A Night of Jazz and Dance
Local alto saxophone master Charles McPherson appears in collaboration with the San Diego Ballet in a show that prominently features his 25-year-old daughter Camille, a featured soloist celebrating her sixth year with the company. The elder McPherson is again joining forces with choreographer Javier Velasco to present the politically charged program “Reflection and Hope,” under the title A Night of Jazz and Dance.
Working with his daughter and the choreographer Velasco has heightened McPherson’s awareness of how all disciplines are related. “All art is in some way connected. I could look at a painting and see a musical line. I could visualize something inspired by that. But being aware of that connection and actually composing for a different art form takes it out of the abstract and makes it very real. I have to visualize music that coincides with people moving and dancing across the stage. It’s a challenge, but that’s why the great composers collaborated with ballet in the first place.”
A Night of Jazz and Dance takes place at the Lyceum Theatre on May 18 and 19 at 8 p.m. with a Sunday show at 2:30 p.m. on the 20th. Also on the program is Kamau Kenyatta’s debut of Cityscapes—A Tour in Sound and Motion.
