Chris Gestrin
Chris Gestrin: after the city has gone : quiet
“You notice that he likes to play with the aesthetics of sound and that, for him, music is about craftsmanship…. This is
some of the most original and innovative new music on the scene today.” – Popmatters.com
In the summer of 2004 Vancouver keyboardist Chris Gestrin spent three intense days in the studio on a Steinway D, recording in
high resolution (DSD) with nine different duo and trio groupings of musicians from Vancouverʼs vibrant creative music scene. Apart
from a handful of compositions, including a few solo piano pieces, all the music was completely improvised, exploring the process of
spontaneous composition with concentration, finesse and expressive power. In a sense it was a follow-up to his highly acclaimed 2002
Songlines release Stillpoint (an electro-acoustic sextet which includes three of the participants here). But there the emphasis was on
a group concept and Chris as composer and producer; here in these exposed settings success depended on sustaining the inspiration
of the moment. In the course of a long process of listening, selecting and mixing, we decided that Chris would sequence two discs of
music, because just one would not adequately display the unique approach of each session and yet how theyʼre all connected.
The collaborators Chris chose for the project were either longtime friends or people he was eager to work with in this context
– musicians who, like him, are skilled at both “inside” and “outside” playing and who like to develop ideas without limitations or
preconceptions. So there are pieces here that sound like some kind of ambient/world music, contemporary chamber music, more
“traditional” improv, or jazz, but most of them donʼt take well to simple categorization. The discovery of an expressive pathway
through each piece, and from piece to piece, is the recordʼs artistic statement, and it has a lot to do with Chrisʼs approach to music
as a discipline. In the liner note he writes, “To me, improvised music is a form of meditation.” I asked him to expand on this, and he
replied, “I guess to put it simply, I live music like I wish I could live my life. Itʼs not always possible to be 100% present when Iʼm
creating music, but when it happens it really is true enlightenment. The music happens exactly as it should without any effort on my
part. I am happy that this recording has captured a number of these moments.” An example? “There is one moment that gets me every
time I hear it. On the duo with Peggy Lee, “D.S.,” at approximately 1:19, there is a complete shift in texture, rhythm and harmony that
we both make simultaneously.”
The kind of deep listening going on here is accompanied by an enjoyment of many different kinds of music – which is perhaps related
to Chris deciding to study film composition rather than jazz performance at Berklee in the mid-ʻ90s. How did he come to synthesize
these different interests and approaches into a personal style that has been characterized as imagistic or cinematic? “Thatʼs a tricky
one, as I donʼt feel that I made any conscious choices about how all my influences were going to be incorporated into my personal
style. Iʼve listened to and still listen to a whole range of musical styles and artists that all inspire me greatly. On a spiritual level, I
derive as much satisfaction listening to AC/DC as I would listening to Shostakovich or Keith Jarrett. I did listen to a lot of electronic,
ambient and ʻnew ageʼ types of music in my early years before becoming interested in jazz, and have always appreciated classical and
orchestral music, both traditional and avant-garde. I guess one common trait that is ingrained in the majority of my music is a constant
attention to harmonic and melodic content. Even if itʼs obscure, Iʼm always hearing some movement in that sense.”
As Chris writes in the liner note, “I draw musical inspiration from nature and visual art but most often my motivation is sound itself”
– thus it was important to do full justice to the shifting sonic textures and the space that encompasses the music. Recorded and mixed
in DSD, after the city has gone : quiet is a record that amply rewards close attention and an open mind. Also released this month:
Michael Blake Sextet, Amor de Cosmos (SA1567-2), featuring Chris Gestrin and Dylan van der Schyff.
For bios and more information on the performers: www.chrisgestrin.com, www.pepe-music.com, www.myspace.com/ronsamworth,
www.milesblack.com, www.berniearai.com, www.gordongrdina.com, www.myspace.com/johnpaulcarter, www.jessezubot.com, www.
touchofbrass.net/jeremyberkman.cfm. The complete interview is at www.songlines.com/interviews/City.html. (By the way, a hang is a
kind of steel hand drum created in Switzerland in 2000.)
Click here for photos and album cover art
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