Vince Mendoza featured in JazzTimes

USC Thornton faculty member Vince Mendoza was featured in Jazz Times magazine about Freedom Over Everything, his latest album and debut on the new Modern Recordings label. The centerpiece of the recording is “Concerto for Orchestra,” a five-movement work that grew to include rapper Tarik “Black Thought” Trotter of The Roots in the final movement.

“In particular, Nina Simone’s quote about how artists must reflect their times—that got me,” Mendoza said. “That’s when I really started making the structure of the piece reflect what I had hoped this cycle of noise, protest, eventual justice, and understanding would portray.”