With this recording, the Presbybop Sextet explores the musical relationship between people and their global home. The center of this recording is Beyond Banff, a suite of what we are calling “Eco-Jazz.” Based on two journeys to the Canadian Rockies, the six movements unfold this way:
Awestruck – At the jaw-dropping discovery of rugged mountains, the opening melodic phrase exclaims, “Oh my Lord! Look at that!” Around each bend, there is another breathtaking vista.
Up On Bow River – We travel upstream along a glacier-fed river. The journey begins with optimism, but quickly becomes complicated and dangerous. As our guest soloist David Liebman reveals, the watercourse that sustains life can also swell over its banks and cause havoc.
Peyto Lake – Named for a mountain guide, this breathtaking lake bears an unreal aqua color. It is nearly impossible to imagine a place so beautiful, but this stunning treasure evokes our respect.
Ice Cold – The bass solo sings of forbidding glaciers and irrational thaws. An urgent melody develops and the prophetic saxophone pushes us beyond our comfort. We fear nature’s indifference. Would the earth care if we perished in the wilds? Is that what drives us to plunder?
Wahoo – As tour buses roll in, beauty is compromised by thoughtlessness. Heaven on earth is damaged by the worst of human impulses. In our exploitation of nature, we mock the Creator and scar the creation.
A View from the Summit – From the vantage point of a great height, human arrogance is put in perspective. We rediscover how small we really are, yet how significant our choices can be. We can work to heal the wounds of creation or damage the land that is our home. The difficult final movement of the suite is a parable of our ecological challenge.
Surrounding the suite are pieces inspired by the same themes. Winter Must Thaw is a wish for what is inevitable. Shenandoah is a fertile valley beside the Blue Ridge Mountains. Elegy laments an event of gun violence within a suburban community. Dance 24 anticipates the day when “the mountains and the hills shall burst into song, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands” (Isaiah 55:12).
Musicians:
Bill Carter, piano
Al Hamme, saxophones
Mike Carbone, saxophones and flute
Jeff Stockham, trumpet, flugelhorn, French horn
Tony Marino, bass
Ron Vincent, drums
Guest soloist: David Liebman, saxophone (4, 7, 10)
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