THE NEW IMMIGRANT EXPERIENCE
ABOUT THE PROJECT
The New Immigrant Experience, the remarkable eighth release by renowned composer Felipe Salles, is a powerful new multimedia work inspired by the lives of “Dreamers,” the almost seven hundred thousand individuals currently protected by DACA, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. The two CD/DVD set, featuring the 18-piece Felipe Salles Interconnections Ensemble, was released on March 20, 2020 via Tapestry Records.
Written by Salles –who emigrated from Brazil to the United States in 1995 – and developed with the aid of a John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation fellowship, the work uses speech cadences and melodic motifs based on key words as its main source of musical material. The compelling and personal stories it tells were collected through interviews Salles conducted with a group of nine Dreamers during the summer of 2018. Videos of the interviews were created by Fernanda Faya. Individual stories and experiences of growing up bilingual and undocumented also informed musical choices.
It’s an emotional musical journey through beautiful orchestral textures, carefully developed motifs, and intense solo features, that combine the power of a big band recording and the dramatic landscape of a soundtrack.
Premiered in April 2018 at performances in New York City and Massachusetts, The New Immigrant Experience was subsequently recorded in the studio. The recording was then recombined with live video excerpts, creating an experience that gives full-throated voice to immigrant groups in the United States today.
Salles gained firsthand knowledge of the issues surrounding DACA and the Dreamers after befriending classical pianist Tereza Lee, the original inspiration behind the DREAM Act. After writing The Lullaby Project (2018), a large-scale work inspired by the cross-generational importance of Brazilian lullabies as part of a cultural identity for immigrant families like Salles’, The New Immigrant Experience was a natural continuation of his artistic vision and the perfect vehicle to contribute to the discussion regarding the place and value of immigrants in America during these turbulent political times.
The New Immigrant Experience is a complete work of art, whether one experiences the music alone or in combination with the DVD, or in live performance with videos projected behind the band.
The New Immigrant Experience press:
“Now, The New Immigrant Experience might be recognized as a masterpiece in years to come, but today, its relevance adds to its impact. […]Fiery moments occur, though more reflective ones complement them and serve a greater narrative. But this isn’t about groove. It’s about hearing what often-neglected people have been trying to get others to hear—a goal that Salles achieves brilliantly.”
Bob Doerschuk, Downbeat Magazine - 4.5 stars
“Truly, the best part of "The New Immigrant Experience" is the writing––this music, some of whose melodies are based on the cadence of certain words spoken by the people the composer interviewed during the process), stands out from the opening moment until the last notes have faded. Even after listening to the stories of the nine "Dreamers", the feeling one gets from the music is hope, positive hope. Please listen to the stories, then listen to the music. Then listen again and share with friends and your state and federal politicians. Felipe Salles has something to say and he does so brilliantly, especially with the aid of the Interconnections Ensemble.”
Richard B. Kamins, Step Tempest
“one of the season’s most relevant releases”
Richard Allen, A Closer Listen.com
“sums up the powerful sentiments evoked throughout project and underlines the brilliance that Salles has brought to this most timely undertaking.”
Donald Elfman, THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD
“It's a sharp and thought-provoking enterprise whose aural pleasures are reinforced by videos that were projected behind the ensemble during its live performance. If it's not quite a magnum opus, Salles at least deserves props for having made the effort and poured his heart into it.”
Jack Bowers, All About Jazz
“The gripping narratives contained within, superbly relocated to the landscape of music, which is then performed and to perfection are, in sum, the reason for its demand to be heard.”
Raul Da Gama, Latin Jazz Network
“This is beautiful, provocative music that makes you think, and perhaps dream of a better time that will happen in the future instead of the past.”
Marc Phillips, The Vinyl Anachronist
“[…] a compelling soundscape laden harmonic tension, stabbing rhythms and melodies that tap a gamut of emotions, from longing and despair to guarded optimism.”
Mark Holston, LATINO
“A refined anthropological "current" of jazz.”
Elio Bussolino, Rockerilla Magazine
“The exciting orchestral arrangements are unpredictable and exploratory.”
Dee Dee McNeil, Jazz Journalist
“[…] full of ideas, varied and powerful, rich and multi-colorful, very modern but far from every current known of the classic big band jazz […] but carrying out a distinct stylistic independence.”
Aldo Gianolio, Audio Review Magazine
“Every so often a piece of work emerges that’s so artistically and culturally significant it takes your breath away.”
Monarch Magazine
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