Living in America

As recorded on American Dreamers: Voices of Hope, Music of Freedom, Living in America honors the Godfather of Soul, James Brown. The arrangement begins with stabs numbered in the Fibonacci sequence, 1,1,2,3,5,8... This signifies the growing awareness of the narrative of Dreamers. The Fibonacci sequence is found throughout the arrangement, most noticeably within the structure of the piano solo. The bass lays out during the verses, leaving space for the baritone sax to cover the bass line role (a la Tower of Power. The chorus “hook” is sung by the choir before the tenor saxophone solo takes it to the 4 chord. After the layered, open funk/gospel piano solo, there is a short vignette by the clarinet, reminiscent of Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf, which signifies the role of a Russian immigrant coming to America. This leads back to the choir singing “Living In America” in slowed tempos and lower keys. After this, the tempo snaps back to a tempo and the spoken word vocalist calls out American cities that the choir then repeats back. This section segues into a slower 6/8 Afro-Caribbean feel, signifying a melting pot of cultures coming together. The choir sings “I, live in America” in several languages while the trombone has ample space to improvise.The coda returns briefly to James Brown funk to close.

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