Edition XL concert update

[left to right: Erez Dessel, Nick Macri, Lily Finnegan]

Back in February, work with the sextet Edition XL began.  As you can tell from these rehearsal photos taken in March the temperature in Chicago has climbed substantially since then… The band has three upcoming concerts: The Jazz Estate in Milwaukee (Saturday, July 26), and two nights at the Green Mill in Chicago (Friday/Saturday, August 1 and 2).

Six months of preparation has been necessary, from the compositional standpoint and to understand how the modular pieces can be organized vertically and horizontally (the material can be superimposed and sequenced linearly in multiple ways).  Josh Berman, Erez Dessel, Lily Finnegan, Nick Macri, and Beth McDonald have been incredible to work with during this process, both in terms of their patience and creativity.

[left to right: Beth McDonald, Josh Berman]

Fifteen new works have been generated through developing five sets of pieces, each piece with three contrapuntal layers that can be reconfigured within the “triptychs” of three compositions, giving the written material a huge number of organizational possibilities.  Every set was inspired by an aesthetic that’s impacted me: 1950’s mainstream jazz; the “free funk” of Miles Davis’s electric period in the early/mid 1970’s; the music of Cecil Taylor’s bands from the late 1950’s, before he eliminated the bar line; the work of The Fall and Can; and the music of the Black Artists Group, particularly Julius Hemphill. The input from Beth, Erez, Josh, Lily and Nick, has let me push the result of this investigation and homage beyond mere style.

In addition, though these five zones were the inspiration, the compositions have veered far from the source material.  For example, the work for one of the compositions meant for the “Fall/Can” triptych started not with their music, but “Road Runner” by the Modern Lovers.  I stumbled upon a video that was created for it on YouTube and made a mental connection between that song’s use of repetition and those by The Fall and Can.

One of dominant instruments of that piece is the organ, played by Jerry Harrison, the sound and flow of which somehow reminded me of it’s use in the music of Ethiopia from the 1970’s, such as on “Ohoho gedama” by Mahmound Ahmed.

The origins for this Edition XL piece shifted organically from English post-punk and German krautrock to punk from my childhood hometown of Natick, Massachusetts to the music of Ethiopia, which became so important to me through (predominantly) the impact of Terrie Ex.