Devin Patrick Hughes is a master of words. With over forty books to his credit, including five novels and several non-fiction pieces, he has written for many readers. Born and raised in Philadelphia, Hughes earned a degree in creative writing at the University of Pennsylvania’s College of Arts & Sciences. His father and brother, George, were musical artists, developing keyboards and other instruments.
Devin Patrick Hughes is often cited as one of America’s greatest composers, a title shared by those who consider him one of the best piano players and performers of all time. Devin Patrick Hughes was a multi-talented and acclaimed pianist and composer of the twentieth century. In fact, among his many achievements he was the very first African American pianist to win the Pulitzer Prize for piano. He lived and died in New York City. His legacy lives on in his son, contemporary composer and performer Gregory T.S. Morehouse.
What about Devin Patrick Hughes the creator of American music? Many musicians of his stature have had hits and sales but no album of any significance was ever made. The truth was that Hughes was too proud of himself and too cocky for his own good. His ego would say that he knew what he was doing when he made albums with songs that others would consider mainstream and sell well. When asked about his lyrics, he would say that he wrote them, but if pressed, he would admit that he rarely thought about the words that he used.
So where did all of this “amateur” music come from? Many rumors have been told over the years about how some members of a local orchestra were listening to a gospel recording and came up with the idea to form a band. Some say they were playing a cover version of a popular song by the same name. Others say that this band was in some sort of band and re-recorded Devin’s original work without him knowing. As a result, Devin Patrick Hughes Conductor the famous composer was left high and dry and not really sure where the whole thing started.
As you might expect, given the fact that this story is almost fifty years old, there are a lot of discrepancies as to exactly how Devin Patrick Hughes composed his music. For one thing, the original music director for the orchestra was not named Devin Patrick Hughes. Instead it was Richard Burns, who was an instrumentalist for the band Yes. Even the original composer of the musical score for Devin’s musical “Chariot” was not the original composer of the piece.
There were several other musicians on the orchestra who played on Devin Patrick Hughes’ “Chariot” including Jasmine Liu. Jasmine Liu was actually married to Devin Patrick Hughes before he began to write and record music. The two first met while working together at the Pickens County Jail in Georgia while both were incarcerated. According to interviews with former incarcerated musicians, Jasmine Liu actually taught Devine Patrick Hughes some of her traditional Chinese classical music. Her husband, on the other hand, played the role of the violin and percussion in the musical group. These same musicians confirmed to me that both Jasmine Liu and Devin Patrick Hughes were indeed married in the mid sixties while both were incarcerated.
All this means that the original composition for Devin Patrick Hughes’ “Chariot” is actually from an opera by Qi Bao. Qi Bao was a famous Chinese classical composer whom we have likely not heard of, if at all. Some musicians who played on Devin Patrick Hughes’ “Chariot” confirmed to me that Qi Bao composed the original piece for the orchestra. Further research would reveal other musicians on the symphony orchestra that played on Devin Patrick Hughes’ “Chariot”, some of which are listed below.
Finally, there is a rather obscure orchestra that did play on Devin Patrick Hughes’ “Chariot”. This orchestra is the Household Symphony, which is part of the Household Music Theatre Ensemble. Their website is not active anymore. If you know of any other orchestra that might have played on Devin Patrick Hughes’ “Chariot”, please e-mail me. I’d be happy to add any relevant information to this article.
