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Listen to George Lewis: Afterword, an Opera in Two Acts by International Contemporary Ensemble, Joelle Lamarre, Gwendolyn Brown & Julian Terrell Otis
ALBUMGeorge Lewis: Afterword, an Opera in Two ActsInternational Contemporary Ensemble, Joelle Lamarre, Gwendolyn Brown & Julian Terrell Otis

Top Songs By Joelle Lamarre

Credits

AUSFÜHRENDE KÜNSTLER:INNEN
Joelle Lamarre
Joelle Lamarre
Sopran
David Fulmer
David Fulmer
Dirigent:in
Julian Terrell Otis
Julian Terrell Otis
Tenor
Gwendolyn Brown
Gwendolyn Brown
Kontraaltist:in
International Contemporary Ensemble
International Contemporary Ensemble
Ensemble
Anne Ward
Anne Ward
Stimme und Gesang
Coco Elysses
Coco Elysses
Stimme und Gesang
Douglas Ewart
Douglas Ewart
Stimme und Gesang
Khari B.
Khari B.
Stimme und Gesang
Ninah Snipes
Ninah Snipes
Stimme und Gesang
Otis Dean Harris
Otis Dean Harris
Stimme und Gesang
Zachary Nicol
Zachary Nicol
Stimme und Gesang
KOMPOSITION UND LIEDTEXT
George E. Lewis
George E. Lewis
Komponist:in
PRODUKTION UND TECHNIK
Levy Lorenzo
Levy Lorenzo
Aufnahmeingenieur:in
Ryan Streber
Ryan Streber
Schnitttechniker:in
Jacob Greenberg
Jacob Greenberg
Schnitttechniker:in

Lyrics

T: This brother told me
You musicians should use black names
A hundred years from now
People will think Duke Ellington was white
You need a name from Africa
I made up my name
Ajaramu
It means
“A drummer”
C: “A drummer”
S: “A drummer”
ALL: Their names had no love
Only power
We named ourselves to chart our future
S: This sister told me
You’re a singer
You’re Iqua
A woman who sings
Or one whose mother
Has sung for her
Or prayed for her
My European name always seem’d a little stern
My brother started calling me Iqua
My husband started calling me Iqua
Everyone was calling me Iqua
Except my mother
ALL: (laughter)
T: Somebody told me
Ajaramu is a hard name to remember
That don’t make no dif’rence
If they love you
They’ll remember it
A thousand years from today
No telling what kind of people will be here
If there are people here at all
They ain’t gonna care
Was he black or white
S: We’ve been together for half a century
In Paris New York and the world
Ev’ry thing was fast
Ev’ry thing was loud
When we came along
We would drop a silence
Bigger than a building
What could they say?
Gimme another drink?
We were a glitch
A mutation
So much sacrifice
So many things taken away from us
We’re still segregated here
Even as a global community
Is within our grasp
Great Black Music
Brought us into existence
To stand up for ourselves
Our Great Blackness
Is our real power
C: We are here as change
Change is synonymous
With any conception of deity
I changed my name
It means “Number One”
Those who survived the cotton fields of death
Had no idea at first
How long it takes
To come into your own
Survival by any means necessary
The idea of an all-black organization
Has a great deal of vitality
When you are struggling
To create an identity
You cast down your bucket where you are
You build up your strength
But the road that you take
Must not be a direct reaction
To the brutality
That has been placed upon you
You’re acting in defense against injustice
If you become a perpetrator of injustice
You join your enemy against yourself
ALL: We know now
That we come from somewhere
Greater than all of us
We were never concerned
With how it was going to happen
Innovation cannot be stopped
From getting to its rightful place
Nothing can go wrong
Because there’s nothing to compare it with
Faith and strength give us the power
To easily slip into another world
Stop trying to be like others
Follow the thought of who you are
We’re still a part of the power
That’s stronger than itself
Forever
Written by: George E. Lewis

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