The last few weeks have brought some pretty amazing musical experiences.  Our trip with Ken Vandermark’s Resonance Project took us on hour after hour of bus rides back and forth across Eastern Europe, from Poland to Italy, to Hungary, back to Poland, to the Ukraine, and then back and forth across Poland again a few more times for good measure.  The music was well worth it, however.  All of the musicians in this ten-piece band show up to play every night, but I’d have to single out the brass section as perhaps the best section in improvised music – Magnus Broo on trumpet, Steve Swell on trombone, and Per-Ake Holmlander on tuba.  Beyond being incredible soloists, their ability to work as a unit is astounding.  Hearing Magnus’s combination of Louis Armstrong and Don Cherry is a treat night after night, as is the endless wave of ideas from Steve Swell’s Roswell-Rudd influenced trombone playing.  I think he’s perhaps the most overlooked musician in New York.  And Per-Ake killed the house night after night in his solo features, ranging from the tiniest of breath noises to a herd of elephants running through the stage.  Not to mention that his time, when he’s working more in the rhythm section, in so rock solid he could pretty much beat out any bass player on the planet.

We did, however, also get completely ripped off by a presenter in Szekesfehervar, Hungary.  This is the first time in 12 years of touring that I’ve actually been ripped off, to the tune of 1900 EUR, or about $2700 US.  This was a total disappointment as I’ve worked with this presenter twice before, and he took great care of us, to the point of becoming almost a friend.  But things change I guess, and we left Hungary at 3 am for a 15-hour bus ride not in the best of moods!

As always, the Polish concerts made up for that quickly.  We travelled to some beautiful cities that I’ve never been to before, including Lublin in the east, and Torun, in the north.  Both are old university towns.  Gdansk was also a treat – the first time I’ve actually spent time in the old city there, part of the Hanseatic league during the middle ages, and architecturally very similar to Amsterdam and some cities in northern Germany.

A funny photo from Zaporzhye, Ukraine

But the highlight would probably have to be our gig in Zaporozhye in the eastern Ukraine. Despite a 20-hour travel day to get there, the hospitality when we arrived was unbelievable.  We felt like a delegation from the US State Department.  And the response from the soldout 500-seat concert hall was also incredible.  Check out some live video here :

Resonance in Zaporozhye, Ukraine

It was sad to leave everyone behind at the hotel in Gdansk on the last morning, as we all went our separate ways.  But, returning home meant diving right into the Umbrella Music Festival which I help program – now in it’s fourth year.  And what a treat – although trumpeter Bobby Bradford had to cancel at the last minute due to a minor medical issue, we managed to get Roscoe Mitchell to come in his place.  This meant a first time opportunity for me to work with him in a small group getting, free improvising together with Junius Paul on bass, and Frank Rosaly on drums.  In many ways this concert represented the epitome of what we’ve been trying to do with Umbrella for years – creating first time pairings of folks who wouldn’t normally work together.  This concert had the added dimension of uniting one of the most important musicians to have ever emerged from Chicago with a younger generation who are fueled by the work he’s done.  I won’t venture so far as to give a critical analysis of the concert, but I will say that I had a blast.  What an incredible player – studious, rigorous, uncompromising, and totally original.  It was interesting to try to weave around his lengthy forays into circular breathing, and I quickly realized during a long alto duet how much I had learned from him on that instrument.

Onstage with Roscoe Mitchell - by Michael Jackson

I also had the chance to work with Joe McPhee in Ken Vandermark’s Topology Project, where Ken arranged eight of Joe’s tunes for nonet.  Although I’ve known Joe for many years now, this is only the second time I’ve had the chance to play with him.  The highlight of the night, despite Ken’s great arrangements, was a solo version of “Goodbye Tom B,” that Joe played on tenor.  Joe has the ability to make any instrument sound incredibly beautiful, and what he’s able to do with space, pitch, and timbre define the phrase “dark beauty” for me.  Absolutely incredible. (It was also his 70th birthday last week – another reason to celebrate!!)

The other big highlight of the festival for me was Akira Sakata – a 5 foot tall volcano.  His playing and sound on alto blow me away, and his set with Jeff Parker, John Herndon, and Nate McBride was one of the best things I’ve heard all year. Hopefully we’ll get him back to Chicago sometime soon.

Now, gearing up for the duo tour with Frank Rosaly starting in early December….