10-CD Boxed Set! Recorded in Krakow, Poland between November 12 and 16, 2007, and in Lvov, Ukraine on November 17, 2007.
Resonance band is one of the most important groups in Ken Vandermark’s immense assortment of undertakings, which not only revisit several decades of history of jazz history art form (from Sonny Rollins to Stan Kenton, to Cecil Taylor, to Ornette Coleman, to Eric Dolphy, to …), but also writes some new and fascinating chapters…
When composing for a group, Ken Vandermark as a rule takes into account factors such as each musician’s approach to improvisation, personal tastes and individual sound. So when he chose to compose for a tentet that included musicians who were virtually an unknown quantity to him – musicians such as Polish saxophonist/clarinetist, Mikolaj Trzaska and the Ukrainian duo, Yuriy Yaremczuk on reeds and Mark Tokar on bass – it could have been seen as a foray into relatively unknown territory. And it was to an extent, although the leader had already forged an intimate understanding with some of the musicians who were involved – percussionist Tim Daisy and saxophonist Dave Rempis are after all fully-fledged members of the Vandermark 5 and Ken has worked with Swedish trumpeter Magnus Broo in the Four Corners project. He is also familiar with the work of tuba player Per-Âke Holmlander and percussionist Michael Zerang as they play together in Peter Brötzmann’s Chicago Tentet. But nobody in the tentet – extraordinarily, given his reputation and work ethic – had previously performed with New York-based trombonist, Steve Swell. Vandermark completed the majority of the arrangements over the six day period before the group arrived. Some of the compositions had been sketched out previously and others were inspired by the atmosphere and people Ken associated with Krakow, the historic old city that has become his second home.
When the musicians arrived, they found themselves immersed in a punishing schedule that started with daily rehearsals that started at 10am – sharp. Although always open to musically justified new ideas, Vandermark called for extraordinary precision in these rehearsals. So it was unsurprising that many of the musicians really let off steam in the freely improvised evening sets that followed the rehearsals. But it didn’t stop there. Many of the musicians espoused sleep after the evening sets in favour of bison-grass-vodka-fuelled discussions about music that lasted well into the night.
At the end of the week, music fans from all over the region flocked to the concerts in Lviv and Krakow that the musicians had been rehearsing for over the preceding five days, one group even chartering a jet from Georgia. At the end of the week, when it was time to say goodbye, the bonds formed between some of the musicians were so strong that some couldn’t contain their tears. But for many of these artists it was adieu rather than farewell as many intend to build on their Resonance experience by collaborating with each again in the future. (Philip Palmer, Jazzwise magazine)
ARTISTS
Ken Vandermark (USA) – tenor & baritone saxes, clarinet
Yuriy Yaremchuk (Ukraine) – tenor & soprano saxes, bass clarinet
Mikolaj Trzaska (Poland) – alto sax, bass clarinet
Mark Tokar (Ukraine) – bass
Steve Swell (USA) – trombone
Dave Rempis (USA) – tenor & alto saxes
Per-Âke Holmlander (Sweden) – tuba
Tim Daisy (USA) – drums
Magnus Broo (Sweden) – trumpet
Michael Zerang (USA) – drums, percussion
TRACKS
Disk 1: Day One, Set 1 & 2 (small groups)
Day One, Set 1: 6:57 / 15:54 / 9:00
Tim Daisy drums
Dave Rempis alto sax
Mark Tokar bass
Yuriy Yaremchuk soprano sax
Day One, Set 2: 1:44 / 7:17 / 7:57 / 4:56
Yuriy Yaremchuk tenor & soprano saxes, clarinet
Ken Vandermark baritone sax, clarinet
Dave Rempis tenor sax
Mikolaj Trzaska alto sax
Disk 2: Day Two, Set 1 (small groups)
Day One, Set 3: 9:49 / 9:45 / 7:42
Michael Zerang drums
Magnus Broo trumpet
Per-Âke Holmlander tuba
Steve Swell trombone
Day Two, Set 1: 15:00 / 5:58
Per-Âke Holmlander tuba
Ken Vandermark tenor sax, clarinet
Mark Tokar bass
Steve Swell trombone
Disk 3: Day Two, Set 2 & 3 (small groups)
Day Two, Set 2: 13:21 / 24:55
Michael Zerang drums
Mikolaj Trzaska alto sax, bass clarinet
Mark Tokar bass
Yuriy Yaremchuk tenor & soprano saxes, clarinet
Day Two, Set 3: 16:20 / 6:14 / 5:20 / 10:11
Tim Daisy drums
Dave Rempis tenor & alto saxes
Magnus Broo trumpet
Michael Zerang drums
Disk 4: Day Three, Set 1 & 2 (small groups)
Day Three, Set 1: 13:17 / 12:54 / 5:34
Tim Daisy drums
Mikolaj Trzaska alto sax, bass clarinet
Mark Tokar bass
Steve Swell trombone
Day Three, Set 2: 6:06 / 11:50 / 4:25
Magnus Broo trumpet
Per-Âke Holmlander tuba
Yuriy Yaremchuk soprano sax, clarinet & bass clarinet
Disk 5: Day Three, Set 3, and Day Four Set 1 (small groups)
Day Three, Set 3: 17:58 / 13:22 / 6:24
Michael Zerang drums
Dave Rempis tenor & alto saxes
Mark Tokar bass
Steve Swell trombone
Ken Vandermark tenor & baritone saxes, clarinet
Day Four, Set 1: 23:42 / 5:54
Tim Daisy drums
Yuriy Yaremchuk soprano sax, bass clarinet
Mark Tokar bass
Steve Swell trombone
Disk 6: Disk 5: Day Four Set 2 & 3 (small groups)
Day Four, Set 2: 21:25 / 10:28
Michael Zerang drums
Mikolaj Trzaska alto sax, bass clarinet
Dave Rempis tenor & alto saxes
Per-Âke Holmlander tuba
Magnus Broo trumpet
Ken Vandermark baritone sax, clarinet
Day Four, Set 3: 13:37 / 11:29 / 4:07
Michael Zerang drums
Tim Daisy drums
Disk 7: Day Five Set 1 & 2 (small groups)
Day Five, Set 1: 14:36 / 17:29
Mikolaj Trzaska alto sax, bass clarinet
Tim Daisy drums
Mark Tokar bass
Dave Rempis tenor & alto saxes
Magnus Broo trumpet
Day Five, Set 2: 14:23 / 6:51 / 3:21
Ken Vandermark tenor & baritone saxes, clarinet
Mikolaj Trzaska alto sax, clarinet & bass clarinet
Yuriy Yaremchuk soprano sax
Per-Âke Holmlander tuba
Steve Swell trombone
Disk 8: Day Five Set 3 (small groups)
Day Five, Set 3: 20:27 / 16:03 / 6:21
Mikolaj Trzaska alto sax, bass clarinet
Tim Daisy drums
Mark Tokar bass
Dave Rempis tenor & alto saxes
Yuriy Yaremchuk tenor & soprano saxes, clarinet & bass clarinet
Steve Swell trombone
Per-Âke Holmlander tuba
Magnus Broo trumpet
Ken Vandermark tenor & baritone saxes, clarinet
Disk 9: Final Concert, Set 1
Final Concert CD#A 45:07
1. Landshaft (for Marek Winiarski) 21:05
2. Counterprint (for Wawrzyniec “Laurence” Makinia) 24:02
Disk 10: Final Concert, Set 2
Final Concert CD#B 37:56
1. Off/Set (for Olek Witynski & Jacek Zakowski) 16:24
2. The Number 44 (for Ania “Czarna” Adamska) 21:32