Another Arts and Ideas event billed as a “contemporary wind octet expedition through the expressions of James Baldwin”. Kevin Harris seems to be a modern classical composer who conducted and played piano and synths. I couldn’t really see the octet, but I could hear French horn, trombone, trumpet, and sax and could see standup bass and drums. For those who have never been in this building, I’ll break it down. You enter across a courtyard behind Woolsey (now Schwarzman) Hall. The library houses Yale’s collection of rare books and manuscripts and current Juneteenth exhibition had a wealthy patrons collection of the writings of Frederick Douglass, James Baldwin, and the political cartoons of Oliver Harrington. When you enter the building, you see the permanent collection housed in a glassed-in inner sanctum that stretches from floor to ceiling. A glass silo allows one to see the spines of these ancient texts in a bibliobelisk of sorts. There are only ground floor windows, the mezzanine and upper floors are walled with opaque marble. Yes you read right, marble that allows diffuse light to enter based on the strength of the sun. I assume the marble adds a layer of protection against tome killing UV rays. The musicians were awkwardly placed on the mezzanine and 75 chairs were set nearby obscuring the view. Fortunately the sound was not obscured. The three movements had passages from Baldwin and others, some taped gospel numbers that stretched the music of the octet. It reminded me of the jazzy Blood On The Fields production by Wynton Marsalis back in the 90s. Standing room only for this unusual and challenging music.
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