bobby zankel

In 2000, an ongoing discussion on the dismal state of contemporary jazz in Philadelphia (clubs unwilling to present anything original, radio not playing modern music, schools not exposing students to new ideas...) between composer/saxophonist Bobby Zankel (Pew Fellow), Peabody Award winning radio producer Steve Rowland, attorney/record producer Keith McKinley, Mogauwane Mahoele (Pew Fellow) and a number of young composers showed the need for an organization to support Philadelphia’s modern jazz composers and musicians and to educate the younger musicians in the innovations of the last 30 years. We intended to encourage new ideas and share with the listening public the joy and beauty of music that reflects contemporary feeling, ideas, and life: hence “Warriors of the Wonderful Sound Inc.” was born with idea of establishing a performing ensemble to serve as a vehicle for the performance of new compositions primarily by Bobby Zankel, as well as bringing in master composers from around the world as Resident Artists. We intend to create a series of workshops for schools or community situations to give students the experience of playing and analyzing modern music.
Since September of 2001, we have presented our 15 member ensemble, Bobby Zankel and the Warriors of the Wonderful Sound in a monthly concert series at Club Tritone. These informal low budget events have delighted thousands of Delaware Valley music lovers over the years. With support for the American Composers Forum,the band released a CD in 2006, "Ceremonies of Forgiveness" that was listed on "Recording of the Year" lists around the world. We have performed at the Philadelphia Art Museum, the Oak Lane Jazz Festival, Calvary Church, and in New York City as part of the Daniel Pearl Music Days. As the big band has become a Philadelphia institution with an international reputation, we have begun to widen our umbrella to support an increasing variety of projects. In 2007 with the Art Sanctuary,and Ars Nova as co-presenters we premiered "Force For Good" a 40th memorial for John Coltrane. We received funding from PennPat and Pew to record this music in 2008 and are working on creating our own label to present deserving creative musicians. In 2008 we established our first commissioning project, for young composer/improvisers in coordination with the music presenting organization -Philly Sci Fi. In 2008 we were able to perform at the Erie Jazz and Blues Festival and a part of the Bloomsburg University Celebrity Artist Series with support from PennPat. With the Philadelphia Folklore Project as a partner, we have begun creating a music/dance collaboration tomemorialize the 9 slaves who were owned by George Washington and lived at the President’s House: this project has received funding for research and development from Dance Advance and the Pew Foundation.In a historic event, the big band performed the music of the late modernist composer, Julius Hemphill, in a concert by presented by Ars Nova. A two year project entitled “The Wizards of the Saxophone Meet the Warriors of the Wonderful Sound: Creating a 21st Century Jazz Vocabulary” was funded by PMP. WWS commissioned, performed with and conducted workshops with composer/alto saxophonists Rudresh Mahanthappa and Steve Coleman, . Funding from the Aaron Copland Foundation sponsored our performance of Rudresh's piece in New York City. The Warriors “ have featured such guest artists as Odean Pope, Dave Leibman, and Marty Ehrlich. Since 2008 we have developed our capacity to conduct "user friendly"workshops that introduce and present cutting edge approached to jazz composition, improvisation and ensemble performance. Our evolving relationships with the Kimmel Center Creative Music Program and the Philadelphia Clef Club holds much promise for our ability to introduce modern ideas to our talented young musicians. WWS has recently been funded by PMP to commission, perform with and “workshop” with NEA Jazz Master Muhal Richard Abrams