By Rob Tokanel, News Staff

A crowd of about 100 gathered in the John D. O’Bryant African American Institute Thursday for Ascendence:’ Movement One, a showcase performance in honor of Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick.
The show featured songs that were originally written in the early 1970s by Northeastern’s distinguished artist-in-residence Ed Bullins and Governor Patrick’s late father, Pat Patrick, a former saxophonist for the Sun Ra Orchestra. Richard O’Bryant, director of the John D. O’Bryant African-American Institute, said Bullins approached him several months ago and requested to perform the songs for the Governor in an intimate setting. Guests at the event included Northeastern President Joseph Aoun, Provost Stephen Director, Patrick and his wife, Diane.
‘I knew my father as a musician,’ Patrick told the audience before the show. ‘Music was what he did. But as I’ve come to know his work, I’ve learned that music is also what he was.’
Bullins told the crowd he met Pat Patrick in Harlem while he was working at the New Lafayette Theatre in the early ’70s, and though the two worked briefly together, the production never came together after they drifted apart.
Lois Roach, who directed the showcase, said she worked with Bullins to bring the show together with the original songs. The performance, which was arranged by Emmet Price III, a professor of music and African American studies at Northeastern, lasted about an hour and featured four actors performing arrangements of the jazz songs accompanied by bass, saxophone, drums and keyboard.
O’Bryant said the performance was an opportunity to see how artistic expression has remained valuable and how the healing power of music can continue to serve communities in tough times.
‘Let us see where we’ve been so we can continue to gain strength as we journey into the future,’ he said prior to the show.
A loose, light-hearted narrative about the love of two couples, one young and one middle-aged, tied the songs together, and the couples took turns serenading one other and dancing on a small stage while the band played to the audience’s left. Many of the tunes were peppered or prefaced by relaxed saxophone solos performed by Craig Hill, a sophomore at Berklee College of Music who was the most prominently featured musician.
Benny Sato Ambush, a friend of Bullins and a producer and director of performing arts at Emerson College, said the show was ‘wonderful’ and some of the songs were still playing in his head at its conclusion.
‘This piece is a love story, and we need more of that,’ he said. ‘I’d like to see this again and learn more about it.’
As Patrick watched the show from the front row, the crowd received the performance warmly, frequently laughing and occasionally clapping along.
Middler journalism major Christie Onyechi, who works in the Institute, said she was surprised that Deval Patrick came and was impressed by the show.
‘I didn’t know Deval Patrick’s father was a musician, but the whole thing was really cool,’ she said. ‘I dig jazz music.’
The performers on stage and in the band spanned a variety of ages and levels of experience, a fact Roach said was a point of pride for her.
‘It was an honor to create something that moved across generations, because our youngest was 19 and our oldest, I can’t tell,’ Roach said. ‘So it was very nice to take the music and make it accessible for all generations.’
O’Bryant said he hoped Governor Patrick had enjoyed himself and would feel welcome to return to the Institute for future events.
‘We really wanted to welcome the Governor and invite some folks from Northeastern and the surrounding community,’ O’Bryant said. ‘We gave them a chance to meet the Governor and also be supportive of the production, and we had a great turnout.’