Musical references
This section looks at some musical references from the 1990’s and onwards:
Bad Plus Trio plays Stravinsky
Bobo Stenson Trio plays Bartók
Anja Lechner and Francis Couturier play Dutilleux
There are numerous other examples that could have been brought in; the ones presented here are chosen as illustrations of the wide spectrum for how 20th-century classical pieces are approached by contemporary improvising musicians, and to give an idea of the musical scope of the project.
Dave Douglas plays Stravinsky
On his debut album Parallel worlds (Douglas, 1993), American trumpeter Dave Douglas demonstrates how the music of composers Anton Webern, Kurt Weill and Igor Stravinsky can fit perfectly in an improvisational setting, alongside music by Duke Ellington, Douglas himself, and his fellow musicians. The instrumentation is rather unusal from a jazz perspective, featuring Douglas on the trumpet and three string musicians – Mark Feldman on violin, Erik Friedlander on cello, Mark Dresser on bass – and Michael Sarin playing the drums.
Here, we take a closer look at the ending track, Stravinsky's Grand Choral (mvt. no 7 from L'histoire du soldat, from 1918). When following their interpretation along with the sheet music, it’s clear that the group follows the written lines closely to Stravinsky’s score, where the improvisations that take place generally occurs at the fermata points in the music. As Cole (2015) describes it, the group ”pause at various climactic moments to improvise joyfully for a few seconds before returning to the source work. These additions allow the musicians and the audience to ruminate on these emotional moments a little longer" (p. 36). The notation even have the instruction ”lunga ad lib” written out – i.e. held for open duration – which here seems to prompt Douglas and his co-musicians to take the step into collective, open improvisations. Thus, Douglas, in a way, utilize an openness that is already present in the score. It’s not implausible that Douglas’ group is basing its work of a piano version of the music – such as in the example below – to avoid being restricted by aspects related to instrumentation from the full score, e.g. details such as clefs and transpositions for specific instruments.
Bad Plus Trio play Stravinsky
For the American group The Bad Plus Trio – later known as simply The Bad Plus – adapting repertoire from outside the typical jazz canon, from ABBA to Ligeti, became somewhat of a trademark for their approach to piano trio playing, as heard on albums like For All I Care (The Bad Plus, 2008) and The Rite of Spring (The Bad Plus, 2014).
In a JazzTimes article about their preparations for For All I Care, pianist Ethan Iverson (2009) brings up two main issues that jazz improvisers are typically confronted with when approaching modern classical music. First, he addresses the question of rhythmic character: ”How do you fit real, grooving drumming into the context of harmonically advanced and rhythmically disjunct modern classical music?” (p.18). Although he points out that Dave Douglas and his band members have created excellent Stravinsky and Webern performances, and that there are other successful meetings between modern classical music and jazz improvisation, such encounters almost never feature “grooving drums.”. He then adds: “without drums, would a jazz musician really want to play it every day?”. He suggests a possible approach: ”Maybe if we added real drums and were careful about how much we improvised we could make them work.”
The second question Iverson poses is related to how jazz musicians can handle the melodic and harmonic language of this type of repertoire: ”How do you bridge the gulf harmonically between really modernist classical music and what a normal jazz musician can improvise?”. Besides pinpointing common problems for jazz musicians that approach contemporary classical music, Iverson – together with bassist Reid Andersson and drummer Dave King – arrive at an fascinating answer, musically speaking, in their interpretation of Stravinsky; by keeping improvisation to a minimum.
In their adaptation of Stravinsky's ballet Rite of Spring (Bad Plus Trio, 2014) the trio goes for a unusually strict reading of the original, one where the music is presented in its entirety, rather than as an abridged version. Compared to the source material, the most tangible additions are electronic sound effects added in the introduction, and the drumming of Dave King. When discussing their approach in a radio programme, Iverson, describes how working from a reduction for two pianos was "crucial" for approaching the music, as opposed to working from the full orchestral score. When asked whether they feel an obligation to keep their version close to the original for the listeners who are expecting to hear Rite of the spring, Iverson explains that it's "not an obligation to the audience; it's an obligation to Stravinsky”, pointing to the work’s importance in music history, as well as a cultural reference in general; "you don't want to be so certain of yourself that you want to put a mustache on it, like the Mona Lisa…”. (NPR, 2011)
Herbie Hancock plays Ravel
Since his early years as an aspiring jazz pianist, Herbie Hancock famously found inspiration in the harmonic language of French piano music, particularly in the works of Ravel. One might say that such influences were ‘in the air’, seen how contemporary musicians such as Bill Evans and Gil Evans – both associated with Miles Davis in the 1950’s and 1960’s, just like Hancock himself – had turned to French composers as a source of inspiration, similar to earlier composers like Duke Ellington, Billy Strayhorn and George Gershwin. Hence, as Hancock prepared the album Gershwin’s world (Hancock, 1998), a tribute to Gershwin, it was a natural choice to also include a piece by Ravel:
Ravel had been a big influence on not only Gershwin’s composing but my own. I had Ravel in mind when I was reharmonizing songs for Round Midnight, and I really wanted to record this concerto as a kind of tribute to him as well (Hancock & Dickey, 2014, p. 30)
One thing that stands out from this recording is that everything besides the piano is preserved from the original, i.e., all the parts played by the orchestra are intact. In the beginning, the piano plays a free interpretation of the original introduction, with Hancock's characteristic touch and signature chord voicings interspersed with Ravel's melody lines, before landing in the tremolo from the original that brings in the orchestra. When the piano returns (at 3:39), Hancock stays close to Ravel's written piano part for approx. a minute. Then, at 4:39, Hancock takes Ravel’s written figurations as a starting point, holding onto Ravel's lines for two measures before going into improvisation.
As Hancock himself explains it in an interview with Forbes, he wanted to leave the listener ”unsure where Ravel leaves off and he takes over” (Levine, 1998, p. 289). "I wasn't going to try to top what Ravel wrote, but I decided I wanted to use the things that Ravel already had in there to stay true to him and true to me" (p. 289). However, as retold in Hancock's autobiography, the recording almost didn’t make it to the album. Seen that changes were made to the music, which wasn’t yet in the public domain, they had to get permission from the rights’ holder;
I was revising and improvising on a lot of the piece. Unfortunately I had no idea I needed permission until after we’d already recorded the piece with a chamber orchestra. When Verve asked whether I’d gotten permission for the Ravel, I just about fell through the floor. ’How hard will that be?’ I asked. They weren’t sure, but they advised me to get in touch with the French music publisher, Durand, which would contact the Ravel family. I soon discovered that the family was known to be very strict about rights, and they almost always said no to these types of requests.
… A few weeks later the rep from Durand called me. “So, what’s the verdict?” I asked. “It’s very interesting,” he said. He told me he’d given the family a call and discussed with them my plans for the piece. He’d explained to them that I was a respected artist and that having a Ravel concerto on an album by a well-known jazz musician would expose his music to a wider audience. And then the family did something really unusual: They asked him what he thought. “That never happens,” he said. “I told them they should do it, and they said okay.” Just like that, my Ravel problem was solved, and Gershwin’s World was saved. (Hancock & Dickey, 2014, p.30)
Two things can be noted here: First, Hancock's remark about being 'true to Ravel' versus 'true to himself' is an aspect that demands further investigation, since it connects to notions of authenticity in relation to the performance of classical works. Second, there's a somewhat related aspect of obtaining permission from the rights’ holder when doing adaptations of works that are not in the public domain, another issue that calls for further attention.
Bobo Stenson Trio plays Bartók
Since the album Very Early came out by Bobo Stenson Trio in 1987, the Swedish musicians Bobo Stenson, piano, and bassist Anders Jormin have explored the expressive potential of intimate piano trio playing together, mainly in association with the ECM label. Although the drummers have changed over the years – including Jon Christensen, Paul Motian, and, since 2012, Jon Fält – a core aesthetic seem to pervade the trio. One of the group's distinguishing features is their eclectic approach to repertoire, a wide spectrum of musical expressions that comprise Argentinian tango pieces, free jazz themes, Scandinavian folk tunes, Broadway musical numbers, original compositions by Stenson and Jormin, as well as contemporary classical music by composers such as Charles Ives, Alban Berg, Petr Eben, and Béla Bartók. Stenson describes the trio’s approach to repertoire the following way:
We listen to a lot of different kinds of music; it's not a big thing for us that we do classical pieces—whatever it is just happens to be something we like at the time, so we do it. (Stenson in Kelman, 2006)
Here, we take a look at Bartok’s Wedding song from Poniky, as recorded on the album Contra La Indecisión from 2018. Stenson explains in an interview how the piece became a part of the trio’s repertoire, that it was originally something they performed together with a choir and that, when trying it without the choir, there was a feeling that it might also work as a trio number; ”maybe we can do this also like this” (Siegel, 2018). Stenson elaborates:
…it's quite strange what we do, we play the composition – I mean, we voice, a little bit here and there, but it's quite strict also to the original. And then we had... some parts had free improvisation. That's where that piece came from. (Stenson in Siegel, 2018)
The trio’s version stays relatively faithful to the source material in terms of melody and harmony, with the melody interpreted by the piano – instead of a choir, as originally written – with bass and drums providing supporting roles and improvised contrapuntal movement to the melody. Although the harmonic progression generally follows the original, most of the written chord voicings are absent, sometimes replaced by other voicings, and sometimes omitted entirely. In general, there is a focus on the melody, which is enhanced by Stenson’s touch. It can be pointed out how Stenson’s singable way of playing manages to bring life to a melody that might otherwise sound dull on the piano, if played as written.
When it comes to the sections for improvisation, the piece opens with a piano introduction based on the opening chords of the original. This is then followed by a presentation of the theme and an added passages for open improvisation around D minor before the form is resumed, i.e. the parts with free improvisation that Stenson mentions. It could be added that ”free improvisation” in this context doesn’t mean ‘free’ as in devoid of chords or tonality, but rather refers to an open, collective way of improvising. Besides Stenson's lyrical treatment of the melody, a quality that could be mentioned is how the trio manages to unite the written passages and the improvisations into an organic whole, with a strong sense that the parts belong together.
Atomic plays Varèse
Atomic is a band that in many ways demonstrates the dynamic range of the Scandinavian jazz scene, drawing on American free jazz – with artists such as Archie Shepp, Albert Ayler, and Ornette Coleman – and 1960s European free improv à la Peter Brötzmann's Machine Gun. In their own words; “part academic lecture, part a fun night out on the town” (Jazzland recordings). Formed in 2000, the band also connects to a long line of Swedish–Norwegian jazz collaborations – the influential Garbarek/Stenson quartet of the 1970s being one of the most prominent examples – but with an aesthetic that sets them apart from many ECM artists. In fact, one of the group's missions from the onset was to offer an alternative to the serenity that came to be associated with the “Nordic Sound”, as heard on many Norwegian releases on the ECM label. Its members are Swedish horn players Magnus Broo on trumpet, Fredrik Ljungkvist on saxophone and clarinet, and Norwegian musicians Håvard Wiik on piano, Ingebrigt Håker Flaten on double bass, and Hans Hulbækmo on drums.
On their 2018 album Pet Sound Variations, Atomic take on Varèse's Un Grand Sommeil Noir, a piece from 1906 originally written for soprano and piano. In this version, the melody is played in unison by the trumpet, saxophone, and piano in a ’rubato’ character – e.g., a free-floating rhythmic interpretation – over a steady beat that is repeated in the drums throughout the track. The overall effect is reminiscent of Ornette Coleman’s Lonely Woman – from the groundbreaking album Free jazz (Coleman, 1961) – with its hymn-like, rubato melody played over a fast swing accompaniment in the drums. Harmonically, the bass stays on longer pedal points based on the main harmonic changes, played arco throughout the melody. Meanwhile, the piano plays chord voicings based on the general modalities, with occasional reharmonizations to further accentuate some of the melody notes. After the theme, the group moves into a collective improvisation, followed by a bass improvisation, before the theme is restated. The feeling is that of a heightened emotional character to the original, achieved through the expression of the group.
Anja Lechner and François Couturier play Dutilleux
In the duo work of German cellist Anja Lechner, coming from a classical background, and French jazz pianist François Couturier, conventional musical categories seem both insufficient and somewhat irrelevant. In 2019, their album Lontano was nominated for album of the year by American magazine JazzTimes. Reviewer Thomas Conrad referred to the music as inner-directed jazz, meticulous as chamber music. As he describes it, it's ”classical music released to float free in the moment” (ECM Records, 2024). Despite the JazzTimes nomination, Lechner and Couturier are reluctant to call the music "jazz"; if anything, their music shows that there are many ways to approach improvisation:
It's one of those things with labels. I really have a big problem with labels. Because: What is jazz, what is classical music, what is baroque music? What is Neue Musik? Does Neue Musik always sound new? Or is certain old music sometimes even newer than new music? For me, music is music, and I think it's a shame that it's still so differentiated. (Lechner in Spiegel, 2021)
Like the Bobo Stenson Trio, the duo is associated with the German label ECM and has a similarly broad vision in terms of repertoire: Bach cantatas, Argentinean folk songs and music by 20th-century composers, mixed with free improvisation and original compositions, all contributing to an unusually wide-ranging synthesis of musical expressions.
One of the tracks from Lontano is their interpretation of Prelude en berceuse, a piece by the French composer Henri Dutilleux written for piano in 1945. The duo version starts with an open introduction that lasts for approximately a minute, with Lechner mainly employing plucked sounds in combination with large, complex sonorities from Couturier, interspersed with harmonically ambigous staccato notes in a high register. This then settles into an ostinato figure based on the left hand from Dutilleux's piece.
Just like in the left hand from original, the figure contains both the sharp fourth and the fifth, a feature that gives a somewhat eerie character in combination with Lechner's harmonics. As the melody is introduced, the first 16 bars are played by Lechner, using harmonics, with Couturier gradually joining in with his right hand, accentuating selected notes in a high register. Then, the duo returns to the ostinato pattern, adding 8 bars before returning to the melody. When the melody is restated, the same section of the melody is repeated; this time in unison but initiated by Couturier, who takes the lead role this time. Instead of moving on to play the rest of the melody, the duo then segues to the piece's Coda section, effectively creating an abridged version of the composition.
A striking quality with the duo's version is how they preserve certain parts from the original – basically, the beginning and the ending – while omitting most of the source material. As Lechner and Couturier explain it, they took a freer approach in their arrangement of the piece: “At first we played the whole piece, then began gradually abandoning sections of it as we opened it up more and more” (ECM Records, 2024).
Johanna Summer plays Ravel
Much like Lechner and Couturier, German pianist Johanna Summer demonstrates the shortcomings of conventional ways of labeling musical genres. Beginning as a classical pianist, Summer discovered jazz and improvisation relatively late, but with great determination. According to the album description for Resonanzen, Summer “retells the music of classical composers through improvisation” (ACT Music, 2023), a concept she had also explored on the previous Schumann Kaleidoscop album. As Summer describes it, acquiring mastery of the original pieces was important before creating her improvised versions:
That was particularly demanding for “Resonanzen”, because each of these very contrasting compositions makes very different demands on me as a player. At the same time, improvisation is also an art which you have to keep practising and developing, so that the music can attain its own natural flow. To do justice to both of these sides, and to find a balance between them, these really are lifelong tasks for me. (Summer in ACT Music, 2023)
In an interview with Pablo Held, Summer describe how she works with building familiarity with the material:
When I find pieces that I feel like I can improvise over, I first have to get to know them. I look at the melody, the accompaniment, the form, the harmony. I usually practice them in different keys just for the fun of it. Or I play the melody or the middle voice with the left hand. Just pianistically working with the original material in an open way. (Summer in Held, 2021)
She also points out the need to work repeatedly with the music, to make them a part of her own expression:
… it's actually very important to me to at first work with the material and make it my own in such a way that I can play with it freely. Because I don't just want to play anything but something that relates to the original. And that's something I have to do over and over again. I have to always keep working on these pieces. (Summer in Held, 2021)
In the interview, they also discuss approaches to form. Held comments that one doesn’t get the impression that she’s playing over the pieces, but rather with them, referring to how she doesn’t seem confined to a strict form when improvising:
PH: Instead you're completely inside the piece, you circle around it, throw it in the air; you just do a lot with it. Were those the type of pieces that didn't make it into set? The ones that quickly settled into a form where always the same things happened?
JS: No, I don't think I ever felt during the preparation phase like I was playing over a form that kept repeating. There certainly are ostinato-like patterns or even something like a form that gets repeated later on in the piece. But what was important to me was that I would capture and express the mood of the piece in my own way. (Held, 2021)