John Lindberg Ensemble: A Tree Frog Tonality
Artikel: BTL 008
Musicians: John Lindberg b, Wadada Leo Smith tp, Larry Ochs ss, ts, Andrew Cyrille dr
Recording date: 27.-28. March 2000
Recording place: Studio der Musikuniversität Graz, Schweiz
Tracks:
- Thanksgiving Suite
I. At Home
II. Mellow T.
III. Dreaming At ... - Four Fathers
- Drifter
- A Tree Frog Tonality
- Good To Go
- Little m and Big M
The end of every journey implies the prospect of a new beginning, a new start which is not only possible but actually imperative. In his notes, John Lindberg writes that the recording sessions for A Tree Frog Tonality were held in the Austrian city of Graz – after the end of a tour through France, Italy, the Netherlands and Turkey. During the tour, the ensemble had achieved an admirable unity in its aesthetic attitude, its curiosity and its self-understanding. Such unity is usually only found in groups which have been working together for years and is sustained by the fact that contradictions within the group are not calmed down or smoothed over. For, the fascination and the inner momentum of John Lindberg’s music lies in the individuality of all the members of the ensemble. Accordingly, A Tree Frog Tonality is not a summary of a journey, but – as in every kind of improvised music – it is a snapshot of a movement of transition. And this is one of the things jazz is about: capturing the uniqueness of the moment, exploring its emphatic content and sharpening the glance for things unexpected and things to come.
A remarkable atmosphere of calm lies over the six tracks. Big gestures are replaced by intense subtlety and restraint. John Lindberg and his musicians walk the narrow path separating free music, which seeks its own form, from the deliberate pursuit of form. Depending on the nature and architecture of the individual piece, they cross the boundaries in both directions, which is as it should be. At every moment, one can feel the musicians’ urge to shape the music, longing to find possible forms that are unencumbered by expectations, routine or the specific sign of – whatever type of – self-expression. A Tree Frog Tonality manages to do the impossible: the record provides an effortless solution to the apparent contradiction between the concepts of ”music as a process” and ”music as a targeted form”. This is an achievement which one cannot praise highly enough.