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| Proverbs & Songs |
| John Surman |
| első megjelenés éve: 2008 |
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| (2008)
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CD |
Kérjen
árajánlatot! |
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| 1. | Prelude
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| 2. | The Sons
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| 3. | The Kings
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| 4. | Wisdom
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| 5. | Job
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| 6. | No Twilight
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| 7. | Pride
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| 8. | The Proverbs
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| 9. | Abraham Arise!
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Jazz / Post-Bop
Recorded: June 1996, Oslo's Rainbow Studio
John Surman: baritone and soprano saxophones, bass clarinet
John Taylor: organ
Salisbury Festival Chorus
conducted by Howard Moody
"John Surman has produced a magnificent piece of 20th century choral writing, confirming that he should no longer be regarded simply as one of Britain's leading improvisors and instrumentalists, but also as a composer of imagination, vision and power" - so raved the London Times of the premiere of Surman's Proverbs And Songs, the event documented on this disc. Enhanced by powerful saxophone and bass clarinet soloing from Surman and from John Taylor at the massive Salisbury Cathedral organ, this oratorium based on Old Testament texts will be perceived as bold shift of direction in Surman's discography. Yet it also throws light on an undocumented aspect of his biography, for Surman was himself a chorister before jazz fired his imagination...
John Surman's Proverbs and Songs was commissioned by the Salisbury Festival and premiered in the vast interior of Salisbury Cathedral in June 1996. This powerful oratorio, featuring the 75-strong Salisbury Festival Chorus plus John Taylor on the mighty cathedral organ, as well as the composer on saxophones and bass clarinet, met with the enthusiastic approval of England's leading newspapers:
"John Surman has produced a magnificent, coherent piece of 20th century choral writing," declared Alyn Shipton in The Times. "As the choir incanted the names of Adam's dynasty, Surman separated the voices, so that when the parts finally combined the effect was glorious. His unaccompanied choral writing was rich and unusual and elsewhere the the sense of jazz rhythm and forward motion came almost exclusively from his saxophone, creating rich ostinatos, or swirling aggressively among the choral parts. As ever in Surman's writing, jazz influence mingles with a respect for English tradition and the spirit of Cecil Sharp hung over the round 'A man's pride shall bring him low' before an organ interlude from Taylor broke the mood, its contrasting registrations introducing the imaginative use of spoken voices. ... As the choir spiralled upwards in the closing 'Abraham Arise', Surman confirmed that he should no longer simply be regarded as one of the country's leading improvisors and instrumentalists, but also as a choral composer of imagination, vision and power."
"In the premiere of John Surman's Proverbs and Songs everything felt right from the start," agreed The Independent's Phil Johnson. "Using texts adapted from the Old Testament, and a range of movements that interleavened solos and duets with bold choral ensembles, the piece built up into a compelling story of sin and redemption. Taylor's organ playing was particularly thrilling, mixing deep chords with Messiaen flourishes and echoes of boogie-woogie, while Surman wailed over the top in keening folk-song threnodies of great passion and strength. The final movement was movingly affirmative and Surman's solid yeoman aesthetic of archetypally English music, whatever the genre, yielded up a conclusion of mesmeric power."
The Salisbury Festival Chorus was founded in 1987, and is described by its director Howard Moody as "an exciting group of singers that doesn't start with any fixed concept of how music should sound." Public auditions for the Chorus are held annually and attract singers of a wide variety of musical experience, both professionals and amateurs. The age range within the choir is from 13 to 70. The Festival Chorus attracted a great deal of attention with its 1994 performances of Paco Pena's Misa Flamenca, the work with John Surman marking another enterprising journey beyond conventional choral fare. Howard Moody: "John Surman has given us a dose of musical inspiration through his fresh and vibrant originality, showing us how to make music the jazz musician's way - from the inside out."
Although Proverbs and Songs is likely to be perceived as a change of direction in John Surman's discography, the album gives overdue notice of one of his earliest enthusiasms. As a choirboy, and before he'd heard any jazz, he sang in the churches of England's West Country. Since the early 1980s Surman has been looking again at these "roots", developing his concept of integrating improvising soloists in a choral music context. In 1984, for instance, he presented his "Anthem" and "Morning Song", works for choir and saxophone, at the Vossa Jazz Festival in Norway. In 1986 he was commissioned to write music for the Cantamus Camber Choir and in 86/87 Surman toured extensively in Norway and Sweden with singer Karin Krog and pianist/organist Bengt Hallberg, performing with numerous local choral societies. In 1989, a commissioned work for the Glasgow Jazz Festival resulted in Ovation, Surman's tribute to Mother Teresa, which was premiered in Glasgow Cathedral with the Glasgow Phoenix choir and soloists Karin Krog, John Taylor and Gordon Beck.
Offered the opportunity to write for the Salisbury Festival Chorus, Surman paid a visit to the cathedral which he hadn't seen since he was "a boy of eight or nine". "During this pre-composition visit, I decided that I would take my text from the King James translation of the Old Testament." Various possible accompaniments for the Festival Chorus were discussed but when Surman saw the magnificient cathedral organ - a four manual organ built by Henry Willis - he determined that this should provide, along with his reeds, the necessary instrumentation, if only John Taylor - not trained as a cathedral organist - could be persuaded to play it. Taylor rose to the considerable challenge and, as Surman notes simply, "all else followed from there." The pianist had previously recorded on the organ of Suffolk Cathedral in a project with trumpeter Ian Carr so was aware of the "logistical and geographical" difficulties of improvising with players at a considerable physical remove; in Salisbury, the organist sits effectively one storey higher than the choir. Although Surman had coached the choir prior to the recording there was only one full rehearsal with organ and saxophone, in a church in Ashford, Kent. In the end, in John Taylor's words, "the heightened sense of occasion carried the day."
The concert was recorded by BBC's Radio 3, and remixed by Manfred Eicher in Oslo's Rainbow Studio.
John Surman
Active Decades: '60s, '70s, '80s, '90s and '00s
Born: Aug 30, 1944 in Tavistock, England
Genre: Jazz
Styles: Avant-Garde Jazz, Jazz Blues, Jazz-Rock, Modern Composition, Post-Bop
John Surman was one of the very few saxmen in England to find a significant audience in rock during the late '60s, playing gigs regularly at venues like the Marquee Club in London. Also a clarinetist of some renown, and no slouch on keyboards either, the atmospheric sounds that Surman creates on his horns has been a major asset to the ECM label ever since the late '70s; but, before that, he was an extremely prolific artist on Deram, Futura, Dawn, and Island, cutting seven solo albums between 1968 and 1974 on those mainstream pop-oriented labels, as well as recording with Morning Glory on Island. One of England's top jazz players of the past several decades, Surman is particularly strong on the baritone. Surman played in jazz workshops while still in high school. He studied at the London College of Music and London University Institute of Education in the mid-'60s, played with Alexis Korner and Mike Westbrook until the late '60s, and recorded with the latter until the mid-'70s. He was voted best soloist at the 1968 Montreux Festival while heading his band. Surman worked with Graham Collier, Mike Gibbs, Dave Holland, Chris McGregor, and John McLaughlin in the '60s, and toured Europe with the Kenny ClarkeFrancy Boland big band in 1970. Surman toured and recorded with Barre Phillips and Stu Martin in the late '60s and early '70s, and again in the late '70s, adding Albert Mangelsdorff to the group. They called themselves the Trio, then Mumps. Surman played with Mike Osborne and Alan Skidmore in the sax trio SOS in the mid-'70s. He also collaborated with the Carolyn Carlson dance company at the Paris Opera through the mid- and late '70s. Surman recorded with Stan Tracey and Karin Krog, while working with Miroslav Vitous and Azimuth. He led the Brass Project in the early '80s, and played in Collier's big band and Gil Evans' British orchestra. Surman toured with Evans again in the late '80s. He began recording as a leader for Pye in the early '70s, and did sessions for Ogun and ECM. Surman continued recording in the '80s, mostly for ECM. He worked with Terje Rypdal, Jack DeJohnette, Pierre Favre, Bengt Hallberg, Archie Shepp, Warne Marsh, and Red Mitchell, among others. Surman has made many recordings for ECM, spanning from free form to mood music, and he remains one of the label's most consistently stimulating artists.
---Ronn Wynn & Bruce Eder, All Music Guide |
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