“[Kallor] writes music of unaffected emotional directness. Leavened with flashes of oddball humor, his works succeed in drawing in the listener - not as consumer or worshipful celebrant, but in a spirit of easygoing camaraderie.”
These concerts feature collaborations with artists encompassing a wide spectrum of musical flavors, performing Gregg's dynamic chamber music compositions and innovative arrangements of rock, pop, and jazz with improvisation alongside classic repertoire. Recent collaborators include cellist Joshua Roman, violinists Miranda Cuckson, Stefan Jackiw, and Rachel Lee Priday; the Attacca Quartet; accordion/bandoneón player Julien Labro; percussionist Richie Barshay; tap dancer Andrew Nemr; and others.
A FEVERED DREAM
violin, cello, and piano
commissioned by SubCulture Arts Underground, New York
w/cellist Joshua Roman and violinist Miranda Cuckson
I arranged Layla for string quartet and piano so the fantastic Attacca Quartet and I could rock out after playing a whole bunch of notated music. I grew up listening to classic rock alongside Bach and Coltrane, and I’ve always loved Layla’s iconic melodies, pounding drive, and that insanely beautiful coda (that I can never get out of my ears) - which is so much fun to improvise on.
Some Not Too distant tomorrow
string quartet and piano
commissioned by the Classical Recording Foundation and funded by a gift from Linda and Stuart Nelson
w/the Attacca Quartet
A TRIBUTE TO THE LEGACY OF MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.
Every year on Martin Luther King, Jr's birthday, I spend some time with his speeches and wonder what further words of conscience he might have offered had he lived longer.
I've never felt more fear or uncertainty about the way we communicate with each other and what that means for our future than I have recently, and I find myself increasingly drawn to Dr. King's message of compassion, and inclusiveness, and social and economic equality for everyone. His words have been a great comfort to me during this unsettling period, and my new composition for piano and string quartet is inspired by Dr. King's singular faith in our capacity to love, and to do better.
The title of the suite, Some Not Too Distant Tomorrow, comes from a passage in Dr. King's Letter from Birmingham Jail, which he wrote during a period of solitary confinement in the Alabama prison. The letter is an exquisite statement about the dire urgency of achieving social and economic justice, and about the moral and practical implications of nonviolence as the means of getting there. It's also a searing indictment of those who advocated for the status quo in the face of horrible injustice. And it's a moving plea for understanding, and mutual respect.
I hope the music conveys the profound impact his words have had on me.
“Amid Kallor’s jazz-inflected sound world, a lyrical grace threaded through the five cohesive movements...
Floating, sunkissed passages swam with underlying tension... weaving an elegant veil of serene tones - a satisfying nexus between social conflict and art.”
“The main event was the world premiere of Some Not Too Distant Tomorrow, a piano quintet conceived as a tribute to Martin Luther King, Jr. With the composer at the piano, the [Attacca] quartet dug into the first movement, ‘The Fierce Urgency of Now’, its angularity and syncopations reflecting the strength in King’s ‘I Have a Dream’ speech. Later came blues-infused melodies floating over alluring pizzicato ostinatos alternating with bristling, rapid energy. The fifth movement, which gives the work its title, comes from King’s 1963 ‘Letter from a Birmingham Jail’, and in its granitic, complex chords, left a mood of optimism in its wake.”
“Some Not Too Distant Tomorrow”... incorporates modern melodic and jazz ideas in a flawless fusion of sounds, reflecting the tension, unease and tragedy of Dr. King’s too-brief life.
The work uses piano and string quartet in effective tandem, generating fresh voicings as the instruments are sounded, combined and recombined. The five movements are pure music, with some room for Mr. Kallor’s piano to improvise against the ensemble. There is a stunning fast movement where fast pizzicato work dives and leaps over a keening violin and Mr. Kallor’s steady pianism.
The slow final movement was the best of all. Here, slow, hypnotic chords and gentle string melodies forged a gentle, hopeful cloak of sound, a light and transparent comfort in these dark times.”
