Another
operating word or concept of this CD is transparency, which
can be defined as clearness, simplicity or intelligibility.
All cool concepts in music and life.
The
music contained here is all "original" with Drew,
Fritz and John each contributing one piece, the rest being
composed by me. What is amazing is that I asked each of
them to contribute a piece for the CD. We hadn’t yet
played what I recently wrote and I didn’t describe
a vibe or mood that I was looking for, but all three pieces
fit the CD perfectly. The pieces by Drew, Fritz and John
are spread out evenly on the CD and act as great supporting
contrasts to my pieces.
The
CD opens with "Trees". The title
comes from a drive through the Austrian Alps when a rain
turned suddenly cold and the trees all became covered with
a layer of ice. The sun shinning through the icy trees was
worthy of a photo, but I was driving and didn’t have
a camera, so it had be documented as a tune title. Musically,
"Trees" is marked as "Delicate Afro 12/8".
Now, when one thinks of African grooves and rhythms, one
word that doesn’t usually come to mind is "delicate".
But, that's just the point here. Bringing in the African
rhythmic concept of 12/8, juxtaposed with 4/4 (dotted quarters)
and combined with floating vamps or fluxes. Harmonically,
the piece is based on the 5th structure, which gives us
Lydian as the tonic. The fluxes, or vamps, are taken through
a series of modulations. The piano voicings combined with
Hollenbeck’s "delicate" 6/8 groove, combine
to make a wonderful transparency for the trombone melody
to float over. In the trombone solo, the transparency is
enhanced further by the absence of the piano. The trombone
solo takes on a nice shape, which leads gracefully into
the bass solo. Drew starts his solo sparsely and builds
all the way into the piano solo. Fritz supports the build
by entering with background comping on Drew’s 2nd
chorus. Fritz continues to build on the energy established
by Drew and takes it to another level. The melody enters
on Fritz’s 2nd chorus as a background with the rhythm
section, Fritz at the helm, continuing to burn. Fritz winds
his solo down seamlessly, and assumes the roll of comper,
as the trombone melody eases to the front. Hollenbeck takes
over briefly on top of a vamp, still in 6/8 as 5/8+7/8.
We jump into 4/4 for a few bars and then out with the coda,
a condensed section of the melody. These guys make it sound
easy.
Next
up is Drew’s "It was After Rain that
the Angel Came….". The order of the
CD is, more or less, the same order we were playing on tour.
This beautiful tune creates a wonderful mood every time
we play it. It’s written in 3/2 time. In this quartet,
we are all equal in that the melody and accompaniment can
be played by any one of us alone or together. Drew introduces
his tune with John swirling around behind him. The trombone
melody is stated with the cup mute. Drew takes the first
solo here with the trombone playing fragments of the melody
behind him. The intent of the trombone solo was lyricism.
Note that the time is being played by all the players, leaving
room for John to ad lib freely in and around the time. Here
again the "out theme" is stated during the 2nd
chorus of the piano solo, making this statement of the theme
kind of a background for the piano.
Harmonically,
"Osmosis" is also based on the
structure of 5ths. As usual all the piano voicings are written
out. Since the voicings are based more on intervallic relationships
than on traditional diatonic structures the concept of chord
changes don’t really apply. In this case, for the
players benefit, voicings are written out with chord changes
suggesting modality rather than specific chords. "Osmosis"
is a long-form piece with several sections. After stating
the theme, the trombone solo starts with the same background
as in the theme with each chorus getting progressively free-er.
The trombone solo grows all the way into the piano solo.
Fritz comes in burning and keeps it up until the end of
his solo winding down into an interlude, which takes us
to the bass solo accompanied by only the trombone. You don’t
hear a trombone player comping very often. John and Fritz
gradually join Drew, which transforms into a group improvisation,
the trombone moving gradually from a supporting role to
an equal participant. This group improv leads into some
composed development with the bass and trombone sharing
the lead for a while before the head out and coda.
The
poignant "Coping Song" by John
Hollenbeck was written September 12th, 2001. Here again
the bass has the lead roll at the top with the trombone,
in plunger mute, supporting. This piece is truly "reflective".
he
title tune, "Reflection" is also
based on the 5th structure. Here the flux, or vamp in the
form of an arpeggio, moves slowly taking 4 or 5 bars of
13/8 to transform into the next chord. The melody is very
simple mostly in scale steps. The second half is a reflection
(mirror image) of the first half.
"Yanagumi"
is Fritz’s contribution. Kind of a swing tune, but
with twists and turns as the meters and tempos change.
"Lumuria"
is an older tune, written around 1992. I call it a waltz
with a limp, 3/4 time with an occasional 5/4 bar, just to
keep everybody on their toes. Quite a long form, but cut
down from the original, the piece contains a nod to Thad
Jones’ "Walk’n About".
"Gobblers
Nob", the last piece on the CD was the first
one composed. Way back in 1981 when I first moved to New
York. It’s a short (14 bars) and simple tune with
a motive that repeats itself a few times. No solos here,
just group improvisation. "Gobblers Nob" (a hill
outside of Shadyside Ohio) certainly fits well here and
finishes the CD nicely.
Well
if you have read all this and not listened to the CD yet,
you won’t need to listen as I’ve described and
explained everything, especially useful if you are a CD
reviewer. Hopefully, you will be inspired to listen over
and over. I’m very happy and proud of the music we
make together. One couldn’t ask for more sympathetic
partners than John, Fritz and Drew, all longtime musical
companions.
Please
join us at TalkAboutFocus.com for a more in-depth discussion
of the process of doing, especially as it relates to making
music.
Enjoy.
Ed
Neumeister (Vienna 2006)
"Violence,
in all it’s forms... unacceptable is"
Tracks
1,2,3,5 recorded February 20, 2003 by
Martin Piersen at
DRS Studios, Zurich/Switzerland.
Produced for Swiss Radio by Peter Bürli.
Tracks 4,6,7,8 recorded November 2001 by Gerhard
Wesely at Soundbourn Studios, Vienna/Austria.
Mastering
by Gerhard Pichler at Birthmark Studio,
Vienna/Austria.
Layout and Cover-Photos by Eva Kim Heu.
Photos (Booklet) by Linda Gallagher.
Produced
by Ed Neumeister for MeisteroMusic
Productions.
©
2006 MeisteroMusic all rights reserved |
