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 Jun 07, 2009

Notes from the Field Jun 09, 2008

Notes from the Field Apr 17, 2008

Notes from the Field Feb 14, 2008

Notes from the Field Feb 01, 2008

Notes from the Field Dec 27, 2007

Notes from the Field Oct 03, 2007

Notes from the Field Sep 20, 2007

Notes from the Field Aug 27, 2007

Notes From The Field: 8/23/07

In my last tour diary I forgot to mention what may have been the best music that I heard at the Pitchfork Festival in July- the William Parker Quartet with Louis Barnes, Rob Brown, and Hamid Drake. They presented one of the strongest sets I saw that weekend, not sure why it slipped my mind when trying to recall what I encountered during the mid June to mid July period. It had been some time since I last heard William play, and he was in great form. Along with Hamid, one of the great rhythm sections of all time, they really drove the band forward, and Barnes and Brown were right on top of the charts and soloing with real intensity. This was the first time I was able to hear Louis Barnes play live and it was fantastic, such a strong trumpet player.

After a much needed holiday at the end of July, I got back to the music on the 2nd of August, starting with an improvising quartet that included visiting musician Els Vandeweyer (vibes), along with Tim Daisy, and Kent Kessler, playing at Elastic in Chicago. Els was in town for a few weeks, buying an instrument and playing with different musicians at different clubs while she was here. The concert with her at Elastic was quite a lot of fun, something like an open-ended Free Jazz session harkening back to the 1960s. During the weekend following that show, I greatly re-worked material that I had composed this past December for a double quartet project, called 4x4. This version of the band included Jason Adasciewicz, Jeb Bishop, Tim Daisy, Fred Lonberg-Holm, Jason Roebke, Frank Rosaly, and Greg Ward. Lineup changes and different ideas about how to use the themes and restructure them created two very different compositions to play from the material I first tried half a year ago.

I worked on those pieces as part of the preparation needed for a series of concerts that would take place at the Velvet Lounge. My goal was to present the broadest spectrum of my current Chicago based projects during four concerts. Other than the absence of Powerhouse Sound (we weren’t able to fit a show in because of Jeff Parker’s intense performance schedule), I was able to present a solid cross section of the musicians in town that I’m working with and the ideas about music and improvisation that we’re addressing.

Wednesday, August 8: I started the series off with a set by the duo with Tim Daisy. This formation proves itself every time we play, the performances are always solid and evolving from wherever the music was at our last gig- there is much more to explore with this group. The Solaris Quartet took over for the second set, John Herndon and Mike Reed on drums, Dave Rempis and myself on baritone sax, playing the compositions of Sun Ra. Though Mike, Dave, and I have been dealing with those pieces together for a little while now, John stepped into the group with only one rehearsal and did a super job interpreting the material, improvising, and rhythmically collaborating with Mike Reed. Ra’s tunes sound incredible with just the two baritones, the weight of those horns with the drums sound almost like a big band.

Thursday, August 9: The second night began with a solo set dedicated to Paul Rutherford, who had passed away far too soon a few days earlier. As with all of my concerts, I have a tendency to try and organize and prepare for the solo performances, creating material or specific pieces for each show, but on this night I chose to approach the music as Rutherford would, walking on stage and seeing what I might find once I got there. It was hard and unnerving, but the challenge proved to be exhilarating. I closed the set with Joe McPhee’s, “Goodbye Tom-B,” a small eulogy for a great artist. I was very lucky to have those few chances to play with Rutherford. Afterwards, the stage was packed by 4x4 and the room was saturated with sound. This was my first gig with Roebke in a long, long time, and the first concert that I’ve ever played with Greg Ward. Everyone in the group performed beautifully, the band got a lot of work done in two rehearsals, the pieces didn’t lock the band down; they were starting points, as they were meant to be. I will definitely return to this ensemble in the winter, after I get home from Europe. Just trying to decide if I should augment the group with some extra horns or keep it where it is…

Friday, August 10: Two sets with the Vandermark 5. In an interesting turn of events, the reverberant acoustics of the Velvet Lounge proved to be (for me anyway) most difficult with the groups that have done the most work together. Possibly it was because there were more points of reference for how the band “should” sound, I’m not sure. Our first set was a good one, working with pieces from the latest recording, but during the second set things began to unravel somewhat. We did a fine job playing segments from the “New York Suite,” (new compositions that will be added as a bonus disk to the upcoming studio release on Atavistic, “Beat Reader”), but towards the end of that material the neck on Dave Rempis’ tenor began to give way which made finishing the night difficult, to say the least. What are you going to do but make the best of it? And this is what we did.

Saturday, August 10: The Frame Quartet finished out the series, and maybe had the most difficult time with the acoustics. So much of what the band does concerns multiple layers of activity and these all need to be clear and audible. The sound in the Velvet space made everything a sonic wash no matter what the group did, and it became extremely difficult to get the music to move correctly. In many ways this band is the most demanding working unit I have put together, both for the musicians and the audience, it constantly asks them to challenge their expectations and stylistic attitudes. The ensemble’s rehearsal the day before the concert resulted in ideal performances, at the concert it felt like we were running through water, making it hard to feel like we accomplished what we were shooting for at the gig. I am happy that we have two more upcoming shows with Frame, I believe that everyone in the band knows what we’re after and how we can make the music sound like nothing else out there.

Part of the joy of tackling this series was seeing Fred Anderson each night. He was in great spirits and looked strong. I have a weekend held in December to come back to the club and play, already I’m looking forward to it. Thanks goes to Ben Gray for asking me to try this approach to having concerts at the Velvet, I’d definitely like to do it again.

For most of the summer, the cellist Daniel Levin had been in Chicago, performing a few concerts and checking out the music scene. We were able to get together on the afternoon of the 14th to do some improvising with the trumpeter Jaimie Branch. It was the first chance I had to play with either of them and was well worth it. Daniel is due back in February and we’re already planning to do a gig together at that time. In addition, he’ll be in Chicago again next summer, so I’m sure there will be even more developing ties made between him and the musicians in town.

I started writing new pieces to add to the Frame Quartet book after the shows at the Velvet Lounge were done, the group will play them at the upcoming shows at the Hideout on the 29th and in Milwaukee, at the Cactus Club, on the 1st of September. These compositions take the collaging principles of the music in new directions and, already at the first rehearsals, the results are feeling really inspired.

The weekend of the 17th and 18th was spent at Chicago Mastering Service mixing the upcoming Vandermark 5 studio album with Bob Weston, with assistance from Fred Lonberg-Holm. After two long days of work we walked out of the building with what I believe is the best record of the band’s career. Both the performances and the sound quality are completely exceptional. After I get together with Amos Scattergood to mix the “New York Suite” next week, the work on “Beat Reader” will be done and it will be time to start focusing on the next steps for the quintet.

August was a cruel month, we lost three major artists connected to the music: Paul Rutherford, Max Roach, and Herb Pomeroy. All of them were an influence and an inspiration for me, particularly Herb Pomeroy during my formative years as a kid growing up in the Boston area and going to concerts with my folks. Their contributions will never be replaced and will always be missed.

To close on a lighter note, the bassist Ingebrigt Haker Flaten received a visa allowing him to work in the United States as “an alien with extraordinary abilities.” Congratulations sir!

-Ken Vandermark, Chicago, 8/23/07.