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World premiere of “Promises Kept” – An Evening of Jazz with Sean Schulich
Sean Schulich returns to the Kleinert James Gallery with his five piece band before heading South to perform at the New Orleans Jazz Festival. This year Sean has been honored with his first commission by the American Composers Forum for their Recomposing America series — a multi-year initiative that considers the role of music in the narrative of our nation’s founding and future. Sean will debut this work at the Kleinert James Gallery performance.
Promises Kept was written through the lens of a father yearning for a brighter future for his daughter. Its focus is forward — on REcomposing, rather than DEcomposing. This is the essence of improvisation: constant, imaginative, spontaneous recomposition. In this new work for flute, piano, guitar, bass, and drums, Sean asks, what is America? And, for whom? What is this idea, this ideal? These concepts are realized through group interplay as harmonies and rhythm create a shifting structure for ever-undulating improvised melodic lines. Together, the ensemble seeks a more perfect union within the music and within a renewed America.
Sean’s deep voice, in conversation with his flute and band, will wrap you in a rich, unique sound . A masterful storyteller that leads his audiences to transformative places, he is known for a magnetic stage presence and fearless musical style. He has carved out a space entirely his own by fusing raw emotion with technical precision. His playing is described by jazzreview.com as “staggering” and “audacious.”
Sean will be joined at the Kleinert James Gallery by Matt Dickey (Bill Laswell, DJ Logic, Big Sam) on guitar; Renato Diz (Maria Schneider, Roy Hargrove, Randy Brecker) on keys; Dylan Kaminkow (Marin Alsop, Theo Croker, Mink Stole) on bass; and Doron Lev (Bernie Worrell, Joe Bataan, Beledo) on drums.
Sean has performed with the Funky Meters, the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, the New Orleans Suspects, Bernie Worrell, Charles Neville, meshell ndegeocello, Zigaboo Modeliste, and Matthew Garrison. Recordings include Haitian House music-icon Jephte Guillaume. Sean’s played Jazz Fest in New Orleans, The Mint in LA, the Kennedy Center in DC and at St. John the Divine, BB King’s, BAM, Brooklyn Bowl, Bowery Ballroom and the Blue Note in NYC. Having grown up in Woodstock, NY, Sean lived for years in NYC, and is now back in Woodstock. He studied at Juilliard, New England Conservatory and Tufts, and earned his Masters from Yale. He’s a founding member of Alpha Mosaic, with whom he won the Sony Jazz Competition. Sean also won Artists International, selling out his debut at Carnegie Hall.