Jazz has a long and storied history as a vessel for protest. There’s Billie Holiday’s haunting warning in “Strange Fruit” and Nina Simone’s unapologetic “Mississippi Goddam.” From John Coltrane’s aching response to the Birmingham church bombing in “Alabama” to Max Roach’s defiant We Insist! Freedom Now Suite, jazz has long been a vessel for protest.
That lineage continues on Feb. 20 and 21, when Jazz St. Louis premieres The MLK Suite, an original work by Victor Goines.
Originally composed in 2015 while Goines was at Northwestern University, The MLK Suite now arrives in St. Louis fully orchestrated for big band for the first time, featuring acclaimed trombonist Wycliffe Gordon as the musical “minister” guiding the congregation – which includes the band and the audience. The performances coincide with Black History Month and Jazz St. Louis’ 30th anniversary season.
“This piece gave me the opportunity to go much deeper than the surface-level understanding most of us have of Dr. King’s life,” Goines said. “It’s a musical portrait of who he was, what he stood for, and why his voice still matters.”
What began as a seven-movement suite has grown into nine movements — “and I hope we play it soon before it becomes 10,” Goines joked — each one tracing a chapter of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s life, spirit and legacy. The expansion came through years of reflection, encouragement from his wife, Cara Pearson, and a renewed desire to do something meaningful for Black History Month.
“I figured I would tell what I learned about him historically into music,” Goines said. “No matter how much we know, we never know enough.”
The suite opens at the beginning, literally. The first movement, “Michael, the Archangel,” references a lesser-known fact: Dr. King’s birth name was Michael, not Martin. His father later changed both of their names after being inspired by the philosophy of Martin Luther.
“With all I thought I knew about Dr. King, I didn’t know that,” Goines said. “So we always start at the beginning.”
From there, the suite moves into “I Ain’t Gonna Stand for This No More,” a sermon-infused declaration rooted in King’s identity as a minister. That urgency accelerates in movement three, “The Language of the Unheard,” inspired by King’s oft-quoted line, “A riot is the language of the unheard.” Goines leans into bebop intensity here, using speed, tension and anxiety to mirror frustration with unresponsive systems of power.
Movement four, “Mrs. King,” shifts the emotional center with a tender ballad honoring Coretta Scott King, featuring Gordon’s trombone as a lyrical, human voice. “Good Trouble,” the fifth movement, draws from the March 25, 1965 Selma-to-Montgomery march, echoing King’s rhythmic cadence — “How long? Not long” — through call-and-response chants that evolve into a waltz, symbolizing the march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge.
“There’s a melodic thing in his voice,” Goines said. “That movement really leans into that.”
Prayer arrives in movement six, “Oh Lord, Save Us,” grounding the suite firmly in the Southern Black Baptist tradition. Movement seven, “The Long Hard Road,” reflects the March on Washington and the extended struggle for civil and economic justice.
The final two movements are inseparable. “When They Struck Him Down” confronts King’s assassination at the Lorraine Motel, while “Yes, He Lives Forever” transforms mourning into celebration, drawing from the New Orleans tradition of honoring the dead while rejoicing in their transition. “Even in his absence from his earthly body,” Goines said, “he still lives on.”
That spiritual arc is carried by Gordon, whose deep roots in the Southern Baptist church made him essential to the project. “The minister delivers the message, the congregation listens, then responds,” Gordon said. “That’s exactly how this piece feels.”
Goines likens the big band itself to the movement King led. “When they marched across that bridge, the success was how they moved together, not apart,” he said. “The power of being together is far greater than being an individual.”
The suite also honors sacrifices beyond King’s own, including civil rights martyr Viola Liuzzo, a white Detroit mother of five murdered by the Ku Klux Klan for supporting the Selma march. “A lot of people made sacrifices,” Goines said. “I hope this has a lasting effect on people who might take equality and civil rights for granted, especially in the times we’re in.”
In a moment when the world again feels fractured, The MLK Suite insists on remembrance, responsibility and togetherness, like the protest jazz that came before it.
“This is a community cultural experience,” Goines said. “I hope people leave inspired to know more about Dr. King than they did when they walked in.”
The MLK Suite: A Jazz St. Louis Big Band performance featuring special guest trombonist Wycliffe Gordon will take place at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, February 20 and Saturday, February 21 at Jazz St. Louis, 3536 Washington Avenue. For tickets and additional information, visit www.jazzstl.org.
Living It content is produced with funding by the ARPA for the Arts grants program in partnership with the Regional Arts Commission of St. Louis and the Community Development Administration.
