PARRHESIA BRINGS ORIGINAL MUSIC TO REAL ART WAYS

Stephen Haynes. Photo courtesy of Stephen Haynes.

Saturday, June 11, 2011 | 8:00 PM
$10/$8 Real Art Ways members

Hartford, Connecticut - Real Art Ways presents an evening of inventive and electrifying music from Stephen Haynes and Parrhesia. Parrhesia is Stephen Haynes (trumpet, cornet & flugelhorn), Joe Morris (electric guitar), and Warren Smith (drums, percussion, marimba & voice).

Haynes' debut album as leader, Parrhesia, was released in 2010 to critical acclaim. An often-praised aspect of the trio's playing is the unique instrumental texture that emerges from the musical conversation. For instance, Haynes uses a number of mutes to change the timbre of the horn, and Morris will sometimes scratch and tap the electric guitar to bring out its percussive characteristics. As Lyn Horton of Jazz Times says, "The personalities behind the instruments never waver."

Stephen Haynes, who studied under the late Bill Dixon, was an artist-in-residence at Real Art Ways in 2006. The Wire's Will Montgomery calls Morris "one of the most profound improvisors at work in the U.S." And Jeff Potter of Modern Drummer praises Warren Smith's music as "so personal, so of-the-moment."

Michel Foucault's exploration of the term "parrhesia" resonates with the group's artistic philosophy. In Foucault's words: "More precisely, parrhesia is a verbal activity in which a speaker expresses his personal relationship to truth, and risks his life because he recognizes truth-telling as a duty to improve or help other people (as well as himself). In parrhesia, the speaker uses his freedom and chooses frankness instead of persuasion, truth instead of falsehood or silence, the risk of death instead of life and security, criticism instead of flattery, and moral duty instead of self-interest and moral apathy."

Support

Supported by the City of Hartford Arts & Heritage Jobs Grant Program, Pedro Segarra, Mayor.

Corporate, Foundation, and Government Support for Real Art Ways comes from: Greater Hartford Arts Council's United Arts Campaign, Hartford Foundation for Public Giving, Connecticut Commission on Culture & Tourism, The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, National Endowment for the Arts, The Wallace Foundation, Ford Foundation, United Technologies, Travelers Foundation, Bank of America, Aetna, Lincoln Financial Group, Edward C. & Ann T. Roberts Foundation, Target, Joseph S. Stackpole Charitable Trust, Ensworth Charitable Trust, Alexander A. Goldfarb Memorial Trust, Fund for Greater Hartford, Larsen Fund, Ellis A. Gimbel Trust, Knox Foundation, The J. Walton Bissell Foundation, Helen M. Saunders Charitable Foundation, NewAlliance Foundation, National Performance Network – Visual Arts Network, Kohn-Joseloff Foundation, It's Only Natural Restaurant, The Artist Resource Trust, Charney Architects, The Aaron Copland Fund for Music, Inc.

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