The Grey Land (2018)

Soprano, Narrator, Flute/Piccolo; Bb Clarinet/Eb Clarinet; Alto Saxophone; Bassoon; Bb Trumpet; Horn; Trombone; (4) Electric and Acoustic Guitars ; (2) Electric Pianos; Harp; (6) Voices; (4) Violins—violin 1 plays solo on Electric Violin/Viper on “…Black Mamba”; (2) Violas; Cello; Electric Bass

65 minutes

​"Mr. Phillips can be heard rendering these varied cultural signals into a heterogenous work of art — but one that has a coherence the world often lacks. And this, in the end, seems like his latest understanding of 'the digging of everything.' Sometimes that digging may involve appreciation; at other points, it is simply a process of documentation, or of profitably trying to sort one’s own complex feelings."
​— Seth Colter Walls, The New York Times, "In the Wake of Ferguson, a Style-Blurring Album"
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"Phillips conveys the sorrow, agony, rage and sheer exhaustion of the struggle while at the same time radiating a shared strength, beauty, and determination. Soprano Rebecca L Hargrove and narrator Kenneth Browning embody all of these as mother and son, deftly aided by Phillips's own 28-piece Numinous ensemble in giving voice to a collective cry for justice that echoes through the years...the composer's 'mixed music' idiom lends sociopolitical thrust to a post-minimalism that suffuses the work with added poignancy in light of the historic neglect of Julius Eastman, his minimalist precursor."
— Steph Power, BBC Music Magazine​ (4 out of 5 stars)
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"The Grey Land...[Joseph C Phillips Jr's] most ambitious, and possibly most important work yet."​
​— John Schaefer, New Sounds, "Top 10 of 2020" (#4)

(more press, reviews, and features here)​
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13 scenes from a land “that never has been yet”
The Grey Land album one year trailer 1
The Grey Land is a 65-minute monoopera by Joseph C Phillips Jr that explores universal themes of humanity and identity through the intractable triumvirate of race, class, and power in American society. The Grey Land integrates a variety of writings, film, dance, set and lighting designs, and dramatic elements in order to advance a non-traditional narrative that embraces the musical and social multitudes and “dichotomies of high and low, inside and outside, tradition and innovation” within Black culture. Working with choreographer Edisa Weeks, electronic musician Michael Hammond, filmmaker Malik Isasis and video artist Xuan Zhang, The Grey Land ruminates and comments more specifically on the larger longstanding systemic societal, economic and cultural issues the various police shootings and protests since 2014 have brought to a wider public consciousness. The Grey Land album was released on New Amsterdam Records on November 20, 2020.
Music/Concept:
Joseph C Phillips Jr
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Words:
Joseph C Phillips Jr, Isaac Butler, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Frederick Douglass,
Sonia Sotomayor, Mothers of the Movement, Carolyn Bryant Donham

Video/Film:
Malik Isasis, Xuan Zhang

Choreography:
Edisa Weeks

Dance soloist:
Jay Bouey

Electronics:
Michael Hammond

The Grey Land concert premiere was originally made possible by a grant from the American Composers Forum with funds provided by the Jerome Foundation and, in addition, was also supported by New Music USA. 

The Grey Land album one year trailer 2
"The Sunken Place," scene 12 from The Grey Land; music by Joseph C Phillips Jr and performed by Numinous, video by Xuan Zhang www.xuanfilms.com; "The People Get Tired of Dying," scene 1 from The Grey Land; music by Joseph C Phillips Jr and performed by Numinous, video by Malik Isasis​ malik.nyc

The Grey Land album was released on November 20, 2020 on New Amsterdam Records and you can order at: numinous.bandcamp.com

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Additional information about The Grey Land: