|
liner notes by gebhard ullmann and steve swell 2004
music the way i understand it is all about communication. this is true in particular for what i call jazz, a music that covers way more musical ground than most people are aware. improvisation and communication in music has been and still is a major part of the musical heritage which something i find true and alive in my travels around the world. (besides the western culture there are also southern, eastern, anmd northern cultures - all amazing).
this band - steve hill barry and myself - is all about communication. i would like to thank the other musicians for being wide open. we are introducing some compositions derived from the sounds we are surrounded by or heard during our travels or in the cities where we live. "flutist ..." is a description of an imaginary painting, "desert ..." was written for a tour to the west using melodic idioms from the east (where I live in Europe) "seven 9-8" uses a melodic and rhythmic language i have been working on for almost two decades now, in this case a 7/8 into a 9/8, shifting against the 7/8 ...
i was pleased of how this quartet sounded different every night and developed during every concert. what you hear on this CD is the way we played it half way through the tour. i am looking forward to how it will sound in the future as I am a strong believer in band projects and the way music, human communication and relations develop over time.
i would also like to thank the people at cimp for their support in making this session happen.
gebhard ullmann
(july 2004)
when first getting together to rehearse for this date, which also included a 10 day tour, gebhard and i realized we both had written material with the 'desert' in mind. my reason being that i had just spent 2 weeks in mali, africa in january with barry in roswell rudd's trombone shout band. 3 of those nights were spent sleeping in tents on the sahara desert. gebhard's desert experience was the one out west in new mexico, arizona and texas. we all thought it was obvious to have the desert as our theme for this cd. all the musicians here have been ardent travelers not only of the plane, train and automobile type, but musical travelers, traversing landscapes of the mind, body and soul.
whether it is traveling to and from different 'genres' like hill does, being able to play fire music with charles gayle or beautiful ballads with jimmy scott. or barry going from paul bley to anthony braxton to roswell rudd to chet baker. or gebhard who grew up with loving jazz in a country that was not native to it but learning by going out and playing with many musicians from all over the world who love this music as much as he does. or myself, who believes jazz and/or improvised music is not only different genres to try to master, but mastery of the self while interacting with others, making the journey not just a 2 way street but a super connected highway with unlimited possibilities. there are as many genres or places to visit in jazz as there are people and combinations of people who choose to explore it.
maybe its why musicians love the road so much. working and traveling everyday you get the feeling of freedom of movement and change which is physically akin to what we do as improvisers. sitting on a plane for eight hours may just be the physical continuation of our journey to somewhere musically. although I haven't heard of many gigs lasting 8 hours, i wouldn't mind trying.
with those travels, both musically and by plane, car and camel, we have gathered many personal stories, thoughts and feelings. stories that relate experiences whose ultimate realization might be that the embracing of inclusion and tolerance should be the ultimate goal rather than exclusion and restrictions of all types that still exist as forces defeating us from within and without. that realization we hope to share with you on this cd.
thanks to all the musicians and the crew at north country for all their work and support.
thanks for listening.
steve swell
(july 2004)
|