street date: March 11, 2012
tracklist:
1. Fabric Monument (for Czesław Miłosz)
2. Acoustic Fence (for Witold Lutosławski)
3. Open Window Theory (for Fred Anderson)musicians:
Ken Vandermark: baritone saxophone, Bb clarinetWacław Zimpel: bass clarinet, Bb clarinet
Mikolaj Trzaska: alto saxophone, bass clarinet
Devin Hoff: bass
Steve Swell: trombone
Dave Rempis: tenor saxophone, alto saxophone
Per-Åke Holmlander: tuba
Tim Daisy: drums
Magnus Broo: trumpet
Michael Zerang: drums, percussion
All compositions by Ken Vandermark (Twenty First Mobile Music/ASCAP)
Recorded at Strobe Studios, Chicago, on March 7, 2011 by Bob Weston.
Mixed by Bob Weston and Ken Vandermark at Chicago Mastering Service. Mastered by Bob Weston at CMS.
Liner notes:
In mid December of 2004, for some completely unknown reason, a complimentary issue of Time Magazine showed up in my mailbox. I hate the periodical, never read it except when I'm at the dentist, so I have no idea why it arrived. On the front cover was George W. Bush's face, he had been selected as "Person of the Year" by the magazine's editors after his reelection as president. Just one more reason to hate the publication. As I flipped through the pages with masochistic curiosity while drinking my morning coffee, I came across the following, an excerpt from "Late Ripeness," written by Czeslaw Milosz, a poet I had never heard of:
"Not soon, as late as the approach of my ninetieth year,
I felt a door opening in me and I entered
the clarity of early morning.
I felt a door opening in me and I entered
the clarity of early morning.
One after another my former lives were departing,
like ships, together with their sorrow.
like ships, together with their sorrow.
And the countries, cities, gardens, the bays of seas
assigned to my brush came closer,
ready now to be described better than they were before."(1)
assigned to my brush came closer,
ready now to be described better than they were before."(1)
Shortly after I discovered this poem, I was playing a concert in Krakow at a club called Alchemia. A young man came up to me, said hello, quietly thanked me for the music, and handed me a book- it was a collection of poetry by Czeslaw Milosz. This was Laurence Mąkinia, and he became one of the key figures in Poland for me, as an organizer and label owner. The synchronicity of his gift on our first meeting is consistent with many other experiences I've had in that country, since Marek Winiarski first invited the Vandermark 5 to perform a five day residency at Alchemia in 2004. Random encounters, chance situations, concerts, recordings… In Poland it seems like one incident leads to another, weaving together to create a fabric of experience that is unlike any other I've found in the world.
What Country Is This?, like the Resonance Ensemble albums before it, makes an attempt to somehow translate my time in Poland into a set of compositions, to be performed and interpreted by a collection of great improvisers who have been working together since 2007. This was the first recording by the group made in the United States (the other documents for the Not Two label were made in Poland and the Ukraine), and it was end result of a music festival held in Chicago and Milwaukee during March of 2011 to celebrate the creative intersections between Poland and these two cities. That week was intense with work, everyone in the band rehearsing each day, playing a concert each night. Bassist Devin Hoff joined the ensemble for the first time- the United States government refused to give original member, Mark Tokar, a visa to enter the country from the Ukraine, despite the fact that a Polish arts foundation was paying all the travel costs and fees for him, Mikolaj Trzaska, and Waclaw Zimpel. None of them were being paid with U.S. funds.
The efforts of the musicians paid off. So many people turned up for the final concert of the festival, a performance by the Resonance Ensemble at the Chicago Cultural Center on March 6th, it was necessary to open every door of the Claudia Cassidy Theater because the hallways leading up to it were packed with hundreds of people who wanted to hear the music. The next day the three selections on this cd were all captured in first takes; it was one of the most focused recordings sessions I've ever been involved with. The opening piece, "Fabric Monument," is for Czeslaw Milosz. "Acoustic Fence" is dedicated to the first Polish artist who had a profound impact on me, and who still does, composer Witold Lutosławski. The last composition was written in memory of Fred Anderson, a musician who truly mastered the lucidity Milosz describes in the poem I read seven years ago.
Between mid August and mid December of 2011, I was home for one week. Otherwise I was on tour in Europe, playing mostly one nighters with a large variety of projects. The title of this album refers in part to the experience of waking up each day in another part of the world far away from home. But it also refers to the experience faced by Mark Tokar and the Resonance Ensemble when the U.S. government refused to allow him to cross the border to play music for citizens of this country. During the stretch of time that I was on the road throughout the summer, fall, and winter, I read a collection of writing and lectures by the painter Philip Guston. In it was a passage of Guston's that exactly expressed my feeling of living in the United States since the election of George W. Bush:
"… I was reading an article last night by Paul Goodman and it was about the war, his opposition to the war, and one phrase of his stuck in my mind. He said that he sometimes felt as if he was living in his country but his country had been occupied by a foreign power. I don't know why that stuck in my mind, but I feel that way politically speaking."(2)
Guston said that in 1974, but the words hit with me with the same power of recognition as the poem by Czeslaw Milosz. The artists that I know- whether they're musicians, writers, filmmakers, photographers, dancers, actors, or painters- they're all in a search to express something specific about our time with their work. They struggle to find a clear way to communicate their ideas to a world that seems to make less and less sense politically, whatever country they're from. And they constantly remind me to keep pressing ahead, setting an example with their positive creativity during an era that is so often negative.
-Ken Vandermark, Chicago, January 19, 2012.
Notes:
(1) Second Space: new poems, (Ecco, An Imprint of Harper Collins Publishers: 2005), by Czeslaw Milosz, pg. 4.
(2) Philip Guston: Collected Writings, Lectures, and Conversations, (University of California Press: 2011), edited by Clark Coolidge, pg. 231.
to buy visit: NotTwo.com
Resonance Ensemble "Kafka In Flight", NotTwo Records 2011, MW 860-2, CD.
street date: March 2, 2011
tracklist:
1. The Pier (for Yutaka Takanashi)
2. Rope (for Don Ellis)
3. Coal Marker (for Chris Marker)
musicians:
Ken Vandermark: tenor saxophone, Bb clarinet
Wacław Zimpel: bass clarinet, Bb clarinet, tarogato
Mikolaj Trzaska: alto saxophone, bass clarinet
Mark Tokar: bass
Steve Swell: trombone
Dave Rempis: tenor saxophone, alto saxophone
Per-Åke Holmlander: tuba
Tim Daisy: drums
Magnus Broo: trumpet
Michael Zerang: drums, percussion
All compositions by Ken Vandermark (Twenty First Mobile Music/ASCAP).
Recorded in concert at the Philharmonic Hall, Gdańsk, Poland, on October 31, 2009.
Mixed by Bob Weston and Ken Vandermark at Chicago Mastering Service.
The Resonance Ensemble's music has advanced Vandermark's composing methods for large groups, work that started with the early music of Peter Brötzmann's Chicago Tentet, and then continued with his Territory Bands. Much of the new material combines his interest in "suite forms" (perhaps most influenced by Duke Ellington and Charles Mingus) and a collaging approach to improvising structures that he began with the Territory Band. The project provided Vandermark with the first opportunity in his career to do nothing but compose for a week. In September of 2009, he began a new approach to writing for the project, a series of "modular pieces", which can be reassembled for each performance, giving added spontaneity to both the improvising and the compositional structure. The results of these new compositional strategies, coupled with a 10 day European tour, has resulted in the newest album by the band, "Kafka In Flight," which was recorded live in Gdańsk, Poland, and is also part of the Not Two catalog.
to buy visit: NotTwo.com
Ken Vandermark "Resonance", NotTwo Records 2009, MW 830-2, 10-CD's box-set.
tracklist:
CD 1
Day One [November 12, 2007], Set 1
[Tim Daisy / Dave Rempis / Mark Tokar / Yuriy Yaremchuk]
1. [06:57]
2. [15:54]
3. [09:00]
Day One [November 12, 2007], Set 2
[Yuriy Yaremchuk / Ken Vandermark / Dave Rempis / Mikołaj Trzaska]
4. [01:44]
5. [07:17]
6. [07:57]
7. [04:56]
CD 2
Day One [November 12, 2007], Set 3
[Michael Zerang / Magnus Broo / Per-Åke Holmlander / Steve Swell]
1. [09:49]
2. [09:45]
3. [07:42]
Day Two [November 13, 2007], Set 1
[Per-Åke Holmlander / Ken Vandermark / Mark Tokar / Steve Swell]
4. [15:00]
5. [05:58]
CD 3
Day Two [November 13, 2007], Set 2
[Michael Zerang / Mikołaj Trzaska / Mark Tokar / Yuriy Yaremchuk]
1. [13:21]
2. [24:55]
Day Two [November 13, 2007], Set 3
[Tim Daisy / Dave Rempis / Magnus Broo / Michael Zerang]
3. [16:20]
4. [06:14]
5. [05:20]
6. [10:11]
CD 4
Day Three [November 14, 2007], Set 1
[Tim Daisy / Mikołaj Trzaska / Mark Tokar / Steve Swell]
1. [13:17]
2. [12:54]
3. [05:34]
Day Three [November 14, 2007], Set 2
[Magnus Broo / Per-Åke Holmlander / Yuriy Yaremchuk]
4. [06:06]
5. [11:50]
6. [04:25]
CD 5
Day Three [November 14, 2007], Set 3
[Michael Zerang / Dave Rempis / Mark Tokar / Steve Swell / Ken Vandermark]
1. [17:58]
2. [13:22]
3. [06:24]
Day Four [November 15, 2007], Set 1
[Tim Daisy / Yuriy Yaremchuk / Mark Tokar / Steve Swell]
4. [23:42]
5. [05:54]
CD 6
Day Four [November 15, 2007], Set 2
[Michael Zerang / Mikołaj Trzaska / Dave Rempis / Per-Åke Holmlander / Magnus Broo / Ken Vandermark]
1. [21:25]
2. [10:28]
Day Four [November 15, 2007], Set 3
[Michael Zerang / Tim Daisy]
3. [13:37]
4. [11:29]
5. [04:07]
CD 7
Day Five [November 16, 2007], Set 1
[Mikołaj Trzaska / Tim Daisy / Mark Tokar / Dave Rempis / Magnus Broo]
1. [14:36]
2. [17:29]
Day Five [November 16, 2007], Set 2
[Ken Vandermark / Mikolaj Trzaska / Yuriy Yaremchuk / Per-Åke Holmlander / Steve Swell]
3. [14:23]
4. [06:51]
5. [03:21]
CD 8
Day Five [November 16, 2007], Set 3
[Mikołaj Trzaska / Tim Daisy / Mark Tokar / Dave Rempis / Yuriy Yaremchuk / Steve Swell / Per-Åke Holmlander / Magnus Broo / Ken Vandermark]
1. [20:27]
2. [16:03]
3. [06:21]
CD 9
Final [November 18, 2007], Set 1
[Mikołaj Trzaska / Tim Daisy / Mark Tokar / Dave Rempis / Yuriy Yaremchuk / Steve Swell / Per-Åke Holmlander / Magnus Broo / Ken Vandermark / Michael Zerang]
1. Landshaft (for Marek Winiarski) [21:05]
2. Counterprint (for Wawrzyniec 'Laurence' Mąkinia) [24:02]
CD 10
Final [November 18, 2007], Set 2
[Mikołaj Trzaska / Tim Daisy / Mark Tokar / Dave Rempis / Yuriy Yaremchuk / Steve Swell / Per-Åke Holmlander / Magnus Broo / Ken Vandermark / Michael Zerang]
1. Off/Set (for Olek Wityński & Jacek Żakowski) [16:24]
2. The Number 44 (for Ania 'Czarna' Adamska) [21:32]
musicians:
Ken Vandermark: tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone, Bb clarinet
Yuriy Yaremchuk: tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone, bass clarinet
Mikolaj Trzaska: alto saxophone, bass clarinet
Mark Tokar: bass
Steve Swell: trombone
Dave Rempis: tenor saxophone, alto saxophone
Per-Åke Holmlander: tuba
Tim Daisy: drums
Magnus Broo: trumpet
Michael Zerang: drums, percussion
Reviews:
"When composing for a group, Ken Vandermark as a rule Takes Into Each account Factors Such as musician's approach to improvisation, personal tastes and individual sound. So When I chose to compose for a Tentet That included musicians Who Were Virtually an unknown Quantity to him - musicians Such as Polish saxophonist / clarinetist, Mikolaj Trzaska and the Ukrainian duo, Yuriy Yaremczuk on reeds on bass and Mark Tokar - it Could Have Been seen as a foray Into Relatively unknown Territory. And It Was to an Extent, although the leader HAD Already forged an intimate understanding to Some of the musicians with Who Were Involved - percussionist Tim Daisy and saxophonist Dave Rempis are fully-fledged after-all Members of the Vandermark 5 and Ken have Worked with Swedish trumpeter Magnus Broo in the Four Corners project. Also I is familiar with the work of tuba player Per-Åke Holmlander and percussionist Michael Zerang As They play together in Peter Brötzmann's Chicago Tentet. But nobody in the Tentet - extraordinarily, Given His reputation and work Ethic - Had Previously Performed with New York-based trombonist Steve Swell. Vandermark completed Arrangements The Majority of the six day over the Period Before the group to arrive. Some of the sketches out compositions HAD Been Previously Were and others inspired by the atmosphere and people Ken Associated with Krakow, the historic old City That you Become His second home.
When the musicians Arrived, They Found Themselves immersed in a Punishing schedule started with daily rehearsals That That started at 10am - sharp. Although Musically Justified Always Open to new ideas, call for extraordinary precision Vandermark In These rehearsals. Unsurprising That It Was So many of the musicians really let off steam in the evening sets Freely improvised That Follow the rehearsals. But it Did not Stop There. Many of the musicians espoused sleep After the evening sets in Favour of bison-grass-vodka-Fuelled discussions about music That Lasted well Into the night.
At the end of the week, music fans from all over the region flocked to the concerts in Lviv and Krakow HAD Been That the musicians rehearsing for the Preceding over five days, one group Even chartering a jet from Georgia. At the End of the week, When It Was Time to say goodbye, the bonds Formed Between "Some of the musicians That" Some Were so strong Could not Contain Their tears. But for many of These artists Rather Than It Was farewell adieu as many INTEND to build on Their Resonance Each experience by collaborating with again in the future."
Philip Palmer, Jazzwise magazineWhen the musicians Arrived, They Found Themselves immersed in a Punishing schedule started with daily rehearsals That That started at 10am - sharp. Although Musically Justified Always Open to new ideas, call for extraordinary precision Vandermark In These rehearsals. Unsurprising That It Was So many of the musicians really let off steam in the evening sets Freely improvised That Follow the rehearsals. But it Did not Stop There. Many of the musicians espoused sleep After the evening sets in Favour of bison-grass-vodka-Fuelled discussions about music That Lasted well Into the night.
At the end of the week, music fans from all over the region flocked to the concerts in Lviv and Krakow HAD Been That the musicians rehearsing for the Preceding over five days, one group Even chartering a jet from Georgia. At the End of the week, When It Was Time to say goodbye, the bonds Formed Between "Some of the musicians That" Some Were so strong Could not Contain Their tears. But for many of These artists Rather Than It Was farewell adieu as many INTEND to build on Their Resonance Each experience by collaborating with again in the future."
to buy visit: NotTwo.com
Ken Vandermark "Resonance", NotTwo Records 2008, MW 800-1, LP.
Side A:
Off-Set (for Olek Wityński & Jacek Żakowski)
Side B:
The Number 44 (for Ania 'Czarna' Adamska)
musicians:
Ken Vandermark: tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone, Bb clarinet
Yuriy Yaremchuk: tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone, bass clarinet
Mikolaj Trzaska: alto saxophone, bass clarinet
Mark Tokar: bass
Steve Swell: trombone
Dave Rempis: tenor saxophone, alto saxophone
Per-Åke Holmlander: tuba
Tim Daisy: drums
Magnus Broo: trumpet
Michael Zerang: drums, percussion
Reviews:
"...The Resonance Ensemble is a 10-piece band that was assembled from Vandermark collaborators from Chicago, New York, Poland, Sweden and the Ukraine (where the 2008 concert featured on this LP was held). One might question how well an ensemble like this might mesh but, surprisingly, the players are remarkably attuned to each other and focused on the compositions. One is featured per side and these pieces aren't simply blowing vehicles. "Off/Set" starts out with drummers Michael Zerang and Tim Daisy laying down a groove that wouldn't sound out of place on a Brotherhood Of Breath recording. It subsequently veers into free territory, some strong riffing passages and builds to a rousing conclusion. Even better is "The Number 41"; it starts out sounding like a New Orleans funeral march (with a terrific solo by trumpeter Magnus Broo) before kicking up the tempo for sequences in 5/4 and 6/8 that build to satisfying finish. This is one of the most effective groups in Vandermark's vast array of projects..."
Robert Iannapollo, All About Jazz, more: allaboutjazz.com"When composing for a group, Ken Vandermark as a rule takes into account factors such as each musician's approach to improvisation, personal tastes and individual sound. So when he chose to compose for a tentet that included musicians who were virtually an unknown quantity to him - musicians such as Polish saxophonist/clarinetist, Mikołaj Trzaska and the Ukrainian duo, Yuriy Yaremczuk on reeds and Mark Tokar on bass - it could have been seen as a foray into relatively unknown territory. And it was to an extent, although the leader had already forged an intimate understanding with some of the musicians who were involved - percussionist Tim Daisy and saxophonist Dave Rempis are after all fully-fledged members of the Vandermark 5 and Ken has worked with Swedish trumpeter Magnus Broo in the Four Corners project. He is also familiar with the work of tuba player Per-Åke Holmlander and percussionist Michael Zerang as they play together in Peter Brötzmann's Chicago Tentet. But nobody in the tentet - extraordinarily, given his reputation and work ethic - had previously performed with New York-based trombonist, Steve Swell. Vandermark completed the majority of the arrangements over the six day period before the group arrived. Some of the compositions had been sketched out previously and others were inspired by the atmosphere and people Ken associated with Kraków, the historic old city that has become his second home.
When the musicians arrived, they found themselves immersed in a punishing schedule that started with daily rehearsals that started at 10am - sharp. Although always open to musically justified new ideas, Vandermark called for extraordinary precision in these rehearsals. So it was unsurprising that many of the musicians really let off steam in the freely improvised evening sets that followed the rehearsals. But it didn't stop there. Many of the musicians espoused sleep after the evening sets in favour of bison-grass-vodka-fuelled discussions about music that lasted well into the night.
At the end of the week, music fans from all over the region flocked to the concerts in Lviv and Kraków that the musicians had been rehearsing for over the preceding five days, one group even chartering a jet from Georgia. At the end of the week, when it was time to say goodbye, the bonds formed between some of the musicians were so strong that some couldn't contain their tears. But for many of these artists it was adieu rather than farewell as many intend to build on their Resonance experience by collaborating with each again in the future."
When the musicians arrived, they found themselves immersed in a punishing schedule that started with daily rehearsals that started at 10am - sharp. Although always open to musically justified new ideas, Vandermark called for extraordinary precision in these rehearsals. So it was unsurprising that many of the musicians really let off steam in the freely improvised evening sets that followed the rehearsals. But it didn't stop there. Many of the musicians espoused sleep after the evening sets in favour of bison-grass-vodka-fuelled discussions about music that lasted well into the night.
At the end of the week, music fans from all over the region flocked to the concerts in Lviv and Kraków that the musicians had been rehearsing for over the preceding five days, one group even chartering a jet from Georgia. At the end of the week, when it was time to say goodbye, the bonds formed between some of the musicians were so strong that some couldn't contain their tears. But for many of these artists it was adieu rather than farewell as many intend to build on their Resonance experience by collaborating with each again in the future."
Philip Palmer, Jazzwise magazine
"Free jazz and big bands, even the smaller big ones like this tentet, do not usually quite match. It requires arrangements, pre-meditated structures and at least some compositional unity, otherwise it becomes a volcanic brew of chaotic notes flying in all directions. Chicago-based saxophonist and composer Ken Vandermark had tried before to work with larger ensembles, like his Territory Band, but they were really not my cup of tea, I enjoy him (and many others) more in the smaller ensembles, in which subtlety and intimacy rather than power and volume define the sound. Yet I do like them occasionally, and this one is truly excellent, an international band of top musicians from the US, Sweden, Ukrania and Poland, to know : Magnus Broo on trumpet, Tim Daisy on drums, Per-Åke Holmlander on tuba, Dave Rempis on tenor & alto saxes, Steve Swell on trombone, Mark Tokar on bass, Mikołaj Trzaska on alto sax & bass clarinet, Yuriy Yaremchuk on tenor, soprano & bass clarinet, and Michael Zerang on drums, with of course the leader on tenor and baritone.
This vinyl LP consists of two pieces, each on one side. "Off/Set", starts with an arranged intense frenzy to start with, a typical Vandermark theme, with the band being built up of several groups playing together and then in full counterpoint and counter-rhythm, with polyrhythmic percussion and alternating soloing, slowly decomposing the piece into several streaks of music, slowly loosing the tempo, unravelling the themes into their spare parts, until only a few wild voices are left, dialoguing without structure and concept, full of wonder and surprise, until only the percussion is left, close to silence, with lots of open space, until the mute and voiceless tones of the tuba bring the other voices back to life, like animals waking up in the early morning, screaming, shouting, until slowly, the different voices develop into a backdrop of unison sounds, to suddenly explode into a common theme again, more abstract with intervallic jumps, wild and powerful. The second piece "The Number 44" is sheer brilliance. It starts slowly with only cymbal sounds, then into a brass band kind of slow march, mostly unison, but with the saxes giving some intermittent wails, leading into a beautiful bluesy trumpet solo by Magnus Broo, but behind him the band picks up speed, slowly and powerfully like a train, with Steve Swell now soloing, then the rhythm changes, becoming boppish, leaving the trombone basically unperturbed in its course, even when the main theme comes back, then Trzaska (I think) gets a go on his alto, strongly, melodically, wildly, while the rest of the band retreats into the background except for the drums, only to come back in power, leaving space for the next solos, that shift the piece again in a quiet mode, with the horns deep in the background, of course all returning in full force for the grand finale. A wonderful piece with excellent musicianship. And Vandermark really organised his music in such a way that all ten musicians of the band can shine, play the things that suit them well while keeping a very strong control over the totality of the sound."
This vinyl LP consists of two pieces, each on one side. "Off/Set", starts with an arranged intense frenzy to start with, a typical Vandermark theme, with the band being built up of several groups playing together and then in full counterpoint and counter-rhythm, with polyrhythmic percussion and alternating soloing, slowly decomposing the piece into several streaks of music, slowly loosing the tempo, unravelling the themes into their spare parts, until only a few wild voices are left, dialoguing without structure and concept, full of wonder and surprise, until only the percussion is left, close to silence, with lots of open space, until the mute and voiceless tones of the tuba bring the other voices back to life, like animals waking up in the early morning, screaming, shouting, until slowly, the different voices develop into a backdrop of unison sounds, to suddenly explode into a common theme again, more abstract with intervallic jumps, wild and powerful. The second piece "The Number 44" is sheer brilliance. It starts slowly with only cymbal sounds, then into a brass band kind of slow march, mostly unison, but with the saxes giving some intermittent wails, leading into a beautiful bluesy trumpet solo by Magnus Broo, but behind him the band picks up speed, slowly and powerfully like a train, with Steve Swell now soloing, then the rhythm changes, becoming boppish, leaving the trombone basically unperturbed in its course, even when the main theme comes back, then Trzaska (I think) gets a go on his alto, strongly, melodically, wildly, while the rest of the band retreats into the background except for the drums, only to come back in power, leaving space for the next solos, that shift the piece again in a quiet mode, with the horns deep in the background, of course all returning in full force for the grand finale. A wonderful piece with excellent musicianship. And Vandermark really organised his music in such a way that all ten musicians of the band can shine, play the things that suit them well while keeping a very strong control over the totality of the sound."
Stef, FreeJazz-Stef.blospot.com, more: freejazz-stef.blogspot.com
to buy visit: NotTwo.com
