Ken Vandermark

Addis, Ethiopia by KV, part 2.

Artist statement

“He who does not advance retreats.”

- Diaghilev
from “Rites Of Spring: The Great War And The Birth Of The Modern Age,” (Houghton Mifflin Company: 2000), by Modris Eksteins, pg. 31.

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Notes from the Field Jul 31, 2006

Notes From The Field: 7/25/06

I’ve been home since the 22nd of June and it’s been harder to keep up with the various projects while in Chicago than on the road; it doesn’t make sense but somehow it’s true. So, here’s another attempt to detail past events before one more month rushes by…

The work at the Suoni Per Il Popolo festival in Montreal continued after the final concert of the CINC tour. There was a open workshop on music presented by Paal Nilssen-Love and myself- some duo playing and an open discussion with the audience (question: “Do you think your music is too atonal for audiences to accept?” response: “Based on what’s going on in the world right now, the question should be, ‘Is it atonal enough?’”). Had a chance to catch The Thing and Joe McPhee perform together, an explosive concert tempered with Joe’s incredible lyricism (poetic AND burning). With all he has done as an artist, and at such a continually high level, Joe McPhee should be considered a national treasure.

FME was fortunate enough to get in a couple of rehearsals before performing in front of a packed house. This was a real opportunity to see if the trio could pick up where it left off, after more than an eight-month break. Based on the way we played it seems that the answer is, “YES.” Having some hours to review the material meant that we were able to get off the page during the gig and could push the music someplace new right from the start. We played Albert Ayler’s, “Love Cry,” as an encore. It feels more and more like the piece was written as an anthem for the failure of today’s society, despite the fact that it was composed about forty years ago. A long night celebrating with the band and friends, followed by a long two-day drive with Amos Scattergood and Dan Krauss back to Chicago…

Since I’ve been home, a lot of the time has been spent finishing up work on recordings, and rehearsing newer groups in order to get them ready to perform; it’s been a transitional phase between the end and beginning of projects. On June 27th, Bob Weston and I mastered the Donaueschingen concert by the Territory Band that took place last October. This cd will be included as part of the August, Okka Disk release called, “A New Horse For The White House.” The cover will be the painting of a Trojan Horse that Richard Hull and Dan Grzeca created for the Beckett Variations project, and the music will be contained on three cds, a radio broadcast of the Donaueschingen concert and the studio documents from Osnabruck, giving listeners a chance to hear two versions of the compositions written for the fifth version of the Territory Band. On the 10th and 11th of July, and with Nate McBride’s assistance, Bob and I mixed the studio material performed by the Oslo version of the Powerhouse Sound project (with Ingebrigt Haker Flaten, Paal Nilssen-Love, Lasse Marhaug, and Nate). The Chicago version of the group (with Nate, Jeff Parker, and John Herndon) has been rehearsing for some upcoming gigs at the Hideoout in Chicago, on August 2nd and September 13th. I keep hoping to add Ingebrigt back into the mix, but I see him less now that he lives in Chicago than when he was living across the ocean. The last two days have been spent with Amos Scattergood, mixing the Boston and Montreal recordings from the Free Music Ensemble, September 2005, tour of North America. These are slated for a fall release on Okka Disk in order to coincide with FME’s October European tour. The playing and sound really capture the trio’s intensity and flexibility, another step forward for the band.

Aside from a couple of rehearsals and a concert with the Vandermark 5 on July 20th at Elastic (trying to keep the band in tune and working on some new material during the summer, our next tour is in Europe starting in November), my main concert focus has been with Bridge 61 and the Dialog series (duo concerts with some of the best drummers in town). The members of the quartet each contributed three new pieces for a new book of material. So far we’ve performed live on WNUR on the 21st of July and held a cd release concert at the Hungry Brain on the 23rd. Later this week the group plays a hat trick of Michigan gigs (Ann Arbor, Detroit, Kalamazoo) that start on the 27th. The new album, “Journal,” (on Atavistic) came out beautifully, and the latest compositions feel like they’re extending the ideas presented in that first collection of work.

The first performance in the Dialog series was with Mike Reed, held at the Empty Bottle on the 18th. Playing with him again was a real pleasure, the music felt completely open whether tuneful or deconstructed. Despite feeling pretty wiped out after rehearsing all day with the V5 after just getting back from Holland, the energy of the music really recharged me. Tonight the series continues with Frank Rosaly, on August 1st it finishes with a performance with Tim Daisy. Working in the duo format with drums and reeds is one of my favorite improvising environments, and I’m looking forward to these other chances to investigate the music this way.

The trip to Holland was in order to play with The Thing at the Northsea Jazz Festival in Rotterdam, a long way to travel for a single set of music, but playing with these guys is incredible and well worth it. Northsea always feels like some kind of surreal business convention instead of a Jazz festival: hundreds of musicians, tens of thousands of listeners, presenters, record labels, and writers everywhere, merchandise and food booths scattered all over the place, festival staff, technicians, and security milling around, Kanye West as a headliner… All this under one roof. Not surprisingly, it’s not the best situation to hear great music, especially when a real sound check for most of the bands isn’t possible- thank you Clear Channel. Despite all the problematic insanity, getting a chance to play in a small ensemble with Mats Gustafsson again, while propelled by one of the best rhythm sections in the world, helped the music take flight.

Luckily, I’ve been able to see some amazing music since I’ve been home, and much of it has been at the Hideout for the Immediate Sound series. On June 28th Jeb Bishop performed with his trio, two sets of predominantly new material played in mixed suite forms; they put a ton of work into preparing for the concert and it showed. So far in July I’ve been able to hear Daniele D’Agaro play with Sean Bergin, Jeb Bishop, Kent Kessler, and Frank Rosaly (the interplay between the three horn players was absolutely fantastic); Fred Anderson’s trio with Hamid Drake and Harrison Bankhead (the first time I’ve had a chance to hear either Fred or Harrison in a long, long time and, frankly, they sounded better than ever); Michael Zerang and Ed Wilkerson Jr. as a duo (which opened up plenty of ideas about how to think about my own upcoming shows with percussionists). Tomorrow night the July programming is completed with a trio comprised of Joe Morris, Luther Gray, and myself. I’m hoping that Joe was able to get our album finished for his Riti label in time for their visit to town, I really look forward to hearing the end result of our work together that took place in January. In closing, I need to give a tremendous thanks to Mitch Cocanig; his help in coordinating the Immediate Sound series has been an immeasurable contribution to its success.

Ken Vandermark, Chicago, 7/25/06.