has faced in the past year. 

Marsalis has worked with Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra before in May of 2019 on an event inspired by America, Portraits of America: A Jazz Story. The event was composed of original works by members of the orchestra inspired by hundreds of years’ worth of American art pieces. Each musician was asked to choose a single art piece to be the inspiration for their composition and at the event, each art piece was displayed with the corresponding composition on wyntonmarsalis.org. 

While inspiration is similar, “The Democracy! Suite” is much more of a commentary on the U.S. rather than a celebration. According to Nate Chinen at WBGO, the suite is “…a less provocative statement” than Marsalis’ previous works because this is an instrumental piece. 

The titles of songs in the suite however do give a taste of Marsalis’ socio-political leanings, for example, “Sloganize, Patronize, Realize, Revolutionize”. In a blog post by the same title, Marsalis expands on the song, discussing the phrase “Black Lives Matters”. Marsalis writes, “Used and obscured by all sides to mean whatever they want it to mean, it has illuminated, excited and exacerbated the multiple segregated fault lines that corrupt of our way of life.” He goes on to ask if this phrase will pass by without change, if it will be used to “patronize”, or “…will we realize what is possible and commit to revolution by changing the laws and mechanics that allow unarmed citizens to be slain by peace officers who continue to lie beyond the arm of the same justice they are sworn to uphold?” 

The show is a collection of swinging and delightful compositions featuring trumpet, trombone, alto saxophone, flute, piano, drums and several other instruments played by seven extremely talented and celebrated musicians. The goal of the show is to inspire hope for the future, and it does just that. As Wynton Marsalis said, “Jazz music is the perfect metaphor for democracy.”

The Spring 2021 Season at the GMC will include 10 events, all free to SSU students. All events will be held online and you can get your free ticket by emailing the GMC at [email protected] where they will supply you with a promo code. 

Jacob Yarrow, the executive director of the GMC commented on the start of the season, “We are excited to kick off The Green Room, our Spring 2021 Season, with The Democracy! Suite and Jazz at Lincoln Center.” 

The next events of the season will take place Feb. 4 and Feb. 6 with performances from Michael Mwenso’s Black Music Series and the Calidore String Quartet.

The Feb. 4 performance from Michael Mwenso and the Shakes will include a live studio recording as well as commentary from Mwenso and GMC Executive Director Jacob Yarrow. Mwenso is an activist and musician known for his original Black roots inspired jazz music. The Calidore String Quartet is an award-winning performance group consisting of two violinists, a cellist, and a violist.