Akropolis Reed Quintet, Pascal Le Boeuf and Christian Euman Release New Album, Are We Dreaming The Same Dream?

Are We Dreaming The Same Dream? - a new album from Akropolis Reed Quintet, composer and pianist Pascal Le Boeuf, and drummer Christian Euman - is out now on Bright Shiny Things.

GRAMMY-nominated composer, jazz pianist, and electronic artist Pascal Le Boeuf has frequently addressed environmental issues in previous works, including Into the Anthropocene (2018) and Ritual Being (2023). His album-length Are We Dreaming the Same Dream? draws together classical and jazz idioms in a unique meditation on author Ralph Ellison's words from The Invisible Man: "America is woven of many strands; I would recognize them and let it so remain."

Composed for an ensemble comprised of Akropolis Reed Quintet, drummer Christian Euman, and himself as pianist, Le Boeuf's work reflects the influences of Geri Allen, Dave Brubeck, Charles Mingus and Leonard Bernstein (all of whom explored themes of American unity or disunity) Le Boeuf probes the idea that diverse strands of experience, more than one unified "dream," are what define America - and ignite artistic creation. Akropolis performed the piece in November 2023 at the University Musical Society (UMS) Chamber Series in their native Ann Arbor, Michigan, becoming the first reed quintet to perform in the series.

Akropolis first met composer and jazz pianist Pascal Le Boeuf through the I-Park Foundation in 2018. Forming a friendship, they began to dream of a commission and collaboration. As clarinetist Kari Landry adds: "This would be the first time a reed quintet and piano joined forces, and Pascal thought the combination would be further enhanced with drummer Christian Euman added to the mix." The group workshopped ideas and techniques with Le Boeuf in 2019 resulting in Part One of Are We Dreaming The Same Dream? which they then recorded in 2020. Two years later, the goal of recording a complete album was realized. This is the sixth studio album to feature Akropolis and they are the first reed quintet to twice rank on the Billboard Charts (2021 and 2022).

Are We Dreaming the Same Dream? was commissioned by the Akropolis Reed Quintet with support from the National Endowment for the Arts "Art Works" program, the Aaron Copland Fund for Music Recording Program, the Alice M. Ditson Fund Recording Program, the Paul M. Angell Family Foundation, and the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs. This work was completed by Pascal Le Boeuf while in residence at Copland House, Cortlandt Manor, New York, as a recipient of the Copland House Residency Award. Akropolis performed the piece in November 2023 at the University Musical Society (UMS) Chamber Series in their native Ann Arbor, Michigan, becoming the first reed quintet to perform in the series.

Are We Dreaming the Same Dream? Tracklist

Pascal Le Boeuf - Are We Dreaming the Same Dream?
1. Prelude (Theme) [1:40]
2. All Consuming [8:08]
3. Interlude (Retrograde) [2:00]
4 Unity At Intervals [3:11]
5. Interlude (Mashup) [1:49]
6. Strands [7:33]
7. Processional [2:34]
8. Ambassadors (Swing) [3:08]
9. Ideals and Disillusions [5:42]
10. Invisible America (Main Theme) [3:32]
11. Ancestors (Fast) [1:33]
12. Interlude (Loop) [2:44]
13. Ancestors (Slow) [2:06]
14. Almost a Duet [1:58]
15. Dedications (Ballad) [2:26]
16. A Joyful Tribute [5:33]
17. Recessional [2:48]

About Akropolis Quintet

The Akropolis Reed Quintet comprises five reed players and entrepreneurs unbounded by limits or categorization.

Akropolis is the first reed quintet to twice grace the Billboard Charts (2021 and 2022). Winner of seven national chamber music prizes including the 2014 Fischoff Gold Medal, Akropolis is known for performing. Composed of the same five members that brought about its founding in 2009, Akropolis delivers 120 concerts and educational events worldwide each year and has premiered and commissioned more than 130 works by living artists and composers. Ever since the five Akropolis artists have remained united by a shared passion to make music that sparks joy and wonder.

Akropolis' 15th anniversary season in 2023-2024 included their UMS debut; premieres of the music of Derrick Skye and Stephanie Ann Boyd; imaginative renditions of music by Ravel and Stravinsky; and touring their 6th album, Are We Dreaming The Same Dream? with GRAMMY-nominated pianist and composer Pascal Le Beouf.

The quintet is also known for powerful collaborations with youth and others within its Detroit community. Certified as a 510(c)(3) nonprofit organization, Akropolis is the recipient of the 2015 Fischoff Educator Award, as well as seven consecutive grants from the National Endowment for the Arts.

About Pascal Le Boeuf

Pascal Le Boeuf is a GRAMMY-nominated composer, jazz pianist, and electronic artist whose works range from modern improvised music to hybridizing notation-based chamber music with production-based technology.

Recent compositions include Triple Concerto for violin, percussion duo and orchestra featuring Barbora Kolářová and Arx Duo; Imprints with Alarm Will Sound; I Am Not A Number commissioned by New World Symphony; and Out of the Gate commissioned and premiered by Nu Deco Ensemble.

Recent commercial recordings and videos include collaborations with Tasha Warren & Dave Eggar, Friction Quartet, Akropolis Reed Quintet, Christian Euman, JACK Quartet, Hub New Music, Shattered Glass, Todd Reynolds, Sara Caswell, Jessica Meyer, Nick Photinos, Four/Ten Media, Bec Plexus featuring Ian Chang (of Son Lux), Dayna Stephens, Allan Harris, Linda Oh, Justin Brown, and the Le Boeuf Brothers Quintet (co-led by Remy Le Boeuf) praised by The New Yorker for "clearing their own path, mixing the solid swing of the jazz tradition with hip-hop, indie rock, and the complex techniques of classical modernism."

As a keyboardist, Pascal has played as support for D'Angelo's Black Messiah tour and Clean Bandit's Rather Be tour with Australian pop artist Meg Mac. He actively performs with Le Boeuf Brothers, saxophonist Jeff Coffin, jazz vocalist Allan Harris, and his piano trio "Pascal's Triangle."

Pascal's most recent awards include a 2023 GRAMMY nomination for "Best Instrumental Composition," a 2023 Guggenheim Fellowship, a 2020 Copland House Residency Award, and various Independent Music Awards in "Jazz," "Eclectic," "Electronica," and "Music Video" categories. Pascal has received commissions and grants from NEA, New World Symphony, Nu Deco Ensemble, the Lake George Music Festival, Lincoln Center Stage, Chamber Music America, New Music USA, and ASCAP. He composed music for the 2008 Emmy award-winning movie King Lines, and won first place in the 2008 International Songwriting Competition.

Pascal is currently an assistant professor of the practice of music and technology at the Vanderbilt University Blair School of Music, and a "Harold W. Dodds Honorific Fellow" and Ph.D. candidate in music composition at Princeton University.

About Christian Euman

Christian Euman's unique style, creative approach to performance and improvisation, and infectious energy has garnered him international attention and appreciation. His musicianship was shaped during his tenure as a student at Western Michigan University, as well as at the prestigious Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Performance at UCLA (now known as the Herbie Hancock Institute), headed by Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter.

Christian has since performed, recorded, and/or toured worldwide such luminaries as Herbie Hancock, Kurt Elling, Billy Childs, säje, Jacob Collier, Rufus Wainwright, Larry Goldings, and many others. Christian has also contributed his distinct voice to award-winning films, in the scores of Green Book, Malignant, Ford v. Ferrari, and more. Christian is currently based in Los Angeles, CA, and is the touring drummer in Jacob Collier's Djesse World Tour.

He is a proud endorser of Canopus Drums, Aquarian Drumheads, Vic Firth Sticks, and Zildjian Cymbals. He released his debut album, Allemong, in summer of 2020.