Pasa Pasa II - Mikhail Johnson (2021)

Andy Hudson, clarinet

"Pasa Pasa II" by Mikhail Johnson (World Premiere Performance)

From the composer:

"Pasa Pasa was inspired from a well-known dancehall event, or street dance/gathering that started on Spanish Town Road in the Tivoli Gardens section of Kingston, Jamaica in 2003. Still a popular event today, the dance occurs on a Wednesday night, many times finishing at 8AM on Thursday morning. In the context of Jamaican vernacular however, it means to chat, converse, gossip, or talk about something; any incident or time marked by drama, scandal, confusion, or conflict.

I evoke both meanings in tandem throughout the piece: the idea of conversation, using one of the prominent features of Jamaican music which transcends our culture, and speaks to that of our African ancestry: the call-and-response. While simultaneously depicting the Jamaican music used in the Pasa Pasa dance... the end of the piece is indicative of the attendees heading home at daybreak and as they move away from the dance site, the music plays on."

Pasa Pasa was commissioned by the UNC Greensboro Clarinet Consortium.

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