“Free Jazz” is a phrase that doesn’t much stir my enthusiasm, and I admit I’m not quite sure what to make of this, but it’s an interesting news item to note, and besides – I’m sure there are readers for whom “Free Jazz” inspires the same kind of heart-throbs that “fluffy kittens” or “Tecumseh Sherman” do for me. (I’m a girl of varied tastes, what can I say? If they ever uncover a tintype of Sherman holding fluffy kittens I might shatter every window in Toronto with my high pitched squealing.)

The six new compositions in this concert give voice to the thoughts and feelings of the mothers, brothers, civilian spies, and runaway slaves all living in the war but rarely seeing the battle field. The tone of these compositions reflects the anxieties and fears of a population living in an unforeseeable future.

Jazz pianist Dave Burrell, with violin accompaniment, presents a Civil War-themed programme commissioned by the Rosenbach Museum & Library. The link below has the entire hour-plus performance embedded if, well, y’know… “Fluffy kittens”.

http://www.rosenbach.org/learn/artists/projects/civilians-during-wartime