17 April 2008

Day 1, November 12, 2007

•Set 1: Tim Daisy / Mark Tokar / Dave Rempis / Yuri Yaremchuk
•Set 2: Dave Rempis / Mikolaj Trzaska / Yuri Yaremchuk / Ken Vandermark
•Set 3: Michael Zerang / Per-Åke Holmlander / Magnus Broo / Steve Swell

Day 2, November 13, 2007
•Set 1: Mark Tokar / Ken Vandermark / Per-Åke Holmlander / Steve Swell
•Set 2: Yuri Yaremchuk / Mikolaj Trzaska / Michael Zerang / Mark Tokar
•Set 3: Magnus Broo / Dave Rempis / Tim Daisy / Michael Zerang

Day 3, November 14, 2007
•Set 1: Tim Daisy / Steve Swell / Mark Tokar / Mikolaj Trzaska
•Set 2: Magnus Broo / Yuri Yaremchuk / Per-Åke Holmlander
•Set 3: Michael Zerang / Mark Tokar / Steve Swell / Ken Vandermark / Dave Rempis

Day 4, November 15, 2007
•Set 1: Tim Daisy / Mark Tokar / Steve Swell / Yuri Yaremchuk
•Set 2: Michael Zerang / Magnus Broo / Per-Åke Holmlander / Dave Rempis / Ken Vandermark
•Set 3: Tim Daisy / Michael Zerang

Day 5, November 16, 2007
•Set 1: Magnus Broo / Mikolaj Trzaska / Mark Tokar / Tim Daisy / Dave Rempis
•Set 2: Ken Vandermark / Mikolaj Trzaska / Yuri Yaremchuk / Steve Swell /
Per-Åke Holmlander
•Set 3: Ken Vandermark / Mikolaj Trzaska / Dave Rempis / Yuri Yaremchuk /
Magnus Broo / Steve Swell / Per-Åke Holmlander / Mark Tokar / Tim Daisy

This working method was truly ideal. A combination of rehearsing the compositions during the day then playing freely at night accelerated the process of getting to know each other, and quickly created a real group sensibility in the ensemble. The quality level of the music each set at the club was consistently high, every musician working together, listening to each other, and playing creatively. A real celebration had begun. Most surprising, perhaps, was that the full ensemble improvisations were so outstanding, they didn’t degenerate into the general default position, “full blow out,” cacophony. Even with ten people on stage the music remained focused, a great indication that the group was really learning how to communicate together in a spontaneous environment.

The party at the conclusion of the five night run at Alchemia was cut somewhat short- the Resonance group, plus a large part of the staff at the club, plus a number of assistants, all led by Marek, were to head to the city of Lvov in the Ukraine at 5am by bus. Why a bus? It seems that when crossing the border into the Ukraine it’s necessary to change all the wheels on a train- the tracks are a different size than those set in the rest of Europe. Though it took close to twelve hours to get there, the trip was somehow enjoyable, there was a general sense that it was going to be a 36-hour adventure (we were going to play in Krakow on the evening of the 18th, which meant leaving Lvov at 5am too).