Lenny Tischler stands in front of a mural on the UNM-LA campus. Tischler is an adjunct lecturer at the college. He also teaches jazz in Santa Fe. Photo by Nancy CoombsUNM-LA News:
Lenny Tischler will perform “Freedom Work: Folk Forms and Variations” at 7 p.m. Friday, April 29 in the Student Center (Building 2) at the University of New Mexico at Los Alamos (UNM-LA).
The public is invited to attend this free performance, which serves as the culmination of UNM-LA’s “April is for the Arts” celebration.
“Freedom Work” evolved from a single piece to a 5-part suite over the course of two decades. About 20 years ago, Tischler saw a video of Iraqi government soldiers oppressing the Kurdish people. “I was watching this incredible brutality and was inspired to write a piece in the style of a kaddish, a Jewish hymn. This first movement is based on a variation of the kaddish by the composer Maurice Ravel, who was influenced by jazz.” Tischler wrote this as a piece of transformation, music to mourn death but also to affirm life.
Although Tischler has been performing in New Mexico for over 30 years, this will be his premiere performance in Los Alamos. Tischler was a founder of the Westcliffe jazz festival in Colorado before moving to New Mexico in the 1980s. Music has always been his life’s passion, but he earned degrees in sociology which allowed him to support his family while pursuing music as a full time hobby. He currently teaches sociology classes at UNM-LA and has also taught the History of Rock and Roll and Jazz Improvisation. He is excited to bring his composition to our community.
“Freedom Work: Folk Forms and Variations” is part compositional and part improvisational. The suite explores through music the struggle for freedom and justice. Tischler, on bass, will be joined by a number of musicians well known to the northern New Mexico jazz community, as well as nationally. Tracey Whitney, vocalist, backed Ray Charles in the 1990s. John Trentacosta, percussion, leads the Straight Up Jazz Ensemble. Brian Wingard on saxopone leads the Brian Wingard Jazz Quartet, and has studied with jazz greats such as Lester Bass and Bobbie Shew. Paul Gonzales began his professional career in 1984 as a jazz trumpet soloist with the Army band of New England, and has appeared at jazz festivals throughout the world. Jim Ahrend (piano) leads a series of jazz vespers in Albuquerque and also plays with many of the local jazz groups. Finally, Arlen Asher, saxophone and clarinet, has been a major figure in the New Mexico jazz scene for almost 50 years, from working as an award-winning producer for television and radio to recording on numerous CDs.
Contact Grace Willerton at gwillert@unm.edu for questions about the concert. For information about UNM-Los Alamos and all it offers, see the website.