Snake Oil | Greg Simon скачать в хорошем качестве

Snake Oil | Greg Simon

Recorded live by the Northwestern State University Percussion Ensemble on November 7, 2023 in Magale Recital Hall. Ensemble Members: Jackson Forester Dominique Lousteau Garrett Moss Jack Overby Caroline Shepherd Mason Windham Kirk Ybañez Program Note: Since as early as the 1700s, “snake oil” had been sold as a cure-all or panacea for all sorts of conditions, ranging from the nuisance to the life-threatening. Almost invariably, the oils being sold were essentially solutions of herbs like camphor, useful for only a few minor conditions and often harmful for those battling others. Following consumer protection laws passed in the early 20th century, snake oil fell out of favor; but the use of medicine to prey on our fears of disease, aging, and weakness was not going anywhere. During the time I was working on this piece, revelations began coming on a daily basis about the opioid crisis and the role of pharmaceutical companies in proliferating drugs that are addictive and lethal, often when those companies were fully aware of the risk. This is hardly an isolated example of modern medicine being used as a weapon, of course; the cases of Martin Shkreli and Novo Nordisk’s insulin prices are still fresh in memory, too. I was thinking about this predatory side of the medical world when I began writing a piece for the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s percussion ensemble, directed by my great friend and colleague Dave Hall, to take to their second consecutive performance at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention (PASIC) 2019. The use of drums as a healing instrument transcends culture, and after some conversations with Dave about his ensemble, I became obsessed with the idea of “a healing dance that doesn’t work:” heavy grooves and prayer-like chorales that get more and more desperate, until finally — maliciously — the healing dance is revealed as a fraud. The working title of this piece was Abrakadabra, after a Roman ritual to fight malaria. When several people convinced me that title would have too many “magical” connotations, it was a short journey to find another concept that conveyed a similar story, one of a cure offered by a greedy entity but which does nothing as the disease continues to ravage. Thus, the piece became Snake Oil. – GS Greg Simon (b. 1985) is a composer, jazz trumpeter, and educator based in Lincoln, NE. Drawing its inspiration from jazz, funk, Balinese gamelan, Chilean Nueva Canción, and street art (among many other sources), his music explores heritage and intersection, aiming to create a common space between the myriad communities it reflects. Greg is currently Assistant Professor of Composition and Jazz Studies at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, where he also directs the Flyover New Music Series and the UNL Jazz Orchestra. He is also part of the composition artist-faculty at the Brevard Music Center. He also co-chairs the Society of Composers, Inc.‘s Region VI and coordinates SCI’s annual Jazz Composition Award. Greg studied composition with Evan Chambers, Michael Daugherty, Kristin Kuster, Carter Pann, Daniel Kellogg, and Robert Hutchinson. He received a D.M.A. from the University of Michigan, an M.M. from the University of Colorado, and a B.A. from the University of Puget Sound. Prior to his appointment at UNL, he taught at Concordia University Ann Arbor, the Metropolitan State University of Denver, and the University of Colorado.