Jazz Press by Greg Drygala
✕
  • Back to GPoint-Audio
  • All That Jazz
  • Music Reviews
    • English
    • Español
    • Русский
  • Jazz Foto
  • About me
fire!penderecki

[ Rune Grammofon – 6th of March release – Fire!Orchestra – Actions for Free Jazz Orchestra by K.Penderecki ]

Posted On 28th February 2020 By grzech In All That Jazz /  

release date: 6th of March 2020 on Rune Grammofon

Original score by Krzysztof Penderecki had only been recorded once and as far as I am aware and  it was also the only performance of it , luckily for us who didn’t exist there back in time, but now have a chance to listen to this inspirational performance and learn from that as well as understand better how it affected the further evolution of improvised music which we are familiar with today. The new reading from Mats Gustafsson, who also conducts his Fire! Orchestra.

The first (and until now only?) recorded interpretation of Krzysztof Penderecki´s “Actions For Free Jazz Orchestra” took place in 1971 at Donaueschingen and featured the New Eternal Rhythm Orchestra, assembled by Don Cherry for the occasion and conducted by the great Polish composer. That orchestra also consisted of 14 musicians, including international jazz heavyweights such as Kenny Wheeler, Peter Brötzmann, Tomasz Stanko, Terje Rypdal, Han Bennink and others. Don Cherry himself did not perform.

Penderecki had heard the Globe Unity Orchestra a couple of years earlier and was fascinated by the possibilities of working with musicians from a different background and with other perspectives than he was used to from the classical world. The challenge for all involved was to find the right balance between composition and improvisation. The idea was initially met with some skepticism from the musicians, but this soon gave way to acceptance and even eagerness.

The new, extended reading by Mats Gustafsson and Fire! Orchestra was commissioned by the Sacrum Profanum festival in Kraków, Poland in 2018. The idea was to place this classic piece in a contemporary setting, with a new approach and a new body of sound. However, the original score was used as a platform for the new reading, connecting history with the present.

A score in this context is most often of a graphic nature to present reference points, visualized on the sleeve by Kim Hiorthøy´s cut-up adaption of Mats Gustafsson´s score. It´s also worth noticing that the instrumentation is more or less identical to that of 1971, the main difference being a tuba replacing one of the trombones. Finally, this new reading clocks in at 40 minutes, and is thus considerably longer than the 1971 version.

This line-up of the Fire! Orchestra is unique in that it´s the first time without founding members and singers Mariam Wallentin and Sofia Jernberg. It´s also the first time with guitarist Reine Fiske.

unnamed (3)

***

ARTIST:                   Fire! Orchestra
TITLE:                      Actions
SCORE:                     Krzysztof Penderecki
LABEL:                     Rune Grammofon
FORMAT:                 CD limited edition / LP limited edition
CAT. NO:                  RCD 2212
RELEASE DATE:   6th March 2020

Tracks

Actions For Free Jazz Orchestra

Line up:

Goran Kajfes – trumpet

Niklas Barnö – trumpet

Susana Santos Silva – trumpet

Reine Fiske – guitar

Per åke Holmlander – tuba

Maria Bertel – trombone

Anna Högberg – alto sax

Mats Gustafsson – baritone sax and conduction

Per “Texas” Johansson – tenor sax, clarinet and flute

Christer Bothén – bass clarinet

Alex Zethson – hammond organ

Elsa Bergman – double bass

Torbjörn Zetterberg – electric bass

Andreas Werliin – drums

Tags:
#Rune GrammofonAlex ZethsonAndreas WerliinAnna HögbergChrister BothénElsa BergmanFire!Fire!OrchestraGoran KajfesGreg Drygala Jazz PressKrzysztof PendereckiMaria BertelMats GustafssonNiklas BarnöPer Ake HolmlanderPer Texas JohanssonReine FiskeSusana Santos SilvaTorbjörn Zetterberg
[ 13th of March release on JazzLAND : Eivind Aarset & Jan Bang - Snow Catches On Her Eyelashes ]
[ 21st of February 7d Media release - Deep Energy Orchestra - The Return ]

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Recent Posts

  • [ 31 March, 2023 release via Kabell Records: Wadada Leo Smith’s Orange Wave Electric Ensemble – Fire Illuminations ] 27th March 2023
  • [ 31 March, 2023 release via Pyroclastic Rec: Ingrid Laubrock w.Tomeka Reid, Brandon Seabrook, Mazz Swift, Michael Formanek, Tom Rainey – The Last Quiet Place ] 23rd March 2023
  • [ 24 March, 2023 release on Soul Song Records: Yosef-Gutman Levitt & Tal Yahalom – Tsuf Harim ] 19th March 2023
  • [ March the 17th,2023 release via Circum/Libra: Satoko Fujii’s Kaze and Ikue Mori – Crustal Movement ] 16th March 2023
  • [ March the 17th,2023 release on Tapestry Records: Dave Askren,Jeff Benedict & Ted Piltzecker – Denver Sessions ] 11th March 2023

Links

International team of music photographers
Music Photographers Collective by Encore Seven

Traumton
Traumton

Hubro
Hubro

Thanatosis
Thanatosis

Turtle Bay Records
Turtle Bay

Ramble Records
Ramble Records

Kilogram Records
Kilogram Records

Fenomedia
Fenomedia

ForTune
ForTune

Not Two Records
Not Two Records

Barefoot Records
Barefoot Records

FrenchRecordCompany
frenchrecordcompany
(c) All rights reserved
  • Contact
  • GPoint Audio