CANCELED BY ARTIST – Stephen Rush presents a Jazz Oratorio: Middle Passage

Composer/conductor Stephen Rush brings together a jazz septet, with vocalists Ryan Buyers and Kevin Starnes, for a large-scale jazz oratorio built on the poetry of Robert Hayden. “Middle Passage” reimagines the 1839 Amistad rebellion, led by Cinquez, through music that moves between West African chant, Cuban rhythm, and free jazz, with the band itself functioning as a chorus, singing and calling out alongside the narration. Hayden, the first tenured Black English professor at the University of Michigan, wrote the poem that anchors the piece.

Stephen Rush, Composer/Conductor
Ryan Buyers, vocalist
Kevin Starnes, vocalist
Molly Jones, Saxophone
Jaribu Shahid, Bass
Max Bowen, Guitar
Jonathan Barahal Taylor, Drums
Kris Johnson, Trumpet
Sam Novell-Regester, Trombone
Michael Malis, Piano