There's a sublime sense of New York from 'Room for Other People', despite being composed by Dutch pianist Harald Walkate. Out this week, the fifth album from his critically acclaimed ensemble The New York Second is a musical response to ten beautiful and evocative photographs taken by Vivian Maiers.
Discussing Maier's photographs, why he selected the ten images that inspired these compositions and the artistic value of the work that had been put away and never displayed in Maier's lifetime, Walkate says: "I get as much enjoyment out of writing a piece of music and playing it the best I can with no one else present, and then laying it away perhaps never to be played or heard again. That, the me, is why we engage in art: to create something beautiful, and in the process learn something about the world. And about ourselves. And, then, we need to make room for other people."
The composer's piano opening to Room for Other People has a complexity and dream-like quality at the same time, inspired by one of several self-portraits taken by Vivian Maier. It was chosen as the title track by Walkate, who adds a quote from Maier herself in the liner notes: "Nothing is meant to last forever. We have to make room for other people. It's a wheel: you get on, you go to the end and then someone else has the same opportunity to go to the end, and so on, and somebody else takes their place. There's nothing new under the sun."
Discussing Maier's photographs, why he selected the ten images that inspired these compositions and the artistic value of the work that had been put away and never displayed in Maier's lifetime, Walkate says: "I get as much enjoyment out of writing a piece of music and playing it the best I can with no one else present, and then laying it away perhaps never to be played or heard again. That, the me, is why we engage in art: to create something beautiful, and in the process learn something about the world. And about ourselves. And, then, we need to make room for other people."
The music inspired by the images is simply stunning, with Walkate's piano running throughout, but not always at the forefront. A similar stepping away from the limelight shared by composer and photographer.
Both photography and music make the world a place of beauty and this is one of the occasions when reading the liner notes and seeing the photographic inspiration really adds to the appreciation of each individual track and the album as a whole.
Both photography and music make the world a place of beauty and this is one of the occasions when reading the liner notes and seeing the photographic inspiration really adds to the appreciation of each individual track and the album as a whole.
This is an impressive octet, with some stunning snippets of flute - especially on 983 Third Avenue - and sections where the horns take centre stage in evocative melodies and textures. The insistent interplay between piano and vibes on the opening to Florida 1957 seems to express some of the hope of the photo - a young African American man in the same year as the first Civil Rights Act. Walkate's liner notes say of the young man and the photographer: "What neither of them could know was that it would take many more years of struggle and adversity before there would be something resembling equality in US society."
Walkate acknowledges a musical debt of gratitude to Antonio Carlos Jobim, Pat Metheny and Steve Reich and each one seems to contribute inspiration to the compositions and some of the improvisations. The New York Second delivers with their fifth album: Teus Nobel (trumpet and flugelhorn), Mark Alban Lotz (flute), Tom Beek (tenor sax), Vincent Veneman (trombone), Rob Waring (vibraphone), Max Sergeant (drums, Lorenzo Buffa (double bass) alongside Harald Walkate (piano).
The composer's piano opening to Room for Other People has a complexity and dream-like quality at the same time, inspired by one of several self-portraits taken by Vivian Maier. It was chosen as the title track by Walkate, who adds a quote from Maier herself in the liner notes: "Nothing is meant to last forever. We have to make room for other people. It's a wheel: you get on, you go to the end and then someone else has the same opportunity to go to the end, and so on, and somebody else takes their place. There's nothing new under the sun."
A nice touch is the end of the album, with a brief reprise of Room for Other People featuring Nobel's trumpet and Walkate's piano closing the final chords.
Comments
Post a Comment