Performing in Columbia, SC, is always a highlight of a U.S. tour for me, and the concert at Conundrum on January 14th was no exception- a full house of focused listeners who had real enthusiasm for the music Nate and I performed. For the first time since our gig in Watertown, MA, we played 2 sets; the 1st being comprised of solos, the 2nd the book of compositions. Nate began the evening with an extraordinary investigation of Body and Soul, rethinking it and reinventing it in ways that were astounding to hear; he utilized the conventional melodic and harmonic materials of the piece in conjunction with an exploration of extended sounds on the trumpet, and made it work on a level as high as Joe McPhees ability to combine these disparate forces. It was a hard performance to follow, and it was McPhees music that gave me a solution- I played his piece, Goodbye Tom B., which, for me, is as significant as Body and Soul for a tenor player. The acoustics of Conundrum space are great to work with, and I took full advantage of exploring them on the improvised clarinet and baritone pieces that followed. And, for the first time since a concert in 1989 in Cambridge, MA, I left the stage while playing. During the baritone solo I attacked the sound in the room to knock it around, hard hit repetitions of a single pitch that changed timbre and color as I repositioned the instruments position around the space; much more theatrical than I normally would ever choose but I think the sonic results warranted the performance approach. The duo set was also inspired- charts relaxed yet concentrated, improvisations shifting and dancing with surprising yet logical change ups. The playing on stage with Nate feels like and extension of our conversations during the day, both of us (and Steve Marquette) asking questions about conventions and acknowledging inspiration from wherever it comes. Nate brought up the avant-garde nature of Clark Terrys trumpet sound, and Peter Evans point about the visionary nature of Miles Davis use of the harmon mute, playing at an extremely low dynamic to create a new sound that could be amplified by playing right on top of the microphone. Before crashing out I concluded my evening by finishing Thomas Berhards, Correction, another brilliant novel by a magnificent writer. Nate and I in concert with one of the great improvisers and drummers in the history of the music, Paul Lytton: https://youtube/watch?v=bB-ylR5g7yQ&list=PLYm0OZ79kCM5L2XCQe4ZgnTGNAel9E2uw&index=4
Posted on: Thu, 15 Jan 2015 23:21:32 +0000
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