Strings program and post-mortem

The Indigone Trio + Strings recital was a resounding success. Thanks to Irwin Block for promoting the show in the Gazette (we were a Best Bet of the week, along with Eddie Palmieri and Chet Doxas). Of the three recitals I've done during my time at McGill, I think this one was the best, and not necessarily just in terms of execution, but in channeling and focussing the talents of the core trio (myself, Alex and Liam) into a bigger project. What follows is the program that was handed out at the recital, for those who couldn't be there. Andrew Mullin bravely recorded the recital - I should have a mix back shortly, and the highlights will go up on MySpace.

We endeavor to play music without fear - energetic, inventive, alive and awake. Beautiful and crazy. – Geoffrey Keezer

Side A

Visions (Stevie Wonder, arr. Ryshpan) – An underrated song with a sentiment that rings far too true, thirty-odd years after Stevie penned it. May we be fortunate enough to realize such a vision in our own lifetimes? It’s looking like we’ll still have to grab our wings and fly away. DRR

Erghen Diado (Petar Lyondev, arr. Ryshpan) – All instrumentalists attempt to recreate the power and immediacy of the human voice. Transcribed from the first volume of Le mystere des voix bulgares (a Bulgarian women’s radio choir), this piece’s beauty lies in its deceptive simplicity. It sounds far more intricate than it actually is. DRR

Love Is the Reason (Alex Mallett) – For Lina. AM

Smacked (David Ryshpan) – The only complete original piece of music I wrote out at Banff in the summer of 2005. Whether the catalyst for creativity was Dave Douglas’ sage advice or avian interference (or a combination of the two), we’ll never know. Credit is due to bassist/composer Michael Bates, who came up with integral arrangement ideas, as well as jokes at my expense. DRR

Side B
Piece for Open Strings (Alex Mallett) – I wrote this as an exploration of the natural beauty of stringed instruments. I was interested in what could be created with the instruments’ barest potential. AM

Agua (Djavan, arr. Ryshpan) – Another Banff colleague, pianist/composer Kerry Politzer, turned me onto this Brazilian singer-songwriter. When I first heard this song, I couldn’t get it out of my head. I’m also a firm believer in the superstition of water guiding your entire life, should you be born in rain. That is to say, most major events in my life have been marked by precipitation in some way. It hasn’t failed me yet. DRR

Shahgely (trad. Egyptian, arr. Ryshpan) – A truly multicultural experience; an Egyptian melody learned in the Rocky Mountains from a Torontonian ex-pat living in Copenhagen. This melody is always a blast to play, and the arrangement is an extension of what developed rather organically at Banff. It’s a souvenir of the door of musical perception that swung wide open. Thanks to Graig Earle and Dylan van der Schyff. DRR

Throughout (Bill Frisell, arr. Ryshpan) – In tribute to a fallen comrade. This piece has had a recurring presence over the past year, and represents the cycles of life and of acceptance. In French, undergraduate and graduate studies are referred to as cycles; and as one cycle ends, another one commences. I can’t think of a more fitting conclusion to the concert. I dedicate this specifically to Chris Driscoll, but additionally to all those who, in their absence, continue to influence and inspire us. DRR

This will be our reply to violence: to make music more intensely, more beautifully, more devotedly than ever before. – Leonard Bernstein