John Lindberg: Ruminations Upon Ives And Gottschalk
Artikel: BTL 025
Musicians: John Lindberg b, Baikida Carroll tr, fl-h, Steve Gorn bansuri flutes, cl, ss, Susie Ibarra dr, perc
Recording date: 9.-10. Oktober 2001
Recording place: Feedback Studio, Wien, Österreich
Tracks:
- Powerful Reflections
- Yatan-Na
- Beau Theme
- Spirit Great, Golden Shine
- Genrations
- Implications
- Upon Powerhouses
For years, US bass player John Lindberg has been one of the most fascinating figures on the international jazz scene. Not only is he one of the leading players of the scene, but, since 1979, he has also devoted himself extensively to composition. Naturally, there is no way a contemporary composer can avoid exploring his roots and reflecting on his musical background. In Lindberg’s case, this involves not only the history of jazz, but also North American contemporary music, which dates back mainly to Charles Ives, born 1874.
Whereas Ives’ works can be compared in their collage-like character to his Viennese contemporary Gustav Mahler, they also contain many references to popular American dance and march music. To this day, his use of dissonant harmonies, polyrhythmic structures and chromatic counterpoint make him a trailblazer.
A concert-goer, however, once told Lindberg that his music reminded him of another early father of modern American music, Louis Gottschalk (1829 – 1869), who was influenced by Spanish and Latin American music, which he superbly assimilated into his operas and symphonies.
In Ruminations upon Ives and Gottschalk, it was not Lindberg’s intention to arrange or re-compose the works of his great predecessors, but to harness the power emanating from these two masters for his own creations. The irony of Charles Ives and the Latin idiom of Gottschalk presented Lindberg with new, fascinating possibilities, which found their expression in inspired “world music” coloration using Indian Bansuri flutes and Chinese gongs. Lindberg’s top crew is composed of saxophonist Steve Gorn, master trumpeter Baikida Carroll, and the inimitable percussionist Susie Ibarra. With verve and elegance, they transfer the art of two modern classic composers into the pluralist and eclectic world of the 21st century.