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about
"Comité des Citoyens" is named for the activist organization based in the 7th ward of New Orleans whose act of civil disobedience in 1892 led to the arrest of Homer Plessy, resulting in the landmark Plessy v. Ferguson U.S. Supreme Court case of 1896. The angular up swing of this movement is intensified by text from that Supreme Court ruling, recited by members of the ensemble, that describes in detail the arrest and initial charges against Plessy. All of the clarinetists in question in the previous movement and many more were born and raised in that same neighborhood, and Asher himself lived there while writing Skrontch Music. "It's a special place. There was something that was happening there at the time that led to both political agitation and artistic excellence, and I wanted to address that duality." Fiery and virtuosic solos from tenor saxophonist Ricardo Pascal and pianist Oscar Rossignoli undergird this movement.
lyrics
Recited Text:
Supreme Court of the United States,
No. 210, October Term, 1895.
Homer Adolph Plessy,
Plaintiff in Error,
vs.
J.H. Ferguson, Judge of Section "A" of the Criminal District Court for the Parish of Orleans
In Error to the Supreme Court of the State of Louisiana
This cause came on to be heard on the transcript of the record from the Supreme Court of the State of Louisiana, and was argued by counsel.
On consideration whereof, It is now here ordered and adjudged by this Court that the judgment of the said Supreme Court, in this cause, be, and the same is hereby, affirmed with costs.
per Mr. Justice Brown,
May 18, 1896.
Dissenting:
Mr. Justice Harlan
This was a petition for writs of prohibition and certiorari originally filed in the supreme court of the state by Plessy, the plaintiff in error, against the Hon. John H. Ferguson, judge of the criminal district court for the parish of Orleans, and setting forth, in substance, the following facts...
That petitioner was a citizen of the United States and a resident of the state of Louisiana, of mixed descent, in the proportion of seven-eighths Caucasian and one-eighth African blood;
that the mixture of colored blood was not discernible in him, and that he was entitled to every recognition, right, privilege, and immunity secured to the citizens of the United States of the white race by its constitution and laws;
that on June 7, 1892, he engaged and paid for a first-class passage on the East Louisiana Railway, from New Orleans to Covington, in the same state, and thereupon entered a passenger train, and took possession of a vacant seat in a coach where passengers of the white race were accommodated; that such railroad company was incorporated by the laws of Louisiana as a common carrier, and was not authorized to distinguish between citizens according to their race, but, notwithstanding this, petitioner was required by the conductor, under penalty of ejection from said train and imprisonment, to vacate said coach, and occupy another seat, in a coach assigned by said company for persons not of the white race, and for no other reason than that petitioner was of the colored race;
that, upon petitioner's refusal to comply with such order, he was, with the aid of a police officer, forcibly ejected from said coach, and hurried off to, and imprisoned in, the parish jail of New Orleans, and there held to answer a charge made by such officer to the effect that he was guilty of having criminally violated an act of the general assembly of the state, approved July 10, 1890, in such case made and provided.
The petitioner was subsequently brought before the recorder of the city for preliminary examination, and committed for trial to the criminal district court for the parish of Orleans, where an information was filed against him in the matter above set forth, for a violation of the above act, which act the petitioner affirmed to be null and void, because it was in conflict with the constitution of the United States....
credits
from Byron Asher's Skrontch Music,
released October 25, 2019
Byron Asher, clarinet and tenor saxophone, compositions
Ricardo Pascal, clarinet and tenor saxophone
Aurora Nealand, clarinet and alto saxophone
Reagan Mitchell, soprano and alto saxophones
Shaye Cohn, cornet
Emily Frederickson, trombone
Oscar Rossignoli, piano
Steve Glenn, sousaphone
James Singleton, upright bass
Paul Thibodeaux, drumset
Text from the U.S. Supreme Court decision of 1896 in the case of Homer Adolphe Plessy v. J.H. Ferguson, Judge of Section "A" Criminal District Court for the Parish of Orleans.
On Comité des Citoyens solos are by Ricardo Pascal and Oscar Rossignoli.
Produced by Byron Asher, Scott Borne and Sinking City Records
Additional sound collage production by Justin Peake
Recorded and mixed by Rick Nelson, Marigny Studios, Winter 2018, New Orleans
Additional mixing by Paul Macdonald
Mastered by Kevin Blackler
Academic advisors Dr. Lydia Pelot-Hobbs and Dr. Sharlene Sinegal-DeCuir
supported by 8 fans who also own “Comité des Citoyens”
This could’ve been my album of the year if I’d noticed it. Hell.
2020, feeling like shit and then this musical balm appears. Live recording on one mic. Just bass and harp. Awesome. It swings like a pendulum do!
Big shout out for Dezron’s love of coffee. I now have 2 of his albums and he’s proselytising on behalf of coffee on both. Damn right ☕️ Crinklechips
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