Pōneke bass player and composer Umar Zakaria has used the timeless influence of the sun as the inspiration for four concerts. Collectively called the Sun Song Suites, the concerts were held across a single day. Each one was held at the appropriate time and represented that particular time of day - Dawn, Daylight, Twilight and Night.
In this recording from the 2021 Wellington Jazz Festival you'll hear the first two of the Sun Song Suites by Umar Zakaria: Dawn Songs and Daylight Songs.
Umar Zakaria, Wellington Jazz Festival 2021, St. Peter's On Willis, Wellington Photo: Stephen A'Court
Through his four solar-inspired suites, composer Umar Zakaria poses these three questions to the audience:
- What is the shape of your soul during the dawn, daylight, twilight, and night?
- What shapes do our souls gradually transform into throughout the day, as the sun moves across the sky?
- Do these shapes change with the daily path of the sun, or do we choose our own path through it?
Wellington Jazz Festival 2021 Umar Zakaria, St. Peter's On Willis, Wellington Photo: Stephen A'Court
Bassist and composer Umar Zakaria was joined by his regular trio, Duncan Haynes on piano and Luther Hunt on drums. And for these concerts they were joined by Ruby Solly on cello and taonga pūoro, and Tristan Carter on violin.
The first suite, Dawn Songs, includes movements called 'Dew Drops', 'Morning People', 'Not-So-Morning People', 'Deep Breath' and 'Departure'.
The second suite, Daylight, takes us from 'Warming Up' to 'A Perfect Glow', then 'Too Much Of a Good Thing', 'Siesta', and 'Afterburn'.
Produced and engineered by Steve Burridge.
Recorded at St. Peter’s on Willis, Wellington
Videos by SOUNZ with audio by RNZ Concert
Concerts commissioned by the Wellington Jazz Festival as part of the St Peter’s Series.
