The Rempis Percussion Quartet
The Disappointment of Parsley
Label: NotTwo, 2009
Catalogue No: MW 811-2
Format: CD
Tracks:
1. The Disappointment of Parsley
2. Zoni
3. C/Sold at Ten Percent Discount
Line-up:
Dave Rempis - alto and tenor saxophones
Anton Hatwich - bass
Tim Daisy - percussion
Frank Rosaly - percussion
Recorded:
live in Alchemia, Krakow on April 6, 2008
Dave Rempis' bio:
Over the last decade, Dave Rempis has emerged as one of the most active young
players in the Chicago jazz and improvised music scene. Rempis graduated from
Northwestern University in 1997 with a degree in anthropology, focusing in
ethnomusicology, and a year spent at the University of Ghana, Legon in 1995-96.
Since 1998, his work with the Vandermark Five as the "other" saxophonist has
established him as one of the up-and-coming voices of his generation, and has
also provided him the opportunity to perform extensively in clubs, concert
halls, and festivals throughout the U.S., Canada, and Europe. His own groups,
including the Rempis Percussion Quartet, Triage, The Engines, The Rempis/Daisy
Duo, and The Dave Rempis Quartet, have toured regularly throughout the US and
Canada, and have been documented on the Okkadisk, 482 Music, Solitaire, and
Utech record labels. In addition to these groups, Rempis plays regularly with
Ken Vandermark's Territory Band, The Ingebrigt Haker-Flaten Quintet, The
Outskirts, and the aptly named Rempis/Bishop/Kessler/Zerang Quartet. His
frequent ad hoc collaborations have included performances with Paul Lytton, Axel
Doerner, Peter Brotzmann, Hamid Drake, Kevin Drumm, Paul Nilsson-Love, Tony
Buck, David Stackenas, and Joe Morris. As a founding member of the Chicago
presenters' collective Umbrella Music, Rempis also curates a weekly concert
series at Elastic, a not-for-profit performance space in Chicago’s Logan Square
neighborhood. In 2006, Rempis was named as a Talent Deserving Wider Recognition
in the annual Downbeat Magazine International Critics’ Poll.
About the music:
The first piece is somewhat of a swinger. For those of you who don’t like their
free improvisation too jazzy, head for the bar. (And for those jazz writers who
can’t seem to tell one instrument from another, despite the fact that you review
dozens of records in public forums each year, I play tenor here, and alto on the
other two tracks. They sound different. Dexter Gordon played tenor. Lee Konitz
plays alto. Figure it out.) The second piece is a ballad of sorts, dedicated to
my grandmother, Stamata Rempis, who passed away at the age of 102 three weeks
before this recording was made. She was one of the strongest and kindest people
I’ve ever known. As we stood onstage at the end of the first set, before
starting this piece, thoughts of her flooded over me. I had been at Alchemia a
few weeks earlier, on tour with Ingebrigt Hºaker Flaten’s Quintet, just after
learning that she was about to pass. Zoni is the name of the small village in
which she was born, just outside of Megalopóli, Greece.
The last piece develops through several different sections, as many of this
group’s improvisations do, but perhaps most interesting to me is the
juxtaposition of the two drum/saxophone duets during the first half of the
piece. It highlights the different conceptions that Tim and Frank bring to the
band, and perhaps why it might be worthwhile to have two drummers in the first
place. We normally don’t play „tunes” with this band, opting instead for a more
open approach. But one-third of the way through this improvisation, I had a
strong urge to bring in „C” by Julius Hemphill, off the great record Raw
Materials and Residuals. Not sure if the other band members knew what I was
playing, although I’ve played it with Tim before. One last note is that I don’t
play baritone saxophone on this record. The instrument has become an important
part of the band’s sound, but the difficulties of touring, and particularly
airline travel, make it impossible to carry to Europe. (Not that getting on a
train with an alto, tenor, baritone, and a fifty-pound suitcase full of cd’s
would be easy…) Just another example of how the logistical aspects of traveling
can unfortunately have profound effects on the music. Finally, many thanks to
Dmitriy Krasnov for the name of the record, adapted from one of his short poems.
A bit of thanks:
In the great documentary about Jackie McLean called “Jackie Mac On Mars,” McLean
talks about his first trip to Europe: “…when I got off the boat in Paris, and,
uh, gave my passport… the guy was stamping passports, you know, and he opened
mine and looked down, and first thing he said was «Ah, jazz musicien…artiste.»
You know. Stamped it. You know, it made me feel… feel good man. You know, I
felt, I mean, whaddya want, somebody like saying «Ah man, this cat’s gotta have
somebody tellin’ him he’s a jazz, ya know, he’s an artist…» Yeah. You gotta have
somebody sometime to tell you that you’re an artist, man.” Considering the
treatment of African-American musicians in the U.S. at that time (Bud Powell
comes to mind) this is no joke. Although we’re living in vastly different times
under vastly different circumstances, this is still no joke. For American
musicians working in an art form as marginalized as improvised music, the
dedication to the art requires some sacrifice. So when we’re presented with the
opportunity to actually be an artist for a little while, it makes the poorpaying
day jobs, comedic-paying gigs, and ridiculous-tragic travel itineraries of
touring almost worthwhile. Our friends in Krakow at Alchemia, where this live
recording was made, bring that gift every time. Alchemia has become a home away
from home for me, having spent about five weeks performing, rehearsing, and
recording there with various groups since 2004. The intimate brick cellar where
the music happens, and the dark, candelit rooms upstairs, provide a refuge from
the frequently snowy outdoors that brings to mind an 18th century inn. The
owners, staff, and audiences at the club extend their warmth and hospitality in
a way that also conjures up a different era, freeing us to focus, like artists,
on the music. This recording is the best document of this group to date, and
much of the thanks goes to them. At the risk of leaving many important people
out, I’ll keep the list short – Alchemia owners Jacek Zakowski and Olek Witynski,
manager Anna “Czarna” Adamska, Marek Winiarski from Not Two Records, and
Wawrzyniec Makinia from MultiKulti Records. I am eternally grateful for the
hospitality, hard work, friendship, and profound understanding of the music they
offer. The pieces presented here are from two live sets recorded on April 6th,
2008 as part of a double-bill tour with Mike Reed’s band Loose Assembly in
Europe. I’ve had the pleasure of doing two such double-bill tours now, the other
one with The Vandermark Five and Atomic in the U.S. in June of 2004. The
experience is powerful. It’s amazing to see another group develop night after
night, trading energy back and forth between the bands, and pushing each other
to new heights. Many thanks to Jason Adasiewicz, Josh Abrams, Tomeka Reid, and
Greg Ward for their inspiring music, to Mike Reed for both his musicaland
organizational skills, which made the tour possible, and to Danielle Oosterop
for her organizational work.
