New Mexico Jazz Festival: René Marie & Experiment in Truth

René Marie & Experiment In Truth –Jump In The Line!

Meet the Artist: A.B. Spellman and René Marie

Join us at 5:30 pm for a pre-show conversation before the show! Continuing the long-running New Mexico Jazz Festival tradition, begun in 2006, A.B. Spellman, retired National Endowment for the Arts Deputy chairman, jazz historian, and poet (for whom, in 2005, the NEA named one of its prestigious Jazz Masters awards the “A.B. Spellman NEA Jazz Masters Award for Jazz Advocacy”), will conduct his always enlightening and fascinating pre-concert Meet the Artist conversation with vocalist René Marie.

In a span of two decades, two-time Grammy-nominated vocalist, lyricist, composer, arranger, playwright, actress, educator, and social justice activist, René Marie is guided and tempered by powerful life lessons, and her music is rooted in the jazz traditions of icons from past generations. Influenced by her southern upbringing, she incorporates folk, R&B, country, and classical elements into her music, and her body of work is truly an “exploration of the bright and dark corners of the human experience – a musical architecture for the human spirit.”

Her unique artistry has been recognized with multiple domestic and international awards, including two Grammy nominations for Best Jazz Vocal Album. She has recorded 11 albums and appeared at countless festivals and concert stages, inspiring people with her performances and her life story.

In this performance, Marie and her band, Experiment in Truth, present a musical tribute to the great Harry Belafonte, performing his well-known songs, including “Coconut Woman,” “Scratch Me Back,” “Jump in the Line,” and others. Marie notes:  “Maybe it was the audible, irrepressible joy, the mischief, or the heartfelt delivery in every song he sang; qualities that obliterated any pain or doubt, drew me out of my shyness… By listening carefully, I could see in my mind’s eye the full detail of whichever character he happened to be singing about. Was it the percussion alone? Or the playful vocabulary of calypso as a whole? Was it simply the FUN in singing along with “Matilda”, “Scratch Me Back” or “Jump In the Line”? Whatever the ingredients, I have memorized the lyrics, savored the music, and danced to it my entire life. Belafonte’s music touches something so fundamental and personal that words simply dissipate . . .long before I became aware of his dedication to the civil rights movement, he provided a healing for my spirit that I didn’t know I needed. That laid the foundation for all his admirable works I was to learn about – and not merely learn about, but attempt to imitate as an adult.”  Marie will be joined by Etienne Charles, trumpet and percussion; Andrae Murchison, trombone; Dan Wilson, guitar; Xavier Davis, piano; Rodney Jordan, bass; and Quentin E. Baxter, drums and percussion.