It arrived on my doorstep earlier today, and it fits the season so very well: Christof May’s freshly released CD Deeper Green. It’s fall now, and it is darkening around here.
The music is dark, too, at times. Heavy, low. But also translucent, wide open, and sparse. It was improvised and recorded in Holland. I was invited to be part of this production by German clarinet and saxophone player Christof May. We studied together in Holland, and after completing his degree in jazz saxophone he went on and graduated in classical clarinet. We toured extensively in different settings, and he can be heard with me on April and Compass (both on ECM Records).
My contribution on Deeper Green is spoken word. Speaking poems by Emily Brontë. Speaking those words meant sculpting them in the air. I am not into performing poems. I wanted to strip my rendering for this recording to the very essential of these lines. Hardly any repetition. Saying the words just once, most of the time.
Deeper Green also features the playing of Norwegian trumpet player Nils Petter Molvaer. His voice blends beautifully with Christof’s, and singing (well yes then, speaking) with them feels like being part of a wind ensemble. And oh I like that.
Deeper Green, just released