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Vision Festival NYC (2024)

Vision Festival NYC (2024)

VISION FESTIVAL NYC 2024

31

Julio, 2024

Text: Álvaro Torres

Photos: Luciano Rosetti ©Rossetti PHOCUS

From June 18th to 23rd, 2024, New York witnessed the 27th edition of the Vision Festival, a worldwide reference for free jazz and free improvisation, known for its interdisciplinary character by combining music with visual arts, dance, and poetry. This edition, titled «Building Bridges,» paid tribute to double bassist and multi-instrumentalist William Parker, a fundamental pillar of the creative jazz and improvisation scene in New York. Since the 1980s, William Parker and Patricia Nicholson have organized concert series that have gradually consolidated and earned a reputation. Their contribution to improvised music in the Big Apple is widely recognized by both young and veteran musicians.

During the six days of the festival, true legends of the New York scene like Oliver Lake and Cooper-Moore performed, alongside prominent figures such as the German Ingrid Laubrock, Nasheet Waits, Jen Shyu, and James Brandon Lewis. However, the highlight was the tribute for his 100 years to saxophonist Marshall Allen, who led the iconic Sun Ra Arkestra on the festival’s closing night.

The Vision Festival has been held since 1996, and although it has changed venues, it seems to have settled in Roulette, a cozy theater in downtown Brooklyn. I attended the final day, which included five performances.

The night opened with Matana Roberts and her band COIN COIN midAtlantic, a septet that includes saxophonist Darius Jones and pianist Cory Smythe. Matana, who has won several awards including the Doris Duke Impact Award, has an extensive discography. She invited the audience to sing, holding a pedal note over which the group improvised. Her musical quality was evident in every note produced by her alto sax, conveying a special warmth. Additionally, there were emotional memories and dedications to the iconic improvising trumpeter Jaimie Branch, who passed away in 2022.

The night continued with the duo World in a Life, consisting of Thollem McDonas on piano and ACVilla with live video projections. The pianist demonstrated superb technique, great control of sound, and a very percussive approach to the keyboard. His improvisations were accompanied by a live video that, despite some technical problems, effectively complemented the music. Thollem alternated between the piano and electronics, adding different textures.

The third concert of the night was by Isaiah Collier & The Chosen Few, reminiscent of the classic Sonny Rollins Trio, with Nate Reves on bass and a substitute drummer replacing Michael Ode. They started with high intensity, performing several pedal pieces. The bassist’s maturity and solidity were notable, providing a significant composure to the rhythm section. Isaiah showcased his great talent and flow of ideas on both tenor and soprano sax. Over time, he will likely refine his art even more; who knows how far this young prodigy,can go?

 

The penultimate concert was one of the evening’s gems: Watershed Continuum, featuring Rob Brown on alto sax, Steve Swell on trombone, Alexis Marcelo on piano, and Whit Dickey on drums. The combo, led by Rob Brown and Steve Swell, offered a fully improvised set. Their 20 years of playing together resulted in incredible synergy and mutual understanding. They blended perfectly as a section, proposing ideas combatively and making it look like a game. They also assumed the role of accompanists, with highly imaginative textures and backgrounds. Rob’s individual quality was evident in the fluidity of his ideas and the warm sound of his alto sax. Steve, a veteran who never disappoints, regardless of the context, brought creativity and doses of humor to the group, often necessary in music. Alexis Marcelo did an excellent job as an accompanist. His sound and musical background, influenced by Latin jazz and modern harmony, contributed an original mix that worked very well with the group. Drummer Whit Dickey also knew how to let the flow go and follow the initiative of the two horn players. It was a fresh performance that renewed the energy in the room, leaving the audience expectantly awaiting the final concert and grand closing of the festival.

The Sun Ra Arkestra took over an hour to set up their instruments, do the sound check, and get everything ready for the concert. Meanwhile, there was palpable excitement and anticipation among the audience. Attendees browsed the band’s merchandise, as well as vinyl and CDs from Pi Recordings and other labels. Both inside the hall and at the theater entrance, people chatted excitedly about the prospect of a historic night. It was thrilling to witness true veterans of the scene—many of whom have been connected with each other and the Vision Festival—gathered to celebrate this special occasion. Everyone was aware that this might be the last opportunity to hear the 100-year-old Marshall Allen in New York with the iconic Sun Ra Arkestra.

Sun Ra created an important legacy. Initially he worked as a pianist and arranger for the renowned big band of Fletcher Henderson, but in the 1960s he began combining traditional big-band techniques in terms of composition with a more transgressive approach, experimenting with tonality and new textures, and adding fully improvised transitions, something never seen before in that genre.

Additionally, he incorporated Afro-futuristic attire and songs with lyrics about outer space, contributing to creating his own mythology around the group and its leader. It is worth mentioning that this band shares many spiritual beliefs and a lifestyle, to the point that many of its members have lived together since the 1970s in the same house in Philadelphia. Sun Ra had a strict vision of life in society and exerted a great influence on the members of the Arkestra, who live practically as a brotherhood. Their extensive discography includes iconic recordings with major soloists like Pharoah Sanders and John Gilmore, who led the band after Sun Ra’s death. After Gilmore, Marshall Allen took on the responsibility of leading the Arkestra, a role he continues to perform to this day.

Sixty years after its beginnings, this concert was a total display of energy from the first to the last piece. The whole group sounded like a cohesive unit. They played long forms with multiple sections without hesitation at any time. Everything sounded confident, sometimes reinforced by the direction of Knoel Scott, who gave cues from his stand and sounded truly inspired on the alto.

Tara Middleton shone with a spectacular and unconventional vocal recital, sometimes reciting or even playing the role of an accompanist. Another highlight of the night was the incredible pianist Farid Barron, very intuitive and with a deep knowledge of stride, offering several spectacular intros. Additionally, the influence of Sun Ra was clearly perceived, as Barron, without trying to emulate him, captured his sound on the synthesizers, with his characteristic clusters and 360-degree turns.

The ensemble could be described as a perfectly functioning psychedelic party machine. Percussionist Elson Nascimento and drummer Wayne Smith Jr. kept the engine running, as did Tayler Mitchell, very musical with his double-bass lines and constant energy. Perhaps the most impressive aspect of the Arkestra is its vitality and overflowing energy.

As for Marshall Allen, he was excellent. In addition to the alto sax, he performed several solos on a Steiner EVI (Electronic Valve Instrument), which fit incredibly well with the harmonies of more classic pieces. Before the concert, there was a presentation where the entire hall clearly showed respect and paid homage to Marshall. There was a lot of excitement to witness the Arkestra led by one of their major symbols over the last 66 years. The concert ended past midnight, much later than expected. All attendees seemed happy with the closing of a fantastic festival that has greatly contributed to the jazz scene in New York, and with the historic performance of one of the most important avant-garde saxophonists since the 1960s, Marshall Allen.”

Written by Álvaro Torres

Julio 31, 2024

Matthew Shipp Trio – New Concepts in Piano Trio Jazz (ESP Disk’)

Matthew Shipp Trio – New Concepts in Piano Trio Jazz (ESP Disk’)

Matthew Shipp Trio

Michael Bisio / Newman Taylor Baker

New Concepts in Piano Trio Jazz

29

Julio, 2024

Texto: Pedro Andrade

Fotos: Eva Kapanadze

Etiqueta: ESP-Disk,2024

 

Matthew Shipp Trio, New Concepts in Piano Trio Jazz (ESP-Disk,2024). Matthew Shipp,piano/ Michael Bisio, contrabajo/ Newman Taylor Baker, batería.

Matthew Shipp Trio lanzó el pasado mes de abril el álbum New Concepts in Piano Trio Jazz

 

 

El último álbum de Matthew Shipp, New Concepts in Piano Trio Jazz, presenta un nuevo estímulo al panorama del free jazz, mostrando una vez más a un Shipp innovador, en continua búsqueda y con nulo complejo por incluir texturas sonoras provenientes de diferentes galaxias mentales.  Lanzado en 2024 bajo el sello ESP-Disk, el álbum cuenta con Matthew Shipp al piano, Michael Bisio al contrabajo y Newman Taylor Baker a la batería. Este es ya el séptimo trabajo de estudio de esta formación, que ha conseguido, en estos nueve años de trabajo conjunto, algo que es crucial para sonar con el empaque y profundidad que les caracteriza: telepatía.

El álbum destaca por su perfecta combinación entre composición e improvisación, siendo el escenario apropiado con el que el lenguaje musical de Shipp, trabajado durante décadas, baila a sus anchas en ocho magníficas improvisaciones. La composición del álbum tiene que ver principalmente con lo conceptual, con los motivos, las texturas, con los cortes rítmicos y con las dinámicas propuestas por el pianista a sus músicos en diferentes secciones.

Como el mismo Shipp indica en una reciente entrevista: “simplemente empecé a tocar lo que estaba en mi cabeza y les dije a los chicos que saltaran al agua conmigo”. Los tres instrumentistas van hilvanando así, progresivamente, la música que va aconteciendo. El concepto que propone Shipp tiene que ver con la búsqueda del arquetipo del compositor espontáneo, haciendo referencia a autores barrocos como Bach o Bethoven, o a algunos más contemporáneos como los pianistas Cecil Taylor o Keith Jarrett a los que Shipp considera “humildemente” haberse unido en estos últimos años de su carrera musical.

Ser un improvisador, como el mismo Shipp indica, supone decir cosas coherentes en tiempo real. En New Concepts in Piano Trio Jazz, encontramos plasmada esta idea, en él se pueden escuchar, sorprendentemente, algunos cortes melódicos con estructuras firmes como es el caso del Walking deambulante del contrabajo de Bisio en The Function al que se le añaden, a modo de líneas discursivas asimétricas el piano de Shipp y la percusión revoltosa de Baker.  El trío de Shipp, demuestra extrema concentración en todos los cortes y un nivel excepcional de cohesión e interacción.  Esta dinámica es particularmente evidente en temas como Non Circle y Tone IQ, donde el trío navega con facilidad por estructuras complejas y tonalidades cambiantes.

Las narrativas musicales que se siguen entre pieza y pieza son complicadas pero atractivas dando muestra de la maestría técnica y la profundidad emocional que Shipp y su trío desprenden en cada una de sus creaciones. Por ejemplo, Non Circle, presenta un intrincado patrón de batería de Baker que evoluciona hacia una pieza ricamente texturizada con sutiles pasajes de bajo a doble tiempo de Bisio. Mientras tanto, Tone IQ comienza de manera abstracta, abrupta y aleatoria, para posteriormente transformarse en una pieza lírica y tonal que oscila entre la atonalidad y la bitonalidad sin perder su hilo melódico.

New Concepts in Piano Trio Jazz, ilustra la capacidad de Matthew Shipp para traspasar los límites del jazz manteniendo un sonido coherente y fresco, en el que el balance de lo espontáneo y lo crudo que se recoge en las grabaciones en directo mantiene siempre en alto el buen nombre del improvisador, aquel narrador de historias espontáneas que compone su trama en el devenir de lo racional y lo irracional.

 

Texto: Pedro Andrade

Julio 29, 2024

Injazz & North Sea Round Town Festival: Jazz in Netherlands (2024)

Injazz & North Sea Round Town Festival: Jazz in Netherlands (2024)

Injazz 2024
North Sea Round Town Festival
Jazz in Netherlands

27

Julio, 2024

En Netherlands tienen una rica y vanguardista escena de jazz, influenciada tanto por las corrientes internacionales como por el énfasis en dos instituciones claves de renombre mundial: el Conservatorio de Ámsterdam y el Conservatorio de Róterdam. Estas instituciones no solo ofrecen una formación de alto nivel, sino que también atraen a estudiantes de toda Europa, conformando así una vibrante y diversa comunidad jazzística. Por todo ello, los Países Bajos han logrado ser un referente mundial.

Con un enfoque en la calidad y en la creatividad, por iniciativa del colectivo BumaStemra, el 26 y 27 de junio tuvo lugar la exhibición de jazz holandés Injazz. Un showcase que promueve el desarrollo del jazz contemporáneo, con una programación de músicos establecidos y emergentes de la escena local e internacional. Acudimos a conciertos, conferencias y espacios de networking en varias ubicaciones de Ámsterdam y Róterdam. Asistimos en Roterdam a la XIX edición del North Sea Round Town Festival, festival alternativo del North Sea Jazz Festival compuesto por 350 conciertos repartidos por 125 ubicaciones diferentes, salas de conciertos y espacios alternativos como galerías de arte, casas y museos entre otros.

El prestigioso club Bimhuis en Ámsterdam fue el escenario en el que se representaron los cuatro primeros conciertos.

Comenzamos con el trío Ponga compuesto por Remco Menting, batería y percusión, Timon Koomen a la guitarra, y la increíble Yanna Pelser a la viola. Ponga se trata de un grupo de jazz holandés, formado en 1990, con un sonido distintivo de fusión ecléctica que abarca muchos estilos musicales. Combinando pasajes estructurados con otros improvisados, el trío incorpora elementos de rock, jazz, electrónica, folk y música clásica en una actuación llena de energía reforzados por una inmersión compartida en el teatro a través de los continuos cambios de vestuario en el escenario que reflejan la diversidad del sonido.

A continuación, tuvo lugar el encuentro de tres maestros, cada uno de ellos de diferentes personalidades. Giuseppe Doronzo al saxo barítono, y a la gaita iraní, Andy Moor a la guitarra eléctrica y Frank Rosaly en la batería y percusión. Un proyecto ambicioso, creativo y sobresaliente de música contemporánea de vanguardia. Giuseppe Doronzo, con un enfoque experimental, profundidad y peso al saxo barítono comienza con motivos simples y melódicos de tensión creciente que evolucionan hacia estructuras complejas de explosiones de energía improvisada. El inglés Andy Moor (guitarra eléctrica), con influencias en el punk holandés y en bandas experimentales de post- rock, recorre pasajes sonoros que van desde el minimalismo melódico hasta el caos, utilizando una amplia gama de técnicas extendidas. Con versatilidad, precisión e influenciado por la escena free de Chicago, Frank Rosaly introduce patrones complejos improvisados de creatividad percutiva a la batería y percusión. El proyecto es documentado en el álbum Futuro Ancestral por el sello Clean Feed. Con una narrativa elaborada e innovadora, y una libertad expresiva de direcciones abstractas conjuntas, y texturas de post-rock, el trío compuesto por Giuseppe Doronzo, Andy Moor y Frank Rosaly se establece como un ejemplo brillante de cómo la vanguardia del jazz europeo sigue explorando nuevas direcciones creativas.

Freshta es el proyecto liderado y compuesto por el flautista alemán Mark Lotz, resultado del encargo de la organización de autores holandeses BUMA y la Federación de Festivales de Jazz Holandeses VNJJ. Es un proyecto de líneas narrativas elegantes y bellas compuesto para el ensemble modernista de música de cámara con instrumentación clásica. Mark Alban Lotz, flautas. Claudio Puntin, clarinete y clarinete bajo, Jörg Brinkmann, violonchelo, Jeroen van Vliet, piano y Dirk-Peter kölsch, bateria. Un proyecto dedicado a la memoria de Freshta Kohistani que combina sonidos de influencia étnica, música clásica contemporánea y la energía del swing. Música al borde de lo contemporáneo y el jazz.

Televizyon es un trabajo innovador liderado y compuesto por la vocalista, improvisadora y multi instrumentista Sanem Kalfa, afincada en Ámsterdam. Sanem Kalfa es una de las vocalistas más destacadas de los Países Bajos, ganadora de importantes premios. Escuchamos un collage sonoro que combina la habilidad vocal como instrumento con un apabullante despliegue de creatividad y experimentación en el uso de efectos vocales. Con sonidos improvisados y música electrónica pasando por el pop, Televizyon recrea en su música el sonido de los anuncios de televisión de los años 80. Energía y brillantez de diferentes rangos con Sanem Kalfa, voz, electrónica, Marta Warelis, órgano electrónico y sintetizadores, Ingebrigt Haker Flaten, contrabajo y Sun-Mi Hong, batería.

Viajamos hasta Róterdam para asistir al anuncio del premio anual Boy Edgar Price 2024, este año otorgado el pianista y compositor Tony Roe. Boy Edgar Price es el premio más importante de jazz y de música improvisada de Holanda que se otorga a un musico, compositor o director de banda de jazz holandés por realizar contribuciones significativas en la escena de jazz.

En el club Mood en Róterdam, asistimos a la presentación de Cosmic Trio. Ándrés Coll a la marimba eléctrica y a las castañuelas es un jovencísimo vibrafonista y compositor español de enfoque innovador. Se interesa por la música primitiva, el jazz moderno, la improvisación libre y la música folclórica. Junto con el violinista Mateusz Smoczynski y el baterista Ramón López forma el Trío Cosmic. Con una destreza técnica impresionante y una gran sensibilidad artística, Andrés Coll combina la música folclórica de su propias cultura con el espíritu vanguardista y la improvisación libre.  Mateusz Smoczynski exploró melodías complejas y armonías ricas. Su estilo abarca desde lo lírico y melódico hasta lo experimental y abstracto, reflejando una profunda conexión con sus raíces folclóricas y una apertura hacia la improvisación libre. Ramón López, un maestro de la batería, completó el trío con su enfoque rítmico innovador y su versatilidad estilística. Fuimos testigos de la energía y química entre los músicos.

Hubo otras bandas de interés situados en la vanguardia europea a los que no pudimos asistir para acudir al estreno de la suite de Alessandro Fongaro. Como la actuación de Federico Calcagno Octet, Evita Polidoro Nerovivo, 100% Cottone, la banda del saxofonista Matthias Van Den Brande que recientemente ha grabado con el sello español Fresh Sound Records, etc.

En Róterdam asistimos a la presentación del North Sea Round Town y su Artist in Focus 2024. Alessandro Fongaro, bajista y compositor italiano que reside en Róterdam.  Hunters in the Snow es el trabajo compositivo de un año de desarrollo artístico de Alessandro Fongaro (contrabajo y composiciones) junto a un gran ensemble de cuerdas, núcleo central de esta obra, formado por George Dumitriu (viola), Yanna Pelser (viola alto), Pablo Rodriguez (viola), Thomas van Geelen (cello), Nicolò Ricci (saxofón), Marta Warelis (piano, teclado), Jim Black (batería). El estreno tiene lugar en la increíble sala de cine Cinerama, inagurada en el año 1960 en el corazón de Rotterdam. Alessandro Fongaro ha tejido una suite de piezas contemporáneas estructurada en varios movimientos que van desde la suavidad más etérea hasta la intensidad más dramática. Comienza con la frase repetida tension is a necessary condition to create movement. Hunters in the Snow es una obra monumental de más de dos horas de duración inspirada tanto en la obra de Bach y otros compositores clásicos como en elementos visuales y narrativos del cine de Andrei Tarkovsky y la fotografía. La integración de la electrónica, manejada por Waleris, añade una dimensión extra de texturas y efectos que amplían el espectro sonoro de la obra.

En Batavierhuis (Róterdam) acudimos al concierto a dúo de Alessandro Fongaro (contrabajo) y George Dumitriu (violín).

En el medio de la exuberante naturaleza entre Róterdam y Delft, se encuentra Driebergen Farm, una de las ubicaciones más sorprendentes del North Sea Round Town (NSRT). Una granja transformada en un espacio único de conciertos al aire libre, un refugio para músicos y artistas donde pueden desconectarse del mundo exterior y sumergirse en su arte. Músicos como Alessandro Fongaro han pasado semanas en la granja, componiendo y creando en un entorno que fomenta la introspección y la creatividad. La noche del 28 de junio, programado por Paula Hoorn, asistimos al concierto del rapero Dox & Friends, acompañado por una sección de cuerdas y una sección de metales de jazz con la participación de diversos vocalistas, raperos y bailarines.

Seguimos en el Gallery Tour con un concierto de Ibelisse Guardia Ferragutti. El evento tuvo lugar en la galería de arte ROOF-A en el corazón de Róterdam, un lugar de encuentro que sirve como punto de partida para artistas, coleccionistas y público. Ibelisse Guardia Ferragutti es una artista multimedia nacida en Bolivia y criada en Brasil radicada en Ámsterdam que ha trabajado como vocalista, compositora, intérprete y creadora. Su práctica implica un enfoque multidisciplinario que surge de su profunda conexión con el ritual y el trance como una forma de entrelazar las visiones del mundo de sus antepasados. Una actuación hipnótica de sonidos electrónicos usando sintetizadores, instrumentos y voz.

El espacio Bij Rabo@Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen, primer depósito de arte de acceso público del mundo, acogió la actuación a dúo de Emine Bostanci y Maya Fridman, quienes presentaron su proyecto Dareyn – Lingua Franca: Bridging Echoes. Emine Bostanci es una talentosa intérprete de kemenche, un instrumento tradicional turco que añade una riqueza y profundidad única a la música que interpreta. Maya Fridman, una destacada violonchelista y vocalista radicada en los Países Bajos, aporta una dimensión adicional con su impresionante habilidad técnica y su expresividad emocional. Es un proyecto que explora los límites de la música tradicional turca con influencias contemporánea de enfoque experimental.

Written by Bega Villalobos

Julio 27, 2024

Tomaž Grom Interview Sound (Dis)obedience Festival

Tomaž Grom Interview Sound (Dis)obedience Festival

Tomaž Grom Interview

Sound (Dis)obedience Festival

19

Julio, 2024

By: Bega Villalobos

Photo: Marcandrea

Tomaž Grom is a Slovenian double bass player and one of the key figures in the remarkable Ljubljana music scene. He is the founder and artistic director of Zavod Sploh (S-P-L-O-H. Sound, Performing, Listening, Observing, Hearing) an associaton dedicated to the production of music and performing arts as well as to education and publishing in the field. He curates music festival Sound (Dis)obedience.

On 28 th March, 2024. Liubliana, Eslovenia. Sound (Dis)obedience Festival.

 

In&OutJazz Thank you for the interview Tomaz. It is a great pleasure to be here in Liubliana. The first question is how was the festival born and what was the concept of the festival?

Tomaž Grom In the second half of the nineties I started to organize concerts on Metelkova with Tao G. Vrhovec Sambolec. There was no scene for so-called experimental or better to say improvised music, maybe just some individual musicians existed. When coming back from studies in Austria and playing around Europe there were very few concerts. I was interested in so I started to organize a concert serie Con/fine aperto with two of my friends Luka Zagoričnik and Primož Čučnik. We payed the musicians from our own pockets. I had the money from making music for national theatres.

And then came Špela Trošt, a producer and also my partner.

She applied for funds on the base of the program we already made. She applied through Zavod Sploh (Sound, Performing, Listening, Observing, Hearing) which I established in 1999.

We got some funds and started to do regular concert series and workshops.

With about a decade of regular events I wished for a condensed meeting of international musicians, something like a festival.

In 2011 we got some non-expected money from the Ministry of Culture (they had some rest of the money they offered to us) and that is how Sound (Dis)obedience was born in 2012.

We got funds without asking for funds. This year is the 13th edition.

Every year I say it’s the last one but then it goes on … And the concept is … no concept. The concept is my intuition. I like to invite different generations, different approaches to music making, different genders. Musicians with a lot of experience and musicians with very little experience. I like to mix international musicians with Slovenian musicians. Every year there is also a workshop and Every year I invite different international musicians to run the workshop which is open to everyone. Workshop is very important.

When the festival finishes, I start to think about the next one. I don't sit down and I don't have a concept really. I am a musician myself, so I know a lot of international musicians and music scenes. I just by feeling, slowly, kind of build up a program for the next edition.

In&OutJazz Would you say in first person that the festival selection is between free improvisation and free jazz? What would you say about this?

Tomaž Grom You know, I don't like so much to put this in words, in kind of frames. I like to find people which are kind of somewhere in between genres and which play their own music. I'm very interested also in musicians themselves. Not only in their music. What is their motor? Why do they go from stage to stage?  They spend their lives on a scene with very little money. Some even have no home, the stage is their home. I like to meet these very special people. They inspire me. I like to listen to their music, to reasons and backgrounds for their music.

Improvised and composed music in played on the festival. But the situation is improvised in any case.

Sometimes I invite musicians without really knowing their music. I like surprises for me as well even though it can be risky 🙂

I like musicians which take the acoustic space, the audience, the situation, the moment as part of their instrument.

In&OutJazz How do you select the project? With intuition you say, but what else?

Tomaž Grom It's very difficult to say. More or less, I like to plan different kind of approaches to music making. When I select one, then I search and think about different approach and I select the other one. And then I try to think on, “aha, so I have this and this and what could also be different approach”. And as I said in the beginning, different generations are important. Some people with a lot of experience. For example, yesterday, Jan Roder and Michael Griener, they play for 32 years together. And the day before, trio with Aurelius Užameckis, Luka Zabric and Margaux Oswald, they are very young and they search for their music. All this is important for me to show on the festival. I can't say much more than that…

Tomaž Grom If it's okay, just one more thing I would like to add. This is a small festival and I like to keep it like this.

In&OutJazz Why?

Tomaž Grom Because I like that the audience is close to the musicians, that we are all in the same room. No stage or better to say no barrier between the public and the audience.

In&OutJazz In the same room?

Tomaž Grom Yeah, in the same room and in the same sound for the musicians and the audience. Musicians generally like to be close to the public.

But, all the music does not fit in this context. And, not all the music fits on big stages with big amplification either. And when amplification exceeds certain level, instruments sound very different. They become different instruments. It can be quite difficult and a very non-inspirating situation.

Our venue sounds good with acoustic or slightly amplified music. Matter 100 were too loud for this venue. Their music needs some more power, so, I blame myself for not the best sound in Španski borci (venue) for their music.

I have to say that we at Sploh are very spoiled. Nobody is asking us how many people are coming to our concerts. I can program whatever I want. No need for the “big names”. We treat all the musicians the same. We also pay all the musicians the same. This is a big privilege, a luxury. No financiers are demanding more public. I would like to emphasize that. Some other programmers have to have certain amount of audience coming. They partly depend on ticket sales. And then it becomes very tricky, you can't just do what you want.

In&OutJazz I understand. And how is the evolution of the festival?

Tomaž Grom I can speak more about the public in this sense, not about the music. Music is more or less always there. It is different with the audience. First concert series had very little audience. It was similar with the festival. With regular and constant events audience was slowly growing. As I already said, we don't have tradition in freely improvised music in Slovenia like in London, Berlin, or several Austrian towns with long festival traditions. We do have a Jazz festival with the longest tradition in Europe and we have several festivals like Druga Godba, Sajeta, Jazz Cerkno … We don’t have books or developed language to speak about experimental and freely improvised music. We don’t have a span of different generations of musicians playing on the same stage like for example in England. We have some individuals, for example Zlatko Kaučič, a drummer and educator in his seventies. Here I have to say that Zlatko is an example that proves the fact that a town/a region actually needs just one (the right one) influencer who can build the whole music community.

So, the audience has to grow with the scene. I would say that we have a little pool of audience, slowly growing. Nowadays I see new faces, young faces. Young people coming to our concerts, together with the “regular” public, that is important. Festival Konfrontationen in Nickelsdorf offers reduced ticket price for audience under 30 I believe and festival Sajeta in Tolmin offers free ticket for audience above 55. Getting new public and keeping the “old” is quite a task.

In&OutJazz How do you combine your work as founder and artistic director of Zavod Sploh?

Tomaž Grom I'm a founder and artistic director of Zavod Sploh, but firstly I'm a musician. I try to separate those two tracks but in the same time I know I am sitting in two chairs. I used to program majority of the events in the frame of Sploh. Nowadays we have several different people programing our concert and performance series. For some years I only program Sound (Dis)obedience. And sometimes it's still difficult. I struggle sitting on those two chairs.  I invite musicians, I invite curators, so, I offer work to just a few people … It is a political position. I have to mention that I never program myself on the festival, I never play when I program …

In&OutJazz Okay, okay.  But why? Why?

Tomaž Grom There are at least three reasons. Firstly, it's much more “hygienic” if I don't play because if I play then I pay myself. Secondly, I remember very well one of Ljubljana venues Jazz Club Gajo. It was programed by a drummer, who played majority of the gigs himself. He would invite different musicians to play but he would much too often sit in …

The third reason it the fact that I am a technician on the festival. I communicate and prepare the technical needs and also connect the needed. I welcome the public, I am the sound technician and I also record all the concerts … These   reasons are more than enough to explain why I don’t play on a festival that I curate …

In&OutJazz And what about the name of the festival?

Tomaž Grom Aha, well, this is... Neposlušno in Slovenian means it reminds on the world neposlušljivo which means something that is not possible to listen to. Neposlušno means disobedient. Non listenable and disobedient. I think it suites the music we are promoting. And it creates kind of contra ...

In&OutJazz Contra-culture.

Tomaž Grom I think contra is sometimes good to practice. In some way this music practice can also be disobedient. And it is also relatively often not so easy to listen to it J. It is definitely often not very pleasant.

In&OutJazz It's not easy.

Tomaž Grom You need to involve yourself. You need to...  To put some energy, interest into it and you have to let it come to you.  We don’t always have to strive for easy and pleasant things.

Written by Bega Villalobos

Mayo 19, 2024

William Parker Interview Vision Festival (NYC, 2024)

William Parker Interview Vision Festival (NYC, 2024)

William Parker Interview

Vision Festival (NYC, 2024)

Free Jazz and avant garde pioneer William Parker granted us with an enlightening interview during Vision Festival 2024 at Roulette in Brooklyn, New York where he was honored and was a recipient of the Vision 2024 Lifetime Achievement Award.

 

In&OutJazz: What does it mean to you Mr. Parker to have received this award as a leader in the free jazz community?

William Parker:  Well, I’m very happy that it happened because it will give publicity to not just what I do but what everybody in the community does. We’re lacking press here. The New York Times, The Village Voice and a lot of the other newspapers in America New York have stopped writing about us. And, so you need a liaison or a bridge between the music and the people, and that could be publicity…, that could be newspapers. You just want your name to be out there so people are aware of what you do. And the award helps that, and hopefully other people will be able to present their music as a result of me getting the award.

In&OutJazz: How do you feel about being a leader in the free jazz community?

William Parker:  I feel that there are a lot of things to be done and I think you know every musician leads themselves and I do what I do. I think the labels that people put on people are from the outside and you can’t really avoid that but my responsibility as I’m 72 now is to continue to knock down walls, is to continue to present good music, is to continue to open the door and help guide younger musicians so that they can take the place of a lot of musicians who passed away. We lost saxophone player Peter Brötzmann, Kidd Jordan, Charles Gayle in the last years and they can never be replaced but we can try to get musicians to be interested in playing the creative freedom music. Because freedom, free music equals freedom and freedom equals enlightenment and so it continues the idea of a better planet and maybe we can go on for another few years.

In&OutJazz: What does free jazz mean to you? How do you differentiate “free jazz” from “jazz”?

William Parker:  Basically you have the freedom to play what you want to play in a situation. Your goal is to make the music sprout wings and fly and in a free jazz or free music, you’re free to use any element that ever existed, any element that you didn’t know about, that you discover in the moment to enhance the music. And so it’s like you don’t have any rules…, the rules are to be, to play the most creative profound music you can play and the only rule is to succeed.

In&OutJazz: Beautiful. Can you tell us a little bit about playing with Cecil Taylor , Milford Graves , and Don Cherry …?

William Parker:  All those people were great musicians and what they called progenitors or masters of the music. And again, what they did was allow you to be yourself. I played with Cecil for eleven years, and he never told me what to play once. It was setting up a situation and then allowing us to play.

In&OutJazz: Wasn’t that scary at the beginning for you?

William Parker:  No, because I had my training in New York playing with Jemeel Moondoc and Roy Campbell and Billy Bang . And I was really ready for anything when it came to free improvisation.

In&OutJazz: We know that you are one of the best double bassists of all time, and also a prolific artist, composer, multi-instrumentalist, writer, and also a teacher. What come first for you? Who are you first?

William Parker: What comes first to me is kindness, and giving, and sharing music, and sharing ideas, exchanging gifts with people, helping people to open up their gifts, for them to share them. And whether it’s music, whether it’s dance, whether it’s poetry, whether it’s writing, it doesn’t make any difference whether it’s just talking. You always try to share, get the light turned on, so that we can’t see without light. And once we have light, we can begin to shape our lives in a better way. I mean, it’s almost a hundred degrees today. And we’re still dropping bombs all over the world. And these things, there must be something better for human beings to do than to kill each other. And that’s the message we want to get. It’s we have to stop war, we have to begin to enrich each other’s lives, not try to take each other’s lives. And that’s going to be done if we engulf ourselves in music and art. It changes our lives. It brings peace and harmony in the world.

In&OutJazz: What would you say are one or two of the basic concepts in avant-garde jazz or free jazz?

William Parker: It’s to play like it’s the last time you’re gonna play. Play like every sound you are playing can change the world. You know, and so if you believe that everything you do is important and can change the world, I think that’s more important than what key you’re playing, what rhythm, whatever, you know, what style you’re playing in. It’s how you play and what you do and try to vibrate. Music is water. You want to play and it vibrates and turns to steam when it boils and heats. And that’s when it’s usable. That’s when you open up and go into the tone world. You go into the third world. You go into the world of light and sonic vibration. The world of pure happiness and joy. And that’s the kind of experience you want to make. So how you do it, it doesn’t really make any difference. As long as we do that, because we have to reverse ignorance. We have to reverse hate. We have to reverse this idea of ​​severe, harmful capitalism. And we have to begin to elevate the people from within. They’ve got to elevate themselves so that they can fly. And it’s very important that everyone flies.

Interview by: Claudia Tebar

Julio 18, 2024

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