Question: You have done four projects with different content. Can you elaborate on why it has turned out this way?
Answer: To explain why the projects are so different, the first thing I would point to is my background. As I talked about in the beginning, I have a broad musical experience, and it was always my intention to use this background as the foundation for the artistic work in my research. I wanted to use this background in a musical conversation with the new inspiration from gamelan. I saw no intention of trying to merge all my different styles into one expression. That was the starting point: various projects to highlight my broad background. During the research, I could see a more united idea, which I feel merged into the last project, “Espen Aalberg / En En En”, where I feel a strong connection between improvisation, performing practice, and compositional thought. If my research project had lasted longer, I would probably have followed this path further.
Moreover, when working with the rehearsal process for my duo for vibraphone and marimba, my musical partner, Lars Sitter, and I decided to "open up" some parts of the written score and add improvisation parts, based on the written music and concept behind the music. The reason for this was just that we wanted to test something new in Movement 2, and the musical result felt more alive. I find the idea of learning a piece of contemporary music and then opening it up to improvisation fascinating, and it is something I am going to do more. Over the years, I have learned many challenging pieces of contemporary music just to be put into the (mental) drawer and forgotten. Why not just "fool around" with the material and try to make an improvisational language out of it? In addition, since it is my composition, I can do what I want. That gives enormous freedom. So the concept of written contemporary music combined with improvisation is a future project.
All things must have an end, so for the research, I am pleased to end with “Espen Aalberg / En En En.” which for me points toward the future. In that way, I can say that my aesthetics or musical ways of solving my project have developed through my research. I would never have done the last project first, and the first, “The Bali Tapes”, I would maybe not have done at all if my starting point was the last project. This makes it sound like I am not pleased with “The Bali Tapes” which is not the case. I am happy with the results, both musically and how they integrated the gamelan world into a more modal jazz setting. “The Bali Tapes” resolved as I intended, and I saw no reason to continue the work with this project.
“The Bali Tapes” project was accomplished with the need to conduct a project where I felt I had control over the musical outcome. Even though I did not know in detail how this project would sound, it was in general based on a way of working with other cultures’ music, which I had some experience with through my work with The Indian Core. In all simplicity, I merged two music styles—gamelan and modal jazz—into a fusion. As I discussed in the reflection of “The Bali Tapes”, this is in line with other jazz music, like the works by Don Cherry, Jan Garbarek, and Keith Jarrett, among others, wherein these musicians have used inspiration from foreign cultures to create new music.
My research has evolved from “Mantra” and cooperation with composer Ellen Lindquist through my compositions in the third project, ending in “Espen Aalberg / En En En.” Even though this last project is a more open improvisational concept, I made several choices that, in the end, made a significant impact on the sonic result. You could say that I developed my musical ear through the different projects, making me ready to plan the last project. In this evolution, I did not know what the musical outcome would be. In “Mantra”, the musical result is mainly due to Ellen Lindquist’s work composing the music, but through my work with improvisation, I influenced how the music at the end sounded. Through the different musical attempts related to “Mantra”, I discovered new ways of using the gamelan instruments. These ways of using these instruments have colored my work with the third and fourth projects.
My "Duo for Vibraphone and Marimba" in the third project also differs from the other parts of my research; there are no gamelan instruments involved. The creation process was, because of this, very liberating. I did not need to try to “fit” anything together. For me, the vibraphone and marimba have a united timbre, and my focus was to unify these instruments in the context of inspiration from gamelans and other Western contemporary composers. The work with the "Duo for Vibraphone and Marimba" has encouraged me to compose more in the future.
Another factor that influenced the development of the research was feedback regarding copyright issues and comments regarding cultural appropriation during my presentation at a PkU seminar. Copyright issues are, for me, not a subject. I have earlier composed music based on clear inspiration sources, which is also the case for “The Bali Tapes.” Even if I borrowed or used some clear gamelan foundation, in, for example, the composition “Slow Ostinato”, it was composed by me with a distinct reference to the gamelan tradition. One of the other pieces, “Ilir Ilir,” was based on a Javanese traditional/folk song, noted in the cover text of the release. The work with the repertoire in “The Bali Tapes” was much the same as I had been doing when composing music for ensembles like “The Core/The Indian Core” and our previous releases with "Basement Sessions." I have listened to the music, which was the foundation for the expression I wanted, and tried to write compositions in that style. I think many other jazz composers use the same process when composing for jazz. To borrow or imitate is, for me, an essential part of learning music. In jazz, musicians listens to the great masters and learns from them, and hopefully adds something new to the mix. The new generation listens to what earlier musicians has done, and then there is evolution based on imitation or borrowing.
The comment regarding cultural appropriation was a more significant dilemma to consider. In my presentation, my opponent asked questions related to how I, as a Westerner, reflect on my research within a non-Western culture. The debate was an eye opener for my further reflection. It was not that I was avoiding the issue, but I had not thought about it as a “problem” working with other cultures. Earlier, when I had done similar projects, like “The Indian Core”, which was a commission front of the Norwegian “Rikskonsertene,” it was just about making great music in terms of the project. Rikskonsertene had a “Go east” project in which Norwegian artists were invited to a collaborative tour in India. I have also done projects with the Joik singer Inga Juuso during my landsdels-musiker [regional musician] position in North Norway. Much of the jazz music I listen to also holds an inspiration from eastern music. After this presentation, I needed to thoroughly reflect on how my music and use of gamelan could affect people’s perception of this culture.