UPPER WEST SIDE LOVE STORY by Freddie Bryant, performed by an all-star nonet was commissioned by Chamber Music America’s New Jazz Works program funded through the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.
Upper West Side Love Story, a double CD of the 16 movement song cycle featuring an all-star nonet (see the musicians page above) was released on July 7th!
Download, stream and share the music on these platforms:
Download, stream and share the whole CD.
Here are the singles that dropped prior the CD:
Kid’z Rhymes
We Used to Dance
His Bed is a Box: haiku #6
Roses and Rubies
Love Can’t Live on Nostalgia
Central Park Life: haiku #7
But also add these other great tracks to your playlists too:
Columbus, Quiet: haiku #1
Life of the Playground: haiku #2
Lost MJ LP: haiku #3
My Home Sings
High-rise Kiss: haiku #4
Always Be Aware: haiku #5
Moses the Pharaoh
Finale
Spoken Word – Like Sand is to Coral; A Box of Pictures: haiku #8
Last Song: It’s Time to Say Goodbye
About the Song Cycle
“A love story is about beginnings, about excitement and nurturing growth – love through joy and adversity over many years. And sometimes it’s about growing distant, rejection and the search for the magic that seems to fade into distant memories. Either way, change is ceaseless and forever and love hopes to survive. This piece is a love story dedicated to the neighborhood that raised me from birth to where I am now.”
Freddie Bryant
Upper West Side Love Story (music and lyrics by Freddie Bryant), a work for chamber- jazz ensemble, is a musical journey through the iconic neighborhood made famous by Leonard Bernstein’s West Side Story. It is a personal history of memories from Bryant’s youth and upbringing as well as a commentary on development and gentrification that is happening world-wide. He lived in the neighborhood for fifty-four years, from birth until 2019 when he moved to the Bronx. It covers children’s playground rhymes, the world-renowned musicians and artists who have lived there, the culture and joys of community as well as the challenges of homelessness and crime throughout the 70s/80s until today. It also contextualizes the development and gentrification that has been underway since the early 60s when Lincoln Center was built, discussing issues of race and class.