SIMPLY IN THEIR WORDS (Installment Quatro)
Interview conducted by Tom Sękowski
This is the forth of a regular series of "simply in their words" series interviews with some of the musicians from the improvised, jazz and new music genres that are making a real mark on the landscape. I don't want to add Any additional text to these musicians' responses, as my words would only clutter what it is they're trying to convey to the readers.
I must admit that I'm a late-comer to the world of Frank Gratkowski's music. I'd only been in contact with his sound since the release of his trio CD "Gestalten" back in 1995. This recording did however; register a strong sound of approval in my mind. Frank packs a powerful punch on his saxophone. I didn't know what school of playing he came from [nor did I care], but whatever his origins were, I wanted to come along for the ride. Over time, Frank has played with many of the most notable players in the world of improv and jazz; people such as Gerry Hemingway, Fred van Hove, Wolter Wierbos, Tony Oxley, Georg Graewe, and dozens of others. The following is an e-mail interview that I'd conducted with Frank in August 2003.
Tom Sękowski: Can you please tell us about your beginnings in music?
Frank Gratkowski: I remember that when I was a school kid, I always had some kind of exotic taste, especially in music. Also, I listened to music very seriously - sometimes more than 6 hours a day. I didn't do anything else when I listened. I think when I was about 14; I started to listen to jazz too. By listening to music over and over, I had the imagination that the players talked about their lives and I felt a connection. I felt that I understand their deep feelings. When I was 15, I felt that I have to say something too and I decided that I want to play the saxophone. I started delivering newspapers to get some money and got the rest from my parents on my 16th birthday for a cheap saxophone. Because I had no money for lessons, I tried to play by myself for one year. Then, I took some lessons in a music school, where I saw my first notated music, as my 17th birthday present. That's how it all started. But mainly I stayed self-taught. Played in school bands .......
TS: What was it like studying with Steve Lacy?
FG: Steve Lacy came into my life quite late and was, or maybe still is, one of my main influences. First I studied his music by my own, did countless transcriptions and even more importantly, listened to his music over and over and over, so that almost every detail in his music became a part of me. During the end of that period, I went to Paris to meet him in person, which was a very deep experience. It's hard to tell what it was like. But he gave me a lot of very useful exercises. All he's teaching can be found in his book "Findings" (which wasn't available when I'd studied with him). In order to conclude talking about Lacy, I want to say that his influence on the soprano sax was so strong on me, that I'd stopped playing it. One day, I heard a recording of myself on the soprano where I thought: "that's not me, that's Lacy". I found out that he was to strong and I had no better or real personal idea playing it.
TS: What was your favourite big band that you'd played in? What did you take out of playing with that particular band that playing with the other ones didn't do for you?
FG: If you talk about big band, I have to say that I'm not a big band player at all. I just played in a big band in the music conservatory and I hated it. Also, I was a guest soloist in the WDR (Cologne Radio) big band. If you mean large ensembles, my favourite was the Georg Graewe's Grubenklang Orchester. It was playing and improvising together, with many of the best improvisers at all. People like Phil Minton, Michael Moore, Phil Wachsmann, Radu Malfatti, John Butcher amongst others. The same experience I had with Tony Oxley's Celebration Orchestra but this was less open for improvising with the other players than in the was the case in Klaus Koenig's Orchester.
TS: Can you please tell us a little bit about your trio with Dieter and Gerry that has been in existence now for almost 10 years? Why have you recorded so rarely? Is this a trio that is difficult to keep together as a working unit?
FG: It is a kind of a dream band for me to realize my ideas of combining composition and improvisation. After playing with Gerry in Graewe's Grubenklang Orchestra and Klaus Koenig's Orchestra, I'd decided to do a trio with him. Dieter was the bassist with Koenig's Orchester by the time I made the decision. After the tour, I'd hired a studio (the Loft in Cologne) and we recorded "Gestalten" released on JazzHaus Musik. This was actually the very first time we played together as a trio. There was even no rehearsal before that. There was only very little composed material on the CD because I didn't really know what to write for the trio by that time. The real compositional ideas came after I heard how the trio sounds, when it was improvising. I always need to know for whom I'm writing music and all compositions I'd played with the trio are written especially for the trio. One reason I chose Gerry [Hemingway] and Dieter [Manderscheid] was because they are able to improvise free as well as they are able to deal with more complex notation. Most of the good improvisers start playing less interesting as soon as they see written music. Another reason was the sound possibility. Gerry is for me the most melodic drummer I know. He can play the drums like a melody instrument and he's even singing sometimes or is setting up a beautiful sound environment by bowing the cymbals. He also has a very strong sense for musical structure because he is a serious composer as well.
Dieter has similarly abilities. He's able to play almost cello parts on his bass maybe because he's classically trained. He's one of the very few people who are able to play jazz, free improv and contemporary classical music. And those are actually aspects I try to combine or blend in my music. About the second part of your question: Yes it is very difficult to keep the band as a working unit, especially when you have to do the bookings by your own. I try to set up a tour for it (now as a Quartet) at least once every year and a half and to record a new CD on every tour. The last tour we had in May this year and the next one, which I'm already working on, will be next May. A new CD will be out by next spring. To make the travel for Gerry affordable, I need to have at least 2 weeks booked with a concert set up almost every single day. Otherwise, I would have to pay to play. I would love to play more with the band. Get me a good booking agent and I will.
TS: How did your trio all of a sudden become a quartet, with the addition of trombonist Wolter Wierbos?
FG: After three or four tours with the trio, I felt very limited in the compositional possibilities of the trio. I wanted a second melody instrument, to be able to write at least a melodic 3 voice counterpoint. I also wanted more possible combinations of relations between the players, not only 1+2 or 2+1. I wanted a trombone because I wanted a brass instrument which was lower than the alto sax. Wolter was the perfect choice because he brings in another, very personal character and has the tendency to play the same piece differently each and every time, so it never gets boring, even if you play the same compositions over and over. He's able to improvise with the written music without loosing it and he has an incredible sense for sound integration (blending with the others). I love him for things he did for instance in the composition "Spectral Reflections". Nobody else than Wolter would do things like that without any instructions in advance. The whole quartet is a beautiful sound unit. For me, this is a perfect blend of musicians and a real band with its own sound.
TS: What is your biggest challenge in playing solo performances and recording solo records?
FG: Hard to say. The reason I started with it was because I wanted to know if I'm able to play a whole evening of interesting music without any backup or help from others. It took me about 2 years to be able to do it and I think the solo music was and is very important for my musical development. Solo music gives you a great opportunity to work on your musical language on the instrument. It's a very intimate and personal thing. In my solo music I never play tunes but I always try to compose on the fly (instant composing). Somehow, I'm not able to do solo music without an audience (or at least I have the feeling, if I do so it's less interesting music). The audience forces me to hold the energy, to fight with myself. Sometimes, I end up in musical structures or textures, where I have no idea, how to get out of (kind of a feeling of a musical dead end). In a studio situation, I would maybe stop and start again (and then it would get weak) and that's why my solo CDs are live recordings. With an audience, I have to go for it. These are mostly the moments where I find new things and it's a great feeling if you made it (if you survived). Maybe that is the biggest challenge of it: taking risk and surviving with the help of the audience.
TS: What is the toughest challenge for you to play the type of music you do?
FG: I hope I understand your question correctly. It's that you have to spend way over 50% of your energy in organizing tours and concerts (in other words: getting work). Here in Germany, there is very little interest in my kind of music (especially if you are German). If you spend more time in working on your music, you have no chance to present it and if you only work on the business side you have nothing to tell.
TS: Is improvisation taking a toll in your personal life?
FG: It is the most important thing in my life. I think that what I can do best and so I have to do it. It's also what I like the most.
TS: Can you survive solely by playing music?
FG: I could and mainly I do, but I'm also teaching at the Music Conservatory in Cologne.
TS: Tell us about the inception of the GratHovOx trio? Is this going to be an on-going working trio, or was this simply a one-time recording?
FG: Russ Summers from Nuscope Records had the idea after he heard me and Fred Van Hove in Chicago (where we'd played together for the first time). Two years later, there was finally a chance to do a concert and record with the trio. I would love to play more with the trio, but I don't think that it will become an on-going working trio because nobody is really doing the management for it. But who knows?
TS: What are some of the projects that you have on the go at the moment?
FG: My quartet (new tour in Europe in May 2004). A double quartet (my quartet plus trumpeter Herb Robertson, saxophonist Tobias Delius, bassist Wilbert DeJoode and drummer Michael Vatcher). I had a chance to do a project with this band at the Moers Festival this year and I hope to get some festivals interested in it in the future. My collaboration with Georg Graewe (duo and with John Lindberg). There are many other things, but I just don't have the time or energy to make it happen (business-wise).
TS: Is there anyone with whom you'd like to play with, who has eluded you so far?
FG: George Lewis, Cecil Taylor, Marilyn Crispell, Peter Brötzmann, Paal Nilsson Love.... When I start thinking, there are more and more. I like to meet new people.
TS: What recordings do you have in the works that will be released in the near future?
FG: A new Quartet CD will come out next spring (maybe earlier). Something I want to release, but still don't know where, is a solo recording of concert recorded the day after Peter Kowald died. It hit me very hard when I heard about his death, and I dedicated the concert to him, which made my playing very different, I think. I also have about 5 hours of music of the double quartet project I'd mentioned above and I hope to release a part of it soon.
TS: For someone who has not heard your music before, is there any one recording that you would most highly recommend?
FG: I think there are three different aspects in my music (solo music, my quartet music where I try to combine composition and improvisation and free improvised ensemble music) and I would like to recommend one CD of each aspect:
Quartet: Spectral Reflections
Solo (Artikulationen II)
Arrears (trio with Georg Graewe and John Lindberg)
TS: Finally, what is the one thing that makes Frank Gratkowski sound a unique and recognizable one?
FG: I don't think there is one thing that makes me unique. One very important thing is that I don't try to be or copy anybody else. I also don't think in musical categories and I try to combine all my influences (not only music or even art) to define my own music (in a syntactic and a spiritual way). People I admire and who influenced me have one thing in common, which is that they did what they believed in and they spent or spend their lives to do it as well as possible. I always try to learn more, about life in general, about me and what I want and why, and that's what my music is about. I just do what I think I have to do to feel better and hopefully to make others feel better too.
Posted by derek on January 2, 2006 4:47 PMAmazing lead photo! And a very informative read about a great player I wanted to learn more about... Thanks!
Posted by: Michael Anton Parker at January 3, 2006 2:29 PMThere certainly is one small things that'd make him unique, were it not for the music already :
He probably is the only musician in this field who's regularly triggering pre-gig discussions about the colour(s) of his dress -
the Loft loves him for his cultural folklore :)
M&M - can please dig a little bit further into your thread? Are you suggesting Frank is a cross-dresser? If that's the case, he would certainly be one of the first in this musical genre...
Posted by: Tom Sekowski at January 27, 2006 5:11 AMNonsense, Sun Ra and David S. Ware wore/wear muumuus all the time.
Posted by: narew ramsh at January 27, 2006 6:56 AMFrankie is one of the best improvisers and foremost clarinetist/saxophonist of his generation. He always plays with masterful assurance. His voice is daring filled with intence lyricism as well a ¨sarcastic sense of humour...And he never wears short sleeved shirts
before going on stages.
Ruby Flower Records loves him because he likes
red ruby shirts.
He's definitely a great gass-passer and a wonderful human-being!
What the hell is a "gass-passer"? Sounds rather smelly..
Posted by: Dan Warburton at May 27, 2006 11:27 PMGass-passer can produces sounds indeed... and yes! can be smelly too!.
But it doesn't matter that makes part of Frank's "cultural folklore"...
Furthermore he laugh on that!
I always compared Phil Minton's chords to Donald Duck passing gass or inhaling a load of helium.
Anyone know if there's been a recording done of someone actually passing gas?
Here some examples but not sure if the passing gas is real or not...
INTERNATIONAL WIND BREAKING CD
The classic recording of the English farting championship match!
PULL MY FINGER SMELLY HOLIDAY CD
13 Tracks of Pure Flatulence Holiday Delight
A Farting Christmas - Holidays Music CD with Fart Sounds
22 traditional holiday favorites with orchestral music arrangments and the sounds of farts merrily piping the tunes!
Posted by: A.I. Alias Ana Isabel at May 28, 2006 2:28 PM
A.I. Ana Isabel - any way you can provide some ordering info for these farting CDs?
From what I recall, about 20 years ago Musicworks run an article about music made by the body...I don't recall where I have that particular issue, but it's certainly worth digging out of the basement.
You can certainly hear some intestinal difficulties on an Etta Jones album: see the discussion here by Jim Sangrey.
Posted by: nd at May 28, 2006 6:26 PM"A Farting Christmas - Holidays Music CD with Fart Sounds
22 traditional holiday favorites with orchestral music arrangments and the sounds of farts merrily piping the tunes!"
-- Desert island pick, hands down, sight unheard
Posted by: djll at May 29, 2006 12:37 AMTalking of breaking wind AND Donald Duck, anyone out there heard the new Scott Walker disc? I realise this has got f**k all to do with Frank Gratkowski but what the hell :)
Posted by: Dan Warburton at May 29, 2006 8:41 AMWHAT??? This fractures me ;o( ...Scott Walker...has nothing to do with Frank Gratkowski! Walker hits clinkers while Frank does some bad ass playing!!!
By the way something really f**k groovy and great from Frankie is his "Gestalten"...which is described as : " this--(music)-- as a playing/attitude rather than simply repertory music"
Check out that CD : Frank Gratkowski, Gerry Hemingway and Dieter Manderscheid ...these are real gone cats!
Posted by: A.I. Alias Ana Isabel at May 29, 2006 1:36 PM"Talking of breaking wind AND Donald Duck, anyone out there heard the new Scott Walker disc? I realise this has got f**k all to do with Frank Gratkowski but what the hell :)"
I haven't heard it, but Lucas tells me it's fantastic. He referred me to a Walker site that had extensive clips, but it seemed like you had to commit to purchase to register and hear anything, and I'd rather hear some excerpts first....
Posted by: walto at May 29, 2006 6:27 PMthe new Scott Walker is heavy. in fact i'm waiting for my vinyl copy so i can catch a breath between songs (3 breaths actually). Donald Duck indeed relevant, it's amazing to listen just for the songwriting (he got from there to where? through where?). While the recording and the sounds are as always breathtaking, the real treats for me are the choices made in the structure of the whole thing -as i said, songwriting
Posted by: Kostis Kilimis at May 29, 2006 11:04 PMIt is an amazing album. You can see (and hear) the video for the track Jesse at:
Posted by: Andrew Cox at May 29, 2006 11:44 PMThe new Scott Walker disc is fuckin' scary. I was listening to it on the way to and on the way back from a Keiji Haino gig - not a good idea! I find the pauses between tracks are inadequate to say the least...not enough time to recuperate from the brutality this guy throws at you. What I want to know is how the hell did he get from "Till" to "Drift"? Was this a natural progression? Is this something that just comes with age and maturity? I don't know if amazing describes the album but certainly the word honest will do for now.
Posted by: Tom Sekowski at May 30, 2006 5:25 AMAndrew, when I go to that url and click on any track (including "Jesse") I just get the lyrics. What am I doing wrong?
Posted by: walto at May 30, 2006 6:41 AM"Impaired recognition of scary music following unilateral temporal lobe excision"
Authors: Nathalie Gosselin et al.
Brain 2005 128(3):628-640
..."These findings suggest that the anteromedial temporal lobe (including the amygdala) plays a role in the recognition of danger in a musical context"...
My underlying cerebral organization went mad listening to some of the tracks...AGGGGGGG!Drifter Walker stuff is creepy..Can't stick around..gotta split
Posted by: A.I. Alias Ana Isabel at May 30, 2006 7:13 AMWalto - click on the "Video" link above the "Select Country" dropdown.
Posted by: Andrew Cox at May 30, 2006 9:16 AMCareful Tom - we mustn't compare Drift to Tilt in case we upset Tomas..
Posted by: Dan Warburton at May 30, 2006 11:52 AMThanks, Andrew. That was awesome.
Posted by: walto at May 30, 2006 12:11 PMSIMPLY IN THEIR WORDS (Installment Quatro)
was the first subject....
>That was awesome...
... how about Gratkowski's music?...
Does anybody has something to state about?...
Who cares about Scott Walker?!---in this forum!--
Frank Gratkowski - August 2003 said the bloody
title...
Relax. Grat's great. I've certainly said as much in a number of places and ways. And (if anybody cares), I still think so.
Walker's new disk came up here--that's all. Bulletin Boards are like that...
Posted by: walto at May 30, 2006 5:28 PMFor all I care, the discussion could lead us from Gratkowski to Walker to someone's bathroom habits. It's all music, right.
Posted by: Tom Sekowski at May 30, 2006 6:05 PMDoes anybody has something to state about?...
Who cares about Scott Walker?!---in this forum!--
Frank Gratkowski - August 2003 said the bloody
title...
Dear Ana,
You should know by now that here at Bags it's our pleasure and perverse privilege to start off talking about one thing and move to another without warning (my idea here, as I made clear above). Anyway, you've made your own thoughts on FG abundantly clear with your incisive and perceptive comments on his ability to pass gas, backed up with authentic academic rigour with your reference to various albums of farting noises (real or fictitious), so I figured it was time to move on to talk about something else. Problem?
"Who cares about Scott Walker?!---in this forum!--"
I do !
And I enjoy Drift a lot. As much as Tilt. Just to compare.
Dear Dan,
If Bags rule is drive off confering circa one phenomenon and shift to a new, this is cool.
Got the drill, gracias.
De nada! It's a not a rule Ana it just tends to happen rather often - fwiw, I'm a HUGE Gratkowski fan! And anyway, you can always pull the chat back on course.. or try to! Good luck!
Posted by: Dan Warburton at May 31, 2006 5:20 AMDe nada! Fuck Dan, you're starting to sound like Dora, that lovable fucking character I'm forced to watch every single day, over and over and over and over again!
[I bet Ana will soon be asking what the fuck Dora has to do with Gratkowski.]
Posted by: Tom Sekowski at May 31, 2006 5:32 AM(Tom unscranble my substantia grisea:-)
Wrechedly I'm totally nescient there...
Who's that Dora?
Ana - surely you know who Dora the Explorer is.
If not, ask Frank, he'll fill you in.
http://nickjr.co.uk/shows/dora/index.aspx
Posted by: Dan Warburton at May 31, 2006 9:50 PMTom, Dan..Thanks! Didn't know about Dora The Explorer...
I can't reach my cellar's light switch, I also have trouble pouring the milk on my cereal..
HELP!!!!! where can I get the German Dora?
Vamonos!
Posted by: A.I. Alias Ana Isabel at June 1, 2006 4:00 AMHeino muusikko, asiallinen haastettalu, häntä on kuultu täällä Suomessakin.
Posted by: Jorma Huttunen at August 7, 2006 4:28 AMYo!
Posted by: Dan Warburton at August 7, 2006 4:50 AMHyvää päivää Jorma,
Ech wëll kéng Finnësch Dora, Ech well eng Däitsch Dora...wann ech gliwt.
Posted by: A.I. Alias Ana Isabel at August 14, 2006 4:51 AMWi not trei a holiday in Sweden this yer?
Posted by: Dan Warburton at August 14, 2006 10:16 AM
Vërrrrrry göööd ideää Dan!
But Each better trei next Summer the Artic Cercle...
Hummm, If Ech trei this year Ech won't frëëzzzë?
I just uploaded a Gratkowski MP3 On my myspace page:
myspace.com/smithdamon
I am pretty excited to have 3 gigs coming up with him, he is one of the best musicians I have ever worked with. Great guy, too.
What/Where are the gigs, Damon?
Posted by: walto at August 14, 2006 7:12 PMOakland and Chicago, they are on my site. The Chicago gig should be particularly interesting:
2006-09-02
Hot Biscotti, Chicago
Frank GratKowski - reeds
Jim Baker - Arp
Wilbert DeJoode - double bass
Damon Smith - double bass
Jerome Bryerton - percussion
I am huge fan of Wilbert Dejoode. Those trio cds with him, Frank and Acim Kaufman are great.
The rest is here:
http://www.balancepointacoustics.com/calendar.php
Oh, and the new trio cd on Leo With Frank, Melvin Poore and Thomas Lehn is one of the best cds I have heard this year.
It borders on EAI but gets a little more pitch activity going.
Really great music.
Hello Damon, Visited your space, impresive!
"Ghetto Calypso" is available on Winiarski's label?
The Chicago gig sounds simply wonderful.
Frank there...and De Joode on the line up.
That will be something!
Posted by: A.I. Alias Ana Isabel at August 15, 2006 2:55 AMThis is absolutely interesting :
"...By modern visual arts, Damon studied painting for a short time with Tom Schultz..."
Damon, are you also a painter?
"...a notation system called "Color Architecture,"...
What's that notation system? Want to know... please.
The duo with Joëlle must be remarkable. Intense and imposing artist.
Posted by: A.I. Alias Ana Isabel at August 15, 2006 3:08 AMAnybody check out that article/interview with Joelle in the latest issue of that Double Bassist mag (she's on the cover)? Looks like a good read...she's amazing.
Ditto on deJoode too. Truly outstanding and not as well-known in the U.S. as he should be. Ever taken a look at that guy's hands? They're like bass-claws....he's got a bone-crushing handshake.
Damon - yr gig in Chicago sounds like a winner. Gratkowski played the first post-9/11 gig I presented in New Orleans (Georg Grawe 4'tet), just a couple days after the attacks when everyone was still in shock (The Ex had to cancel due to flight re-route over the Atlantic)...I remember FG and Hamid opening the second set with a clarinet/frame drum duet that began with the two of them laughing at each other, growing more and more uncontrolled. It was just the release people needed that week and is still a vivid memory.
I'll have to check out the disc w/Poore and Lehn. Sounds intriguing.
-- cheers/RC
Posted by: Rob Cambre at August 15, 2006 7:52 AMDeJoode is one bad mother!
I like his solo disc.
Posted by: Reuben Radding at August 15, 2006 8:23 AMDeJoode is one bad mother!
I like his solo disc.
Posted by: Reuben Radding at August 15, 2006 8:27 AMWorth to check :
www.gratkowski.com
click on : Press photos
gratkowski_drake.jpg
Frank has an affinity for doing unusual things!
De Joode is definetily a virtuoso (which I believe is one of the few in this world being played: the 2/4 chamber bass).
.."he's got a bone-crushing handshake"
Wilbert is also a very good masseur--back massages--!
"DeJoode is one bad mother!
I like his solo disc.
Posted by: Reuben Radding at August 15, 2006 08:23 AM"
- That solo "Olo" rules. I also have a DVD with him and a dancer,
supposedly he is self taught but his bass technique is really fluid.
"This is absolutely interesting :
"...By modern visual arts, Damon studied painting for a short time with Tom Schultz..."
Damon, are you also a painter?
"...a notation system called "Color Architecture,"...
What's that notation system? Want to know... please."
-It was a graphic scores where the musician assigned a timbre for each color in the score and brought back the same timbre when each color returned as well as reacting gesturally to the shapes.
Then, after hearing a Tim Berne record, I stopped using composition altogether.
I have thought about using it again the way Polwecsel does, but have not acted on it.
"The duo with Joëlle must be remarkable. Intense and imposing artist."
- She is amazing. We recorded the duo just after Kowald's death and have not revisited it. We have one duo on the quartet cd "Cruxes". She arrives in the Bay Area this week and will be here through winter to teach at MIlls college. And, yes, "Ghetto Calypso" is out and even reviewed on this site.
“-It was a graphic scores where the musician assigned a timbre for each color in the score and brought back the same timbre when each color returned..”
This is fantastic! ' Experienced colors from healers because of their enormous influence on our awareness, soul and spirit. But this is the first time ' heard about it in combination with chromatics and jazz composition. Awesome!
“as well as reacting gesturally to the shapes”
What are these gesture reactions. Is this something you can apply on stage?
That will be totally revolutionary, kind of musical body language?
Chromo-therapy towards Music- therapy ?
"..after hearing a Tim Berne record, I stopped using composition altogether".
Which one of Tim’s record caused you to cease using the opus assembled?
"..Polwecsel does",
What an exalted discovery ! Thanks so much for showing this! Just read about “Polwecsel” Wow! It’s just terrific to know that artists involved with jazz are exploring an “orchestrated” and “punctuated” side of improvisation. This can change many a priori… sort of improviser’s affirmation for many nihilist’s reactions. Somehow the concept recalls a Friedrich Nietzsche’s sentence: “Without music, life would be an error."
« She is amazing »...
This Joëlle's sentence is very powerful :
"Vous savez, prendre la parole est important. Les femmes ont peu de modèles, d'idoles. Nous avons par contre la lourdeur d'une histoire à porter où les femmes n'étaient que muses, murées en tableaux ou en poèmes". Joëlle Léandre"..
« to teach at MIlls college”
Oh… how lucky Mills College is!
"Ghetto Calypso" is out and even reviewed on this site.”
On my way to read it…!
damon: "Oh, and the new trio cd on Leo With Frank, Melvin Poore and Thomas Lehn is one of the best cds I have heard this year.
It borders on EAI but gets a little more pitch activity going.
Really great music."
I picked this up over the weekend at SF Amoeba, after eating a Chilli Relleno burrito, and then listened to it while I walked out to the ocean. It ended just before I hit the Bison Padock.
Good CD. The playing is very self-conscious, which works in this context: sparse, stilted and slightly akward. Although it doesn't saying anything about it on the CD, I belive Poore has got some sort of single reed mouthpiece on the tuba during the beginning of the second track, which makes it sound like a contrabass-saxophone.
After the Bison Padock, I listened to topgoraphy of the lungs...which I will comment on on the appropriate thread.,,,,
Posted by: Jacob Lindsay at August 21, 2006 10:29 AMThe Chicago gig on 2006-09-02 :
Frank GratKowski - reeds
Jim Baker - Arp
Wilbert DeJoode - double bass
Damon Smith - double bass
Jerome Bryerton - percussion
How it was Damon? I wanna know!
"The Chicago gig on 2006-09-02 :
Frank GratKowski - reeds
Jim Baker - Arp
Wilbert DeJoode - double bass
Damon Smith - double bass
Jerome Bryerton - percussion
How it was Damon? I wanna know!"
- I thought the music was quite good, we had a decent audience, actually a lot of really nice people from New Orleans. I did a lot of a laying out and listening to WIlbert, who was just fantastic. I had my 6 string electric upright travel bass, which I like, but it was a tough to play next to Wilbert, he has one of two Beautiful chamber basses made by the English master maker John Lott in the mid 1800s. He uses gut strings and has a very original character to his playing.
I would have liked to have my own double bass, but then a short, simple trip like that would not be possible due the fascist airlines.
A dutch trumpet player named Eric Boeren and a fantastic Chicago tenor and soprano player named Paul Hatsaw joined us.
The larger group seemed to move just as easy as a small one and a lot of great music happened.
The weather was humid but nice, the food was heavy, greasy and tasty (White Castle at 2am was awesome) and the museums were first rate. The Chicago Art Insitute even has a famous Twombly canvas from 1961, "The First Part From Return to Parnassus".
I have some concerts next week here in the Bay Area with Frank and Weasel and Frank and Jerome - with my own bass I am looking forward to those.
As always Frank's playing is spectacular.
Demon,
Great you are having fun! Chicago was fantastic then, good!
There are two John Lott's basses known in the jazz world and both are played by Dutch, one is Wilberts. I bet you were surprised with the power and size of his hands!.
"As always Frank's playing is spectacular".
Frankie is an amazing improviser. Saw him last 27th August with Herb Robertson & Matthias Schubert in Groningen (Holland).
Every time Frank plays many new concepts and original soundscapes can be created under his inspiration. His cycle-breathing is high rate.
"I have some concerts next week here in the Bay Area with Frank and Weasel and Frank and Jerome -with my own bass I am looking forward to those"
Please keep updating! Give a big Hug from me to Wilbert and Frank.
I'm sure Frank noticed this...!
"the food was heavy, greasy and tasty"...
Posted by: A.I. Alias Ana Isabel at September 6, 2006 1:15 AMFrank hits New Orleans next week for a series of concerts, workshop/masterclass at Loyola University and UNO all put together by Andy Durta. Should be a nice round of stuff, as he's playing with a wide range of locals. Dance card is thus:
March 12: quartet with Mike Dillon (vibes/prc), Larry Sieberth (keys), and Matt Perrine (sousaphone) at Chickie Wah-Wah.
March 13: duo with Helen Gillet (cello) at Sound Cafe.
March 14: workshop ensemble with UNO students at the Sandbar, then Frank G + Dry Bones Trio at the Hi Ho Lounge (opening for Magik Markers!).
March 15: quartet with Dave Cappello (drums), Brian Coogan (piano), and Rick Trolsen (trombone) at Snug Harbor.
Definitely shows a willingness on Frank's part to play in a variety of contexts. I'd say he's more than up to it.
Posted by: Rob Cambre at March 8, 2007 7:50 AMHe is coming here too. We have a gig with Scott R. Looney and Donald Robinson. I have done some great gigs recently with Donald so it should be fun.
Frank's last two Leo cds have been amazing: trio with Melvin Poore and Thomas Lehn and Duo with Mengleberg.
There is a different mp3 (different that the one above) with Frank on my myspace page:
Damon -
I'm eager to hear that disc w/Lehn + Poore from yr recommendation. Been listening to the S.Nabatov Octet disc that features Frank, Minton, and Cor Fuhler in the ranks - some very happening interaction btwn Cor + FG's clarinet.
That should be a strong gig you'll have with him. Donald Robinson is a great drummer (really like that footage of him playing w/Kowald, Marco, and E.Gale in the Kowald documentary).
And do feel free to hit me up if you ever want to come down this way to play. It's been pretty lively of late. Wilbert de Joode's coming in for a week also.
Posted by: Rob Cambre at March 8, 2007 10:39 AM.................................................. © 2003 - 2006 bagatellen ..................................................