Are We Dreaming The Same Dream?

Akropolis Reed Quintet
Pascal Le Boeuf 
Christian Euman

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Release Date: April 26, 2024
On Bright Shiny Things
Digital Booklet One Sheet
Media Contact: Paula Mlyn, A440 Arts

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For their 6th album, the Akropolis Reed Quintet joins forces with Grammy-nominated composer and jazz pianist Pascal Le Boeuf and celebrated drummer Christian Euman.

Are We Dreaming the Same Dream? is an examination of what Ralph Ellison calls “the unity of American experience.” With a hybrid ensemble comprised of Akropolis Reed Quintet, pianist/composer Pascal Le Boeuf, and drummer Christian Euman, Le Boeuf deconstructs the fabric of his American experience by recognizing the strands of his musical DNA—Geri Allen, Dave Brubeck, Charles Mingus, and Leonard Bernstein. What are the strands that form our collective identity, and are we dreaming the same dream?

EARLY REVIEWS

"Brilliant writing, exquisitely performed, and ingenuously conceived! Are We Dreaming The Same Dream? is a musical journey that shares a sound world that reveals the deep layers of life experience, and done so in the hands of some real masters of their instruments."
~ Jennifer Higdon, Pulitzer Prize & Grammy Award-Winning Composer

“A great addition to the wind quintet repertoire with fantastic jazz elements. Brilliant and engaging.”
~ Elaine Martone, 5X Grammy Award-Winning Classical/Jazz Producer

STRANDS (ALBUM SINGLE)

About Are We Dreaming The Same Dream?

“America is woven of many strands; I would recognize them and let it so remain.”
Ralph Ellison, from Invisible Man (1952)

“If one were to examine [...] the DNA of one’s influences [...] in terms of how the various strands interact to create the artist, one would see how important conflict between strands is.”
Bill T. Jones, from Story/Time (2014)

"Are We Dreaming the Same Dream?" is an examination of what Ralph Ellison calls “the unity of American experience” and draws upon a selection of my musical “ancestors” — Geri Allen, Dave Brubeck, Charles Mingus, and Leonard Bernstein — each of whom have historically represented a variety of perspectives concerning the unity of American experience. Following this chain of artistic ancestry leads to Duke Ellington, Mary Lou Williams, Aaron Copland, and beyond.

This project was prompted by a quote from choreographer Bill T. Jones. When I first worked with Bill in 2014, I was taken by his fearless approach to creating socially engaged art, and the myriad ways in which he married improvised and planned material throughout the collaborative process. That same year, he published Story/Time (Princeton University Press) which examines his artistic relationship to John Cage, whom he both admires and questions.

“If one were to examine [...] the DNA of one’s influences [...] in terms of how the various strands interact to create the artist, one would see how important conflict between strands is. I don’t think any artist can come to who they are without experiencing this conflict. [...] In some cases, one has to accept an uncomfortable fit in order to become the artist one truly is.”

On a personal level, this music represents my struggle to understand, as Bill puts it, the artist who I truly am, the context in which I exist, and the strands of influence that form my identity. But this work also begs the audience to consider the unity or disunity of their American experience and to examine the strands that contribute to our collective identity, for as Ellison once pointed out, “the most agonizing mystery sponsored by the democratic ideal is that of our unity- in-diversity, our oneness in manyness. American culture is of a whole, for that which is essentially ‘American’ in [that] it springs from the synthesis of our diverse elements of cultural style.”

~Program note by Pascal Le Boeuf

Are We Dreaming the Same Dream? was commissioned by the Akropolis Reed Quintet with support from the National Endowment for the Arts “Art Works” program, the Aaron Copland Fund for Music Recording Program, the Alice M. Ditson Fund Recording Program, the Paul M. Angell Family Foundation, and the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs. This work was completed by Pascal Le Boeuf while in residence at Copland House, Cortlandt Manor, New York, as a recipient of the Copland House Residency Award.

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TRACKS

PART ONE
1. Prelude (Theme)
2. All Consuming
3. Interlude (Retrograde)
4. Unity At Intervals
5. Interlude (Mashup)
6. Strands

PART TWO
7. Processional
8. Ambassadors (Swing)
9. Ideals and Disillusions
10. Invisible America (Theme)
11. Ancestors (Fast)
12. Interlude (Loop)
13. Ancestors (Slow)
14. Almost a Duet
15. Dedications (Ballad)
16. A Joyful Tribute
17. Recessional

About Akropolis, Pascal, and Christian

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Akropolis Reed Quintet

Celebrating their 15th year as “a sonically daring ensemble who specializes in performing new works with charisma and integrity” (BBC Music Magazine), Akropolis has “taken the chamber music world by storm” (Fanfare). As the first reed quintet to twice grace the Billboard Charts (2021, 2022), the untamed band of 5 reed players and entrepreneurs are united by a shared passion: to make music that sparks joy and wonder.

Winner of 7 national chamber music prizes including the 2014 Fischoff Gold Medal, Akropolis performs “works that brilliantly exploit their unique instrumentation” (Gramophone). Remaining the same 5 members since their founding in 2009, Akropolis delivers 120 concerts and educational events worldwide each year and has premiered and commissioned over 130 works by living artists and composers.

Their 23-24 15th anniversary season includes their UMS debut this fall; premieres of the music of Derrick Skye and Stephanie Ann Boyd; imaginative renditions of music by Ravel and Stravinsky; and touring their upcoming 6th album, Are We Dreaming The Same Dream? with Grammy-nominated pianist and composer Pascal Le Beouf.

World premieres of music by Pascal LeBoeuf, Annika Socolofsky, Kate Pukinskis, Corey Dundee and 10 Detroit high school student composers.

Pascal Le Boeuf

Described as “sleek, new” and “hyper- fluent” by the New York Times, Pascal Le Boeuf (composer and pianist) is a Grammy- nominated composer, jazz pianist, and electronic artist whose works range from modern improvised music to hybridizing notation-based chamber music with production-based technology.

Recent compositions include Triple Concerto for violin, percussion duo and orchestra featuring Barbora Kolářová and Arx Duo; Imprints with Alarm Will Sound; I Am Not A Number commissioned by New World Symphony; and Out of the Gate commissioned and premiered by Nu Deco Ensemble.

Recent commercial recordings and videos include collaborations with Tasha Warren & Dave Eggar, Friction Quartet, Akropolis Reed Quintet, Christian Euman, JACK Quartet, Hub New Music, Shattered Glass, Todd Reynolds, Sara Caswell, Jessica Meyer, Nick Photinos, Four/Ten Media, Bec Plexus featuring Ian Chang (of Son Lux), Dayna Stephens, Allan Harris, Linda Oh, Justin Brown, and the Le Boeuf Brothers Quintet (co-led by Remy Le Boeuf) praised by the New Yorker for “clearing their own path, mixing the solid swing of the jazz tradition with hip-hop, indie rock, and the complex techniques of classical modernism.”

As a keyboardist, Pascal has played as support for D’Angelo’s Black Messiah tour and Clean Bandit’s Rather Be tour with Australian pop artist Meg Mac. He actively performs with Le Boeuf Brothers, saxophonist Jeff Coffin, jazz vocalist Allan Harris, and his piano trio “Pascal’s Triangle.” Pascal’s most recent awards include a 2023 Grammy nomination for “Best Instrumental Composition,” a 2023 Guggenheim Fellowship, a 2020 Copland House Residency Award, and various Independent Music Awards in “Jazz,” “Eclectic,” “Electronica,” and “Music Video” categories. Pascal has received commissions and grants from NEA, New World Symphony, Nu Deco Ensemble, the Lake George Music Festival, Lincoln Center Stage, Chamber Music America, New Music USA, and ASCAP. He composed music for the 2008 Emmy award-winning movie King Lines, and won first place in the 2008 International Songwriting Competition. Pascal is currently an assistant professor of the practice of music and technology at the Vanderbilt University Blair School of Music, and a “Harold W. Dodds Honorific Fellow” and Ph.D. candidate in music composition at Princeton University.

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Christian Euman

Christian Euman (drums) is an important emerging voice on the drum set, and his unique style, creative approach to performance and improvisation, and infectious energy keeps him in high demand. His musicianship was shaped during his tenure as a student at Western Michigan University, as well as at the prestigious Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Performance at UCLA (now known as the Herbie Hancock Institute), where he studied and shared many stages with Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Chris Potter, John Patitucci, Stefon Harris, and many more.

Christian has since performed and toured worldwide with Kurt Elling, Billy Childs, Walter Smith III, Jacob Collier, Sara Gazarek, Will Vinson, Mike Moreno, and many others. Christian has also contributed his distinct voice to the Hollywood scene, being the featured drummer for “La La Land Live” at the Hollywood Bowl and in Taiwan, as well as in scores for major award-winning films, such as Green Book and Ford v. Ferrari.

He has enjoyed performances on stages around the world, including in the White House for the Obamas and at the Playboy Jazz Festival, alongside Hancock and Shorter. Christian has also established himself as an appreciable bandleader and composer, leading different projects at performance spaces throughout the US.

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Additional Credits and Thanks

Recording Credits: 1-6 Recorded October 14 and 16, 2020 by Mike Richelle (Rittenhouse SoundWorks, Philadelphia, PA). 7-17 Recorded July 2 & 3, 2022 by Sean Sullivan & Louis Remenapp (Sound Emporium Studios, Nashville, TN) and April 10, 2023 by Lawson White, Asst by Ethan Greek (The Parlor, Nashville, TN).
Mixed and Mastered by Dave Darlington (Bass Hit Studios, New York, NY).
Edited and Produced by Pascal Le Boeuf.
Photo by: Dannie Harris
Cover Art and Design: Haeg Design.
Videos by Four Ten Media.

Concept Consultant: Karen Kennedy

Excerpt from INVISIBLE MAN by Ralph Ellison, copyright 1947, 1948, 1952 by
Ralph Ellison. Copyright © renewed 1975, 1976, 1980 by Ralph Ellison. Used by permission of
Random House, an imprint and division of Penguin Random House LLC. All rights reserved.

Excerpts from STORY/TIME: THE LIFE OF AN IDEA by Bill T. Jones, copyright 2014 by Bill T. Jones. Used by permission of the author. All rights reserved.