[NewMusic] Marco Eneidi's Animal Farm

[John Ingle]

Wow, i have to say that I find it challenging to keep
up with this e-mail conversation! Makes me really miss
my old coffee house in Memphis where we would be
having a conversation in real-time. (its) really a
challenge to be quick-witted and pithy on the qwerty
keyboard...

It's a JUNGLE out there in Eneidi land! A big
free-wheeling holy-freaking mess-- an ocean of energy
and scronk that is blissful, combative, most often too
loud, and occasionally transcendent (for some, not
others i'm sure). It can be unapologetically rude and
aggressive and most rarely touching in some kind of
damaged way as well.

Even if Marco was only here for a short time and had a
lot going on (he left the next morning after the gig
with his son Nico to drive cross-country to Vermont),
he leads the group in the way that he believes in,
which can be infuriatingly hands-off.

Its obvious that Marco doesn't want to be a
traditional conductor, or even an efficient
facilitator of the process...(While many like me may
prize efficiency or practicality in their ensemble
music, Marco doesn't in my experience. Willful
obfuscation and bewilderment are more important
here..it's a thrown-down gauntlet... as Josh Allen
said, "some kind of musical Darwinism")
Yes, in the past he has done more "conduction", but
this has never been his focus. His music presents many
"PROBLEMS" that are at the heart of his process as a
composer.

The written material consists of single-line
"tone-rows" or melodies that serve as the launching
point for melodic and harmonic exploration, both for
the "sections" and "soloists."
The written material, to me, are like puzzles to
decipher. I think they are often like "Schenkerian"
reductions of Marco's solo musical language. On their
own, there isn't much information there--usually just
single lines with an occasional diad or chord. The
orchestration is as minimal as possible, maybe a line
for saxophones, trumpets or basses, or low instruments
or high instruments, or JUST a line for anyone. But
before one dismisses this as simple, listen to what
Marco himself does with the material.

With Marco's big ensemble music, the music is really
in the hands of the performers--it is an improvisers'
orchestra, with the catch that Marco asks you to
address his musical language (it ain't FREE improv)...
So, it's a composition, but the form is nearly
improvised by the sub-sections of the group  (ok, 
there are SOME cues).

In my opinion, the most essential quality of the music
isn't notated but you MUST work with Marco to approach
it---THE RHYTHM and THE PHRASING.
This comes out of Cecil Taylor's approach and is the
primary reason that the note-heads are letter names
without a staff (stave?).

I call this SPIRAL time, but note this is my term, not
Marco's or Cecil's.
The phrases should expand and contract in a way that
is absolutely tied to the momentum, the physics, of
the line. Action-reaction on a PHYSICAL level.
I think this is the area that most of the ensemble
members (myself included) struggle the most. Sure, one
may be able to play faster/slower, but can the players
really phrase in a way where the energy of the attack
determines the speed of the phrase, an do this
continually in a state of rhythmic flux? (KEY POINT I
THINK)

Remember that while Marco gave only a few "helpful"
conductorly instructions at the rehearsals, but these
where of paramount importance:

"Make it spin" "swing"  i.e. find and follow the
momentum and let it rip.
He was also especially insistent to the drummers and
bassists that they do this with great intensely  YET
with LOW VOLUMES. By most accounts this needed more
work or a clearer understanding from the players. One
can obviously  fault Marco for this as the
conductor/composer, but from his school of thought,
it's the players problem to work out

I'm glad Matthew Goodheart pointed this out:
 I always found an analogy between Marco's playing to
> Jimmy Lyons  in 
> the way that Eric Dolphy's playing related to
> Charlie Parker's. Clearly 
> rooted in the earlier musician, taking some of the
> implications and 
> extending them while simultaneously giving them an
> individualistic 
> twist. In a way,  a traditionalist approach and an
> interest in a 
> perceived continuum.

I get personally annoyed that so many in this scene
have a singularly "diachronic" bias toward music,
valuing difference and innovation over tradition and
lineage. In general I think this is a Western problem,
and specifically American..."manifest destiny" anyone?
Marco is in a lineage and should never have to
apologize for this. This is a "syncratic" value that
comes from traditional cultures and is at the heart of
jazz, the yin of innovation's yang if you will. Yes
Marco is a FREE JAZZ musician. Don't expect him to
have your own post-modern, lowercase, non-idiomatic
concerns. He didn't throw away the lessons of his
teachers; yes, you hear Jimmy Lyons and Cecil taylor
in his playing, but he is a masterful musician and
still sounds like himself. I don't want to compare him
to something he's not or judge his music by the
criteria of my own music.

I can learn from his music, respect it and his
process, enjoy the time spent, and still use it as a
lesson on both how to and how NOT to conduct a large
ensemble.  Why say something like "I should have been
the conductor", or "I prefer an approach that is more
facilitating for the group" or "Please, God fire some
of the drummers, bassists, unplug the amps and tell
the saxophonists to stop their "trance noodling". "(I
like that phrase Jacob, funny) I guess I have the
performers bias that this is Marco's music and I
should go with it on its own terms as much as
possible. If I can't dig it then I shouldn't play!!!

Another comment is that this is music meant to be
rehearsed. Marco used to work all day-all week with
Cecil Taylor. Again he isn't interested in
"efficiency". I disagree with Phillip (amicably of
course) that his music would work or be better if he
organized it differently and just had the players show
up and blow over the lines. It would be really
different and not his music like this... especially
considering the aforementioned un-scored rhythmic
issues.

Though here I give away my bias for rehearsal, for
both musical and social issues. I enjoy the hang, the
"workshop" and how the music evolves. I love to
improvise, but I love to practice "improv" and
compositions. Showing up and playing is fun as well,
just not my usual personal preference (but by all
means, you guys can invite me to improvise
sometime...)

Hell, I guess I really miss the old days. Anyone want
to buy a cafe and rehearsal/performance space. I'll
cook...


thanks for all the nice comments btw... i try to use
the compositional material melodically, address the
rhythmic paradigm, explore the harmonic implications
(this is another issue and one that I think Marco is a
master of... I've heard him with other so-called
MASTERS of improv-free jazz and thought Marci made
them sound like musical oafs.. and I think the years
at Mills sent Marco in some new harmonic and textural
directions, somewhat away from his "school of Cecil")
and then try to actually play with the sounds and
musicians around me... like music!

I'd like to compliment Josh Allen on his incredible
power and sound as well as soloing. Steve Adams took a
ripping solo until yes, the baritone was buried (I
still remember him taking an achingly beautiful alto
solo at the Glen Spearman Memorial with basically this
band, too.) Also, Alex Weiss has a tremendous tone!
You guys missed Aarron Bennett's great soprano solo in
the rehearsal (yeah rehearsals! he was buried mostly
at the gig) Spirit and Weasle had some hits that felt
like sucker punches from my seat, but I'm sure that
really worked in the audience. And I know that some
might bag on busy drummers (including me) but Valsamis
listened and played with me on my solo, even in all
the chaos.

Above all it was great to see and hear Marco, and his
band of jokers, free-blowers, tricky dickeys,
high-rollers, secret sippers, slick willies and
fresh-powdered pundits
I think Austria is good for him but it was nice to
have him back here for a minute.

cheers,
John (with an "H") Ingle 

(i am not matt ingalls, i am a singular Ingle)




--- Phillip Greenlief <pgsaxo at pacbell.net> wrote:

> -----Original Message-----
> On Behalf Of Matthew Goodheart 
> Subject: Re: [NewMusic] Marco Eneidi's Animal Farm
> 
> On Feb 28, 2007, at 11:50 AM, Phillip Greenlief
> wrote:
> 
> > I would say that your comment about coming out of
> the mold is
> accurate.
> > I would say that your comment that it is "quite
> bit different" is not
> > accurate. Different, yes - quite a bit different -
> I'm not sure.
> 
> I always found an analogy between Marco's playing to
> Jimmy Lyons  in 
> the way that Eric Dolphy's playing related to
> Charlie Parker's. Clearly 
> rooted in the earlier musician, taking some of the
> implications and 
> extending them while simultaneously giving them an
> individualistic 
> twist. In a way,  a traditionalist approach and an
> interest in a 
> perceived continuum.
> 
> PG:
> That is what I tried to say - I think I said "he's
> not an imitator", but
> he "comes out of the tradition of Jimmy Lyons"...
> 
> MG:
> I remember one time after a rehearsal with Marco and
> Glenn, Marco left 
> and Glenn and I sat listening to records (!); Glenn
> put on a Jimmy 
> Lyons disc to play me some of the tunes we had been
> working on. The 
> minute Lyons started soloing, we smiled at each
> other. Glenn said "Now 
> you know where Marco's coming from. . . "
> 
> PG:
> Exactly, "where he is coming from", not "imitating".
> 
> I REALLY miss Glenn!
> 
> MG:
> Sorry to have missed the gig, a migraine put me out
> of commission most 
> of the weekend. . . Is Marco still in town?
> 
> PG:
> I'm not sure - I think he's here dealing with some
> issues regarding his
> father's declining health. I assume he's still here.
> I wouldn't know how
> to contact him.
> 
> I struggled with migraines for years, and it helped
> a lot when my
> acupuncturist got me to swear off coffee.
> Apparently, migraines are
> connected to the liver...and the liver has a hard
> time processing coffee
> - I don't know if this applies to you - but if it
> does, it might help to
> "get off the stuff".
> 
> I like coffee and I miss it, but not enough to
> suffer migraines - it
> also made my lifelong bouts with insomnia much
> worse...it's nice to get
> a whole 6 hours of sleep these days. That's as much
> as I've ever been
> able to manage, except when I lived in St.
> Petersburg and took naps in
> the afternoons. I keep thinking I should move back
> there. 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Bay Area New Music Discussion Group
> NewMusic at music.mills.edu
> http://music.mills.edu/mailman/listinfo/newmusic
> 


 
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