Meet Kendrah: Behind the scenes with Eight Eight Time
Kendrah Butler-Waters. Photo: Tshay Williams.
Journey Arts’ executive director sat down with each of the composers of Eight Eight Time to learn more about the spark for their compositional work. Read on to hear more from Kendrah Butler-Waters, the creative spark behind Eight Eight Time!
CRS: How did the overall idea for the work, Eight Eight Time, come to you?
KBW: I had been watching the 5 Browns (a unique, all-sibling classical piano quintet), and I started to imagine what I could do with something like this.
I’d been an admirer of the three other pianists in this project for some time. I knew Terry a little because she had invited me to teach a masterclass at West Chester University (where she was teaching at the time), but with Sumi and Suzzette, I had mostly admired their work from afar. Being an admirer of each of them — their musicianship, compositional work, and their work ethic, and seeing the projects these women each like to take on — it felt like the perfect fit to invite them in to dream and create with me.
My faith is a large part of everything I do. Sometimes the Lord will lay things on my heart, and I’ll just know it's something that has to be done. And this was laid on my heart, and I sat on it for a while, as I wanted to make sure it was done the right way. It took two or three years to bring this project first to Journey Arts, and then it’s been over two years in securing funding, setting the story circles in motion, writing the work, and now, rehearsing for April’s premiere.
CRS: You gave each of the pianists a charge: Think about a social justice area that you’re passionate about, and let this idea help guide the compositional process, including the story circles that help generate material. What was the spark for your issue area?
KBW: My piece of Eight Eight Time explores Black maternal health. When I had Kendrick, my second son, I knew I was going to have a C-section and have an epidural. My husband was there every step of the way, but both times when my sons were born, the anesthesiologists wouldn’t hear me — neither of them listened, and were being borderline insulting about me and my body. Having to swallow that at a time when I was already vulnerable was so tough. With my second son, I told the doctors that I could not breathe. I could barely get the words out, and the anesthesiologist kept saying everything was fine. And then I blacked out. Coming to, I saw them holding Kendrick, but I wasn’t able to hear him. Finally, I heard my son scream, and then I blacked out again, and by the time I woke up, he’s with me, and I had no idea what had happened. The fear in all of that — you’re telling people something isn’t right, but no one is listening — not being listened to was so scary. And to find out later that Black women have some of the highest mortality rates -- and no one is listening to us. There is a medical system bias about what Black women can handle and take. It cuts across socioeconomic levels -- and before the story circle, I read so much about this — even Black medical doctors lost their lives when giving birth because no one was listening. This is across education, power levels, socioeconomic status — an innate bias against Black bodies. And the lack of training on behalf of the physicians to listen to their patients and to know that patients are the experts on their own bodies. That feeling of voicelessness is what led me to want to lend voice to this issue.
CRS: And how did you use the story circles to explore this?
The story circles took my personal experience and readings to a completely different level. In sharing their experiences giving birth, women were just being advocates for themselves and their experiences. We connected on such a deep level, uniting around the sheer fact of knowing you’re not alone. The women that participated — the thread throughout all of our stories is overcoming, surviving, advocating, and speaking up. It was such a powerful lesson in the importance of community.
CRS: That’s so powerful. And I’m curious — how does your music reflect the story circle and your experiences?
KBW: The first four-hands piece focuses on four of the participants who shared their stories, while the second focuses on three other women’s experiences. My own story is reflected in the solo piece. And the music sounds like our stories: it’s intense, with moments of calmness and reflection, and periods of pure triumph. It feels like, in a way, it demonstrates the course of motherhood — there are points of intensity, points of reflection, moments of difficulty and of triumph too — and then the cycle just keeps going.
CRS: That’s beautiful. And to wrap-up our conversation, what are you excited for audiences to hear?
KBW: I’m excited for everyone to hear the vastness of the work and its ideas. We all work in a jazz idiom, but bring in multiple idioms from other genres, and it all connects to our collective experiences. This work is a true labor of love!
Find your tickets here and join us for Eight Eight Time on April 3, 4, and 5!