11 October 2006

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Our last concert of the tour took place in one of my favorite cities, Barcelona. We flew on the 29th but otherwise had the day off to walk the streets and eat some tremendous food. Peter had spent some real time there about twenty years ago and his description of the Ramblas area as it was then, compared to now, was pretty hilarious. Instead of the shops and tourists filling the streets now, he preferred the atmosphere when the street life consisted of drug addicts, prostitutes and artists. At this point most of the Catalonians have moved well away, to other parts of the city, which is understandable considering that the new environment of that area has lost it’s soul to the merchandise. The final show consisted of one long set and an encore, good music and a nice crowd. During the tour the trio found a new balance between the voices of the group, keeping the sonic exploration and melodicism we’ve used in the past, while leaving room to use more unconnected parallel ideas than before, and generally rethinking the shapes of form. After the show Peter pretty much bolted, he had to get up at 4am in order to catch a plane that was going to bring him to Moscow for his next tour. In comparison I had it very easy, next were some days off in Barcelona- time to recharge the batteries with sleep and streets and museums and friends.

A GOOD BOOK

As anyone who has anything I’ve written is amply aware, I wish there were more books covering the contemporary Jazz and Improvised Music scene. One has been published recently that I can recommend without hesitation (be advised that I am included in it’s material). Essentially a collection of in depth interviews with dozens of musicians, it was organized by Lloyd Peterson (who also conducted all of the discussions), and the range of insight and information contained in this text is pretty staggering. The title is, “Music and the Creative Spirit: Innovators in Jazz, Improvisation, and the Avant Garde.”. For individuals interested in getting more details about the book, here is a link to the publisher’s site with further info:

“Music and the Creative Spirit..”

Pick it up if you can, I am sure that it will become a future reference for anyone who wants to know about today’s scene.

-Ken Vandermark, train to Jena from Krakow, 10/10/06.

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