Cowell Stanley - Juneteenth (2015)

Juneteenth is a traditional festival of freedom for African Americans. The name comes from a date, June 19, 1865, the day blacks in Texas learned that slavery was abolished. Inspired by the upcoming 150th anniversary of the festival, American jazz pianist Stanley Cowell first created the suite for piano recorded here, and then went on to create a work on the same theme for orchestra, choir and electronics. Cowell, currently a professor at Rutgers, has worked with many jazz greats including Max Roach, Bobby Hutcherson, Clifford Jordan, Sonny Rollins and Stan Getz.