Messages is the second piece we have commissioned from Patrick Zimmerli and premiered at the Bal Blomet in Paris on Dec 11, 2019. The commission is for a work for French jazz pianist Thomas Enhco, the classical saxophone quartet Quatuor Morphing, bassist Stéphane Kerecki, and drummer Fabrice Moreau. As with Aspects of Darkness and Light, it explores the the boundary between jazz and classical music. It takes the form of a mini-concerto, in which the saxophone quartet plays the role of strings, brass, and winds combined, supported by the jazz rhythm section, and with the pianist moving between classical piano and improvisation.
At the premiere at Le Bal Blomet on Dec 11, 2019
Zimmerli describes the work in more detail here:
“People often ask me where the music I write comes from. Of course there’s no real answer to that question, but I can best make non-composers understand the process by expanding the inquiry — where does anything we say or do come from? We all create spontaneously when we speak, and composition starts with a similar spontaneous generation of ideas, in the language of music.
With speech, as with music, humans essentially combine and re-combine the words they’ve already heard before, with some unknown— I suspect very small!— percentage of “unique” or “individual” ideas thrown in.
When I’m speaking I sometimes hear the voices of friends or loved ones speaking through me. I’ll be expressing an idea or a thought, and in the back of my consciousness I think “oh, I got that idea from so-and-so.” In that sense the people I’ve known inhabit me, and live on through me.
For me that’s also the sense in which people do live on after they’re gone— the sense in which the afterlife is real. My grandfather died in 1986, but I can still hear his voice, see him dancing soft shoe, like he’s standing right here before me.
In music it’s the same way. Composers are inspired by other composers, present or past, and can often trace thematic, harmonic, coloristic and formal influences in a very direct, one-to-one way.
So we’re constantly receiving “Messages,” often from those no longer with us. Many of us involved with this project have been touched by recent loss— I lost my father last year; the pianist, Thomas Enhco suddenly and unexpectedly lost his stepfather and greatest musical influence, the famed jazz violinist Didier Lockwood; and one of the founders of the Seattle Commissioning Club, Alexander Clowes, an important doctor and teacher in Seattle, recently died, sending ripples through the entire Seattle community.
Yet all of these people continue to live within us, through their actions, their words, and the strength of their beings. These Messages are the inspiration for my new commission for the Seattle Commissioning Club.
Messages is a project that brings together French and American musicians, and jazz and classical music. The young and versatile French pianist Thomas Enhco, the French classical saxophone quartet Morphing, and, for the Bal Blomet concert, the bassist Stephane Kerecki and the drummer Fabrice Moreau will perform.”
A unison theme of four rising notes begins the piece. The rising four-note motive forms the basis of several of the eight inner movements, as well as the two interludes and Coda, and serves to unify what is a diverse set of pieces reflecting a sampling of the various influences, musical and personal, that have guided me and inspired me through my life.”
Musician Bios
Thomas Enhco, Piano
Born in Paris in September 1988, Thomas Enhco is a jazz and classical pianist. In 2010, he successively won the 3rd prize at the Martial Jazz Solal International Piano Competition and the 2010 Django d'Or "New Talent". He has won numerous awards, including the "Revelation of the Year" at the 2013 Jazz Victories. In 2015, he released his first solo piano album, Feathers, with Verve, and the following year the album Funambules was released by Deutsche Grammophon, in duet with classical percussionist Vassilena Serafimova. For the past ten years, Enhco has given more than 100 concerts a year on all continents.
Morphing Saxophone Quartet
In May 2011, these four friends won the 1st Prize at the prestigious Osaka Chamber Music Competition. The Morphing Quartet also won the 1st Prize at the Illzach International Chamber Music Competition, and obtained its master's degree in chamber music at the CNSMDP in David Walter's class, with the unanimous mention Très bien with the jury's congratulations. The musical complicity of these chamber musicians is at the service of an eclectic and ambitious programme: Mendelssohn and Grieg rub shoulders with Ligeti and Tanada, as well as Piazzola and Mike Mower. From Baroque to Romanticism, from Contemporary to Tango, the spectator emerges from the concert with the joy of having discovered new and original sounds from Monsieur Sax's instruments. In 2013, they were awarded the "Banque Populaire" and "Cziffra" foundations.
https://www.morphingquartet.com/
Stephane Kerecki
Stéphane Kerecki was born in Paris in 1970. After studying economics at Paris II (DEA), he entered the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Paris where he studied double bass with Jean-François Jenny-Clark, Riccardo Del Fra and Jean Paul Celea. Since then Kerecki has performed with Denis Colin, Guillaume de Chassy, Yaron Herman, Daniel Humair, François Jeanneau, Sheila Jordan, Steve Lehman, Ronnie Lynn Patterson, Michel Portal, Anne Paceo, Jacques Schwarz-Bart, Thomas Savy, Jacky Terrasson and many others. In 2018, Incises Records released his new album "French Touch,” based on French electro-pop standards. The CD has already garnered acclaimed in the musical press: it was given the "CHOC Jazz Magazine” and labelled "Essential" by Jazz News.
Fabrice Moreau
A self-taught musician, Fabrice Moreau became interested in painting before devoting himself to drums. Since 1994, he has used his talent as an accompanist to major names in French music: Jean-Louis Aubert, Alain Souchon, Arthur H, and many others. Passionate about jazz since adolescence, his first steps were made with Michel Portal. He has also worked with Flavio Boltro, Pierrick Pédron, Rémi Vignolo, Xavier Richardeau, Éric Legnini, Sylvain Beuf, Bojan Z. A very in-demand drummer on the current jazz scene, he has been involved in major projects such as Stéphane Kerecki's Nouvelle Vague quartet (Victoires du jazz Album jazz instrumental de l'année 2015) and Airelle Besson's Radio One quartet. Fabrice Moreau is also a composer and painter who is constantly seeking to expand his horizons.