LOWER EAST MANHATTAN PROJECT
Homage to Keith Jarrett

 

Our new album is inspired by Keith Jarrett's Köln Concert.

I suddenly realized how much this concert has affected me. It was not that I listened to it hundreds of times. I´d heard it and it had entered my subconsciousness.

 

I can also see that it had affected a lot of the music I listened to. I discovered this when I listened to Anton Kari's radio documentary from 2009 about the Köln Concert. Anton Karis asked people to tell him about how the concert affected them and how they used the music in their lives. It was everything from weddings and funerals to lovemaking. After that I started listening.

 

I listen best when I have my saxophone in hand. I could not stop playing.

 

When Tobias, Kristian and I rehearsed with LOWER EAST MANHATTAN PROJECT, I mentioned this to them. After some persuasion, they became interested, but they were not completely convinced. They are used to me having ideas and they have learned that the best thing is to just say yes, I usually settle for that and not much happens. But this time I insisted. We are going to make something, I said. We will use the emotions, the vibes, the sounds, the phrases and we will make music out of it.

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So I just listening time and time again and then we decided that we would listen to the concert in our headphones when we played. We did not know if it would work, probably not, but we tried. Here you can listen to the result.

  

It's definitely our music, the sound of Lower East Manhattan Project, but the feelings and vibes of the Köln Concert remain. Anyone who has listened carefully to the Köln Concert can hear that a lot of the sounds and phrases are also in our interpretation, but the important thing is that we capture parts of the indescribable and mix it with our own indescribability. I can hear it, I hope you can too.

 

Kristian Kraftling excels in his piano playing. To create without imitation, to fill with his own soul even though he constantly had Keith Jarrett in the headphones is a fantastic achievement. I hear Kristian's soul in every single note.

 

Tobias Grenholm has a freer situation because the Köln concert was only a piano. His equilibrium gives him space to flourish. And he does blossom. The bass finds so much new expressions, so many exiting  sounds. The bass is present all the time, both compliant or solo. Try to concentrate your listening on the bass and you will experience something completely new. Tobias is truly a unique bassist.

 

Erik Winqvist's saxophone, I can not comment on, my modesty forbids me. I can only say that I am satisfied. It turned out as I hoped it would.

 

 

The Songs

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Track 1-5 we named when it was all done. When I listened, I saw pictures and got feelings.

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The first track is called Moose Birth.

As I listened, I saw a large brown mammal slowly approaching me. It was a close-up, a blunt snout that was interested in my face, the animal did not come too close, it did not want to scare me. Further into the song, I saw the moose's calf being born. The name was obvious. 

 

Second track Lunch at the Harbour.

This track is more social. It starts with Kristian's searching piano. Tobias and I join and it's fun to meet. The weather is nice and we go down to the harbour together and have lunch. The conversation picks up speed and it's really fun to hear what each others are saying. I also have something to say. Maybe my thoughts are a bit unstructured, but they are allowed to be. The warmth is coming and… yes it will have a nice lunch.

 

The third track is called Albatross.

A good name, a large and safe bird that scouts down over the sea surface. What does the bird see? It is something, but the bird sails on. I do not know where, but the rhythm is confident.

 

Fourth Track Afternoon Walk in Manhattan.

Now everything is fine, we walk home. Sober and happy, we go up the avenue, a little in our own universe. Our universes interacts. I think we go to our hotel rooms and lie down on the beds with colorful bedspreads. We close our eyes.

 

Fifth Track Credits.

Is a credit without words. Surely you can write without letters? Tobias and I have fun searching for Keith Jarrett's musical universe. The instruments may search freely. Just like in medieval church music where the voices met.

 

Concert Part 1

Is the whole concert, without interruption, including "credits" with saxophone and bass.

 

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If you are a real music nerd, you can try playing our track, at the same time as the Köln Concert Part 1. You will notice that it works, right through, right up until the last minutes.

 

Happy listening.

 

Erik Winqvist

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In Köln, a musical revolution on January 24, 1975

 

Keith Jarrett's free jazz concert reached a huge audience, but only a few called it free jazz. It was simply just good, so incredibly good.

 

Radio programs and analyses have been made of the great impact that the concert has had. Both on people and music development. We feel like Keth Jarretts heirs. We want to use the same tool that he used, free jazz.

 

 

Since 1975, free jazz has found several dead ends, but we are not afraid of the alleys. We steer into the main highway that opened in 1975.

 

To our surprise, we find that the road is almost empty. Strange. All around us we see that the whole music world finds nourishment from what Keith Jarrett did in Köln. We want to drive calmly and wonderfully on the rolling highway, without imitating, but to let ourselves be inspired.

 

 

Kristian Kraftling, piano.

 

Tobias Grenholm, bass, mixing and producer.

 

Erik Winqvist, saxophone and idea.

 

Together we are LOWER EAST MANHATTAN PROJECT.

 

Album release: March 26, 2021

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Images klicka  

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