Bye, my friend!
They called him Dave or John, and i never knew the story behind it. I once called him the talking machine, but we soon got that little argument out of the way. He was a music lover like a music lover can be, and though we only met at so many early Punktfestivals in Kristiansand, i got to knew him well, with all the common wavelenghts, deep into ECM, and a Kingcrimsonist par excellence. I loved his presence: a musical library with a beating heart, a gentleman who loved dogs. How often did we sit side by side in the „alpha-room“. He could be so quiet, when the music started, in his own deep listening ways. John Kelman, Dave Binder – bye, my friend. I will play an old record tonight, in dearest memory: Ruta and Daitya, by Keith Jarrett and Jack DeJohnette (the title referring to their African names). One for the stars. (michael engelbrecht)
6 Kommentare
Radiohoerer
Danke Michael für deinen Text über John Kelman.
Ich habe seine Texte oft auf Facebook gelesen und er konnte wirklich über Musik schreiben wie kaum ein anderer. Vor allem, wenn es um Prog-Rock und speziell um King Crimson ging. „Kingcrimsonist“ ist stark. Ein großer Verlust.
flowworker
Ich bekam die Nachricht von Henning gestern abend.
A John Kelman original from the old days:
https://www.allaboutjazz.com/last-night-the-moon-came-dropping-its-clothes-in-the-street-by-john-kelman
radiohoerer
Vielen Dank. Wie ich schon schrieb: Es gibt nur wenige, die so über Musik schreiben können, und dieser Text ist ein guter Beweis dafür.
Martina Weber
Danke für den Link zur Besprechung des Albums. Es ist mein Lieblingsalbum von Hassell. Ich habe gerade nochmal den Titel-Track aufgelegt, zu dem John Kelman schrieb: „The 11-minute title track—which closed Hassell’s performance at Punkt ’08—is based on a simple, repetitively trance-inducing string figure, but the combination of Hassell’s measured phrases, M’Kachiche’s soft lines and the near-imperceptible introduction of Freeman and drummer Jamie Muhoberac’s pulse creates a compelling landscape, even as its development is gently nuanced and its ambience soft and subliminal.“
Olaf Westfeld
Schöner Text von Herrn Kelman.
Wir schrieben glaube ich schon mal über das Album. Gute Wertanlage: https://www.discogs.com/de/sell/release/2992042?ev=rb
Das sind Preisregionen, wo ich lange raus bin.
Brian Whistler
I had a few personal exchanges with John Kelman, who encouraged me to write for AAJ, although I decided not to pursue it, he also schooled me once over an off handed and ignorant dismissal of Tore Brunborg as a mere Jan Garbarek clone. He sent me a long detailed text regarding the history of Scandinavian jazz and Norwegian music in general. He was polite and kind yet form in his assistance that I better educate myself on the history of the music. It’s been quite a few years since we had thwt exchange and of course I already knew a number of the artists and recordings he mentioned, and familiarized myself with the ones I hadn’t yet encountered. I kept that text along with several others.. present the first one here as a tribute to the man’s encyclopedic knowledge, non-reactive demeanor, passion for the music, and his omnipresent Magnanimous generosity:
Brian, Norwegian saxophonist Tore Brunborg is undeniably from the generation that followed Garbarek, and it’s almost impossible tor a Norwegian saxophonist of his age not to have been influenced, to some degree, by Garbarek.
That said, Tore has long since built a career of his own over the past three decades in which he has established his own voice as a player and a writer. I would try to get past superficial comparisons to Garbarek, because if you dig deeper into his career as a leader and a band member, you’ll find that’s exactly what it is: superficial. And I mean that with absolutely no disrespect.
Tore was a member of Masqualero, the exceptional improvising acoustic group, from 1983-1991 that was co-led by the wonderful, truly singing bassist Arild Andersen and drummer Jon Christensen….and was also the first time i heard Tore, trumpeter Nils Petter Molvaer and pianist Jon Balke – all names that should be familiar to fans of ECM. Their first eponymous album, a remarkable 1983 record reissued on CD in expanded form sometime in the 1990s, was on the Norwegian ODIN label (an important imprint that documented much of the „next wave“ of Norwegians that followed the first wave that ECM brought to international attention in the early. ’70s) before Manfred Eicher picked the group up, releasing three great albums on ECM – the first, Band A Part, with Balke; the second, Aero, with the terrific guitarist, Frode Alnæs, taking Balke’s place; and the group’s final record, Re-Enter, a quartet date with just Brunborg, Molvær, Andersen and Christensen.
Every one of the musicians who joined Andersen and Christensen in Masqualero has since gone on to form significant careers of their own, but since we’re talking about Tore here, I’ll focus solely on him (sorry, NP, Arild and the two Jons!)
You can find Tore on a number of ECM albums by artists including, in addition to Tord Gustavsen, pianist Ketil Bjørnstad, drummer Manu Katché and Jon Balke’s Magnetic North Orchestra, but his discography as a leader has many gems as well.
Some of my personal favourites include Tid, an early solo album on the Norwegian Curling Legs label, with the superb keyboardist Bugge Wesseltoft (who, along with Molvær, Supersilent and guitarist Eivind Aarset, to name but a few, kickstarted another Norwegian „wave“ that changed the face of music on an international level with the release of his first New Conception of Jazz album in 1996) the stellar Swedish bassist Anders Jormin and Jon Christensen.
Gravity is another great record on the Vossa Jazz label, this time with Bugge, Swedish bassist Lars Danielsson and drummer Anders Engen. Lucid Grey is a wonderful trio record with two younger but now very busy players – bassist Ole Morten Vågan and drummer Erik Nylander – that I actually first saw on a tour boat (really!!) during a trip to Norway as part of a cultural junket called JazzNorway in a Nutshell that I was so very fortunate to have attended annually from 2008-2011.
You can read about all four trips here, and it will absolutely open your eyes to the remarkable expanse of the Norwegian jazz and improvising scene: http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article_center.php?in_artist=&in_album=JazzNorway+&in_label=&in_author=Kelman&in_type=0. You can also read my review of Lucid Grey here: http://www.allaboutjazz.com/lucid-grey-tore-brunborg-dravle-records-review-by-john-kelman.php
Tore’s latest, Snow Slow, came out last year on the German ACT label and comes highly recommended, even though my health problems precluded me from getting around to reviewing it sadly. With a particularly strong band featuring Eivind Aarset, bassist Steinar Raknes, and Per Oddvar Johansen, – an outstanding drummer/ percussionist who ECM fans may recognize for his work with groups that have recorded for the label including The Source, the wonderful saxophonist/composer (and Source band mate) Trygve Seim, pianist Christian Wallumrød’s Ensemble, and label newcomer, saxophonist/composer Mette Henriette.
Another band Tore plays in worth checking out is bassist Mats Eilertsen’s wonderful quartet and quintet, with albums on the Norwegian Hubro label including Radio Yonder and SkyDive respectively ( I reviewed the latter: http://www.allaboutjazz.com/mats-eilertsen-skydive-by-john-kelman.php). The quartet, in addition to Tore and Mats, features a massively talented but under-appreciated Norwegian guitarist, Thomas T. Dahl and Finish drummer Olavi Louhivouri (a member of Tomasz Stańko’s Dark Eyes group from 2009, on ECM). The quintet adds another Finish player who joined Olavi in Dark Eyes, the outstanding pianist Alexi Tuomarila. I liked Mats‘ quintet so much that when I was invited to curate a series of concerts at Norway’s 2012 Kongsburg Jazz Festival, he was one of my first picks….and Tore’s presence was certainly one compelling factor (note: Mats‘ latest record is SkyDive Trio, with just Thomas and Olavi – another great record I failed to review but recommend unreservedly…amongst its many great qualities, it finally shines a well-deserved spotlight on Thomas, and more folks really need to hear this guy!!).