KENT CARTER

ORATORIOS AND SONGS

EMANEM 5042

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Excerpts from sleeve notes:

The project heard on this CD resulted from a commission from the Festival des Nuits Romanes, which organizes performances and concerts in Romanesque churches in the Southwest of France. In 2008 this was given to Company D M I of which Kent Carter is the musical director. (Danse Musique Image), The resulting multimedia show 'FIRE SHADOW' was performed in three churches that year – excerpts can be seen and heard at here.

For some time, Carter has been organising superb groups whose music is unclassifiable. They have elements of chamber music, jazz, free improvisation, and traditional folk music. However these are not used in a superficial or haphazard way – they have been fused together to form a highly unique genre. The hand-picked musicians in the quintet came from a variety of musical (and national) backgrounds. Mezzo-soprano Laura Tejeda Martin and trombonist Conny Bauer joined violinist Albrecht Maurer, violist Katrin Mickiewicz and bassist Kent Carter who had previously worked as a string trio (INTERSECTIONS).

The collaboration between Company D M I , the Romanesque churches and the Festival continued in 2010, using the same musical format, except that Christiane Bopp replaced Bauer. A concert and an outdoor performance, 'COLORIAGE', in another beautiful church were followed by the session in Carter’s studio that resulted in the recording heard on this CD.

Kent Carter says: The inspiration of the acoustic in these Romanesque churches, and the meeting with mezzo-soprano Laura Tejeda Martin started this cycle of song writing. My collaboration as a musician with Steve Lacy influenced me enormously. His progression of composing with voice and words (poetry) was a real pleasure.

The following notes about the pieces are based on comments by Carter:
1. The Beginning – a voyage to the land of beyond.
[Words and music by Kent Carter Inspired by the poem The Land of Beyond by Robert Service – some excerpts from the poem are included.]
The starting of an imaginary journey to the unknown where one sees sound and hears sight. A rather curious adventure – one that works well in Romanesque churches.
2. Cluster Ringing – [Words and music Kent Carter.]
The first little opera of our journey. There is a different gravity here. Lots of ringing. The soloists (characters) are important. Some surprises.
3. Dumb Delights – [Inspired by Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass with music by Kent Carter]
4. The Red Haired Man [Poem by Daniil Ivanovich Kharms from notebook titled Incidents. Collective composition.]
5. Angela [Words and music by Kent Carter.]
Angela the cat. A little old lady looking for her cat.
6. Something for Conny [Words and music by Kent Carter.]
Written with Conny Bauer – a trombonist from Berlin – in mind. We played this in the performances of 'FIRE SHADOW'.
7. Manhattan Blues [Music by Kent Carter who also wrote a storyline for Laura Tejeda Martin to improvise on.] It’s a bit melancholy with a harmonic twist.
8. Can’t get Up [Text by Jean Arp from Poems with no First Names. Collective composition.]
9. You Know [Words and music by Kent Carter.]
The last song. Something you can hum on your way home. A word play On you know – I know you know – I know you know I know ---- and on and on.

Kent Carter is full of gratitude for the musicians on this project. Their creative work on the solos and in the ensemble was extremely fine and musical, even under the stressful day in the studio. Many thanks, ladies and gentleman.

I fell in love with this music at first hearing around five years ago, and have continued to enjoy it whenever I have listened to it. Any hesitation in releasing it is solely due to my fear that it might fall down between the proverbial stools. Will jazz fans relate to the mezzo-soprano singing? Will people used to 'classical music' relate to the improvisations? Will improvisation aficionados take to the composed sections? Or will there be enough broad-minded people around to appreciate this beautiful music as a whole? One hopes so.

Maybe the following note from someone who knows Kent Carter and his music much better than I do, will help to put the maestro in perspective:

KC's composing comes out of his subjective experiences rather than from a conventional method. He transforms thoughts and visions into sounds. His capacity of observation of nature is essential in his compositions: landscapes, animals, details of unnoticed ‘little things’...

Perceptions, confusions, paradoxes and, last but not least, humour makes his musical lines change directions without warning. We are in and out of order and disorder, in between emptiness and exuberance. KC's music is the experience of his life, full of events of all sorts.

Martin Davidson (2016) with thanks to Kent Carter and…

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