Denmark Changes

It’s interesting to play music in another country.  Often it’s with people you’ve never met before, or know only through aquaintance or casual previous meeting.  These new meetings or reaquaintances can branch out into totally new situations, more people, deep conversations, late nights, discoveries, understandings, differences, and a reshaping of things personal.

Last week I was in Denmark – a country I had never been to before.  The first day, I met some of the group I would be playing with, rode a bike that was far too big for me, went to Jeppe Skjold’s parent’s dinner party, saw Charles Hayward, and sat until almost 4am talking about Lars Von Trier’s film Antichrist, the government, and how people can decide at every moment whether they will do something to help or hurt someone else.

I’m very honored to have met and played with (as pictured above) Liudas Mackunas, Jeppe Skjold, Johs Lund, and Sture Ericson.  Each of them are incredible players in their own right, but together, it was something very intense, as personalities and abilities dissappeared into a surging dust.  The first concert in Copenhagen consisted of only my piece, based on Physical Changes with four baritone saxophones.   It was an absolute workout, with the four saxophones playing an almost continual 30 minutes at very high volume.  Most people in the audience over 40 left.  Those that remained received something they likely didn’t expect.

The second night, we played in the hull of the ship pictured above – MS Stubnitz.  This hour long improvisation was videoed by the on-board camera crew, and was a surreal experience as the sound bounced around the interior of the metal ship.  A strange experience on many levels.  I’ll never forget it.  Here’s a shot from inside the hull:

The following day we spent recording at the Conservatory under the amazing guidance and technical assistance of Petter Samuelsson.  The session took place in a giant wooden room.  We recorded for nearly 4 hours and I’m excited to hear things as they start to get mixed.  It was a long but satisfying day that ended with us quietly eating Thai food.

(photo above: Jeppe and Petter – beers in tour van at 2am driving from Aarhus)

The final concert was four hours from Copenhagen, in Aarhus.  For this show, we blended a long improvised section into my piece, which created a situation that was likely difficult for those listening to figure out.  After a long and intense improvisation, one wouldn’t expect 30 minutes of straight bombast.  It was an interesting ’story’ and devastating to all of us, and again I give great testimony to the skill, creativity, and endurance of the sax players.  Thanks to the audience who made it through this as well.  My ears are still ringing.  This was one of the most energetic, yet hypnotic musical experiences I’ve ever had.  As Jeppe mentioned after the set, it was, indeed, ‘the peak.’

I met so many great people on this trip and really had an incredible time. I’ll never forget it – from stopping at a kebab place late every night, to getting cracked in the skull by a sax case, to eating eggs benedict and drinking loads of Danish beer, to Christiania, to biking in the rain, to attending an a capella vocal concert in a cemetery, to hanging out with Christian and Alicia.  Thanks to everyone and everything that made this trip what it was.  I hope to do it again sometime!