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. Each concert represents a different time of day - Dawn, Daylight, Twilight, and Night. The four concerts were held across a single day, with each performance being held at the appropriate time.
In this broadcast, you’ll hear the third and fourth concerts in the series: Twilight Songs and Night Songs.
The titles of the various movements in these suites both guide and reflect the journey:
Twilight Songs consists of just three movements: Unmasking, Awakening, and Be-ing.
Night Songs, the last of the four suites, is made up of movements that reflect the hours passing in a sleepless night. They’re called 12, 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, and finally Z, or sleep.
Umar Zakaria and friends at St. Peter's on Willis, 2021 Wellington Jazz Festival. Photo: Stephen A'Court
Bassist and composer Umar Zakaria is joined by his regular trio, Duncan Haynes on piano and Luther Hunt on drums, as well as Ruby Solly playing cello and taonga pūoro, and Tristan Carter playing violin.
Listen to Part 1 of the Sun Song Suites here:
Wellington Jazz Festival 2021: Umar Zakaria Sun Song Suites Part 1 - Dawn & Daylight
Recorded live at St Peters Willis St in Wellington, at the 2021 Wellington Jazz Festival
Produced and Engineered by Steve Burridge for RNZ
Sun Song Suites commissioned by Wellington Jazz Festival
