Arranger(s): Dapogny, James
Conductor(s): Kiesler, Kenneth
Label: Naxos
Series: American Opera Classics
Genre: Opera
Period: 20th Century; Contemporary
Catalogue No: 8.669041
Barcode: 730099904179
Release Date: 09/2023

JOHNSON, J.P.: Organizer (De) / The Dreamy Kid (excerpts) (R. Davis Dunn, O. Duval, E. Gray, L.C. Hicks, University of Michigan Symphony, Kiesler)

Renowned as an influential jazz pianist, James P. Johnson also flourished as a composer of opera and of show tunes in the 1920s and 1930s. His two short operas The Dreamy Kid and De Organizer offer contrasting stories of African American life at that time, revealing both its incredible hopefulness and precariousness in the inter-war years. The Dreamy Kid is a tragedy, marked by police violence in a racially unjust atmosphere, and De Organizer is a hopeful story of solidarity and resistance meant to break the twin oppressions of poverty and racism. Johnson sets these stories to an eclectic and powerful mixture of jazz, swing, blues and ragtime that capture the essence of African American music-making in the early 20th century.

Tracklist

Johnson, James Price
Dapogny, James - Arranger
Hughes, Langston - Lyricist
Davis Dunn, Rabihah (soprano)
Duval, Olivia (soprano)
Stephens, Emery (tenor)
Woods, Lonel (tenor)
Kellogg, Kenneth (bass)
Spells, Monique (contralto)
Ishmel, Darnell (baritone)
Hood, Branden C.S. (bass)
De Organizer Chorus (Choir)
University of Michigan Symphony Orchestra (Orchestra)
Kiesler, Kenneth (Conductor)
1 De Organizer (reconstructed by J. Dapogny) 32:21
Davis Dunn, Rabihah (soprano)
Duval, Olivia (soprano)
Stephens, Emery (tenor)
Woods, Lonel (tenor)
Kellogg, Kenneth (bass)
Spells, Monique (contralto)
Ishmel, Darnell (baritone)
Hood, Branden C.S. (bass)
De Organizer Chorus (Choir)
University of Michigan Symphony Orchestra (Orchestra)
Kiesler, Kenneth (Conductor)
Johnson, James Price
O'Neill, Eugene - Lyricist
Dapogny, James - Arranger
Duval, Olivia (soprano)
Gray, Elizabeth (mezzo-soprano)
Hicks, Lori Celeste (soprano)
University of Michigan Symphony Orchestra (Orchestra)
Kiesler, Kenneth (Conductor)
Woods, Lonel (tenor)
2 Just like a sunlit heaven needs a cloud (Irene, Mammy, Ceely Ann) 10:42
Duval, Olivia (soprano)
Gray, Elizabeth (mezzo-soprano)
Hicks, Lori Celeste (soprano)
University of Michigan Symphony Orchestra (Orchestra)
Kiesler, Kenneth (Conductor)
3 Oh good Lawd (Ceely Ann, Irene) 02:48
Hicks, Lori Celeste (soprano)
Duval, Olivia (soprano)
University of Michigan Symphony Orchestra (Orchestra)
Kiesler, Kenneth (Conductor)
4 I knows! I knows! Hit ain't long now (Mammy, Dreamy, Ceely Ann) 06:44
Gray, Elizabeth (mezzo-soprano)
Woods, Lonel (tenor)
Hicks, Lori Celeste (soprano)
University of Michigan Symphony Orchestra (Orchestra)
Kiesler, Kenneth (Conductor)
5 Dreamy? - Close dat door! (Irene, Dreamy, Mammy) 02:47
Duval, Olivia (soprano)
Woods, Lonel (tenor)
Gray, Elizabeth (mezzo-soprano)
University of Michigan Symphony Orchestra (Orchestra)
Kiesler, Kenneth (Conductor)
6 Dey won't wait down dere much longer (Dreamy, Irene, Mammy) 05:07
Woods, Lonel (tenor)
Duval, Olivia (soprano)
Gray, Elizabeth (mezzo-soprano)
University of Michigan Symphony Orchestra (Orchestra)
Kiesler, Kenneth (Conductor)
7 Does yo' know I gives you dat name w'en yo's des a baby (Mammy, Dreamy) 05:27
Gray, Elizabeth (mezzo-soprano)
Woods, Lonel (tenor)
University of Michigan Symphony Orchestra (Orchestra)
Kiesler, Kenneth (Conductor)

Total Playing Time: 01:05:56