Tomorrow night — Friday, April 3 — Aaron Diehl and I, aided and abetted by the talented young students at in the Manhattan School of Music Jazz Orchestra, will perform the 3-part suite I wrote to feature Aaron, A Banquet for the Birds, alongside my arrangements of Aaron’s original compositions.
The piece is named for the opening passage of from Emily Wilson’s wonderful translation of The Illiad, which begins:
Goddess, sing of the cataclysmic wrath
of great Achilles, son of Peleus,
which caused the Greeks immeasurable pain
and sent so many noble souls of heroes
to Hades, and made men the spoils of dogs,
a banquet for the birds, and so the plan
of Zeus unfolded—starting with the conflict
between great Agamemnon, lord of men,
and glorious Achilles.
In addition to tomorrow’s performance at MSM’s Neidorff-Karpati Hall (free, no tickets required) we will reprise the program on Monday, April 13 at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Dizzy’s Club (sets at 7 pm & 9 pm — A Banquet for the Birds will be performed during the 9 pm set).
It is always a special privilege to make music with Aaron, who is one of the most extraordinary pianists of our time. I’m very proud of all of the exceptional young musicians in the MSM Jazz Orchestra, who have worked extremely hard to bring this music to life.