Influence is all around us whether we are conscious of it or not. Ultimately what resonates with us comes out in how we express ourselves and in our art. Chances are if a thought or idea resonates with you, it probably does with someone else as well. I like to think of this as a kind of collective consciousness. I listen to music frequently while driving, as I suspect many people might do. Two CD’s that have been in the car lately (I don’t get around to changing them that often) are Brad Mehldau’s latest “Highway Rider” and a mix CD of Foo Fighters songs. So I was influenced by this music I’m sure when I wrote “The Valley Below” two days ago. Not because I want to sound like Brad Mehldau, but something in that music speaks to me and inspires me to find my own musical thoughts, exploring in a similar language.
i think John mentioned before that he too had drawn some inspiration from “Highway Rider,” in his animated video of his tune “Twenty Seven.”
“The Valley Below” also explores some of the ideas that are prominent to my musical thoughts. Namely the influence of pop music in terms of a musical “hook.” Being that is an instrumental piece, there are no lyrics to evoke imagery. So in terms of musical form, taking four measure sections and changing and developing them to create a larger shape or arrangement. They are like characters in a musical short story.
The title for this weeks composition is a ode to the ending of the popular television show “Lost,” which is ending this month after six seasons. Much of the appeal of the show for me is not only the individual characters and their stories, but also the use of time as well. Flash-backs, flash-forwards and side-wise time elements are all part of the episodes. “The Island” is as much a character as anybody in the show. Does it represent good or bad? Or maybe a combination of both? i think that no clear conclusion can be reached, which makes it a little like music to me. It can be elusive, meaning different things at different times to different people. We still experience music or sound in linear fashion, but live in an increasing non-linear world. Perhaps a little like The Island?
A ritual has an inherent shape or form built in. From this one can let the story unfold in this space. This space is the possibility of sound or rather one possibility at one given time. Improvising to me is like observing and observance is a ritual.
I really like the vibe John and I got on this take. In fact there was only one take so there were no others to choose from. One of the challenges of playing in the duo format is how to to fill out the space, in terms of texture and rhythm. I guess I liked the vibe because there was a natural flow between the melody and the solo improvisations, an arc of circular nature from beginning to the end.
I wrote “Open Road, Closed Door” just a couple of weeks after moving from New York to Portland in November of ’07. If I remember correctly, the first performance of the song was at the Portland Jazz Festival in February 2008 when I was featured at Darrell Grant’s young artist series at the Old Church.
The song looks complicated on paper — lots of changing time signatures and chord changes, but they all serve the purpose of supporting a rather simple melody — it’s not just complexity for the sake of complexity. But, while the melody may sound simple, it’s a hard tune to play.
We stick to the stereotypical jazz form on this one — melody, solos, melody, with a vamp at the end — no overdubs, no through-composed sections. While I definitely enjoy putting together the compositions where we push those boundaries, it’s also nice to get back to a more simple layout like this sometimes.
