All Things Known - Eric Johnsen

 

From Bret "Jazz Video Guy" Primack.

All Things Known (Johnsen) Voice: Song Yi Jeon, Piano: Fanya Lin, Electric Bass:  Romain Labaye, Drums: Russ Miller, Tabla: Ehren Hanson, 

Electric Guitar: Nguyên Lê, Rhodes solo: Jerry Léonide, Flute: Itai Kriss, String Chamber Orchestra

Set to the poetry of W.B. Yeats, All Things Known ends the album with a reimagining of what it means for an artist to fail. Given both the rejection his father had to contend with, and the set-backs this album endured over the years that it took to complete, this reimagining process resonates deeply with Eric. In a world where notions of winning and losing are reduced to stark binaries and zero-sum games, Yeats serves to remind us of the nuanced, risky, and uncertain nature of creating art: Breed to a harder thing than Triumph, turn away And like a laughing string on mad fingers play. Amid a place of stone, Be secret and exult. For because of all things known, That is most difficult In the end, the creative process must exist for it own sake, on it’s own terms, regardless of the mindsets and opinions of others who fail to see the merit – and perhaps especially if the harshest critique comes from the artist themself. (As renowned choreographer Martha Graham once described, the artist isn’t supposed to be content with what they do; instead they can only exist in a state of “divine dissatisfaction,” while leaving it to others to judge.) Set to the 1914 poem To A Friend Whose Work Has Come to Nothing, this final piece begins with strings, with voice and piano joining them in art song fashion. Halfway through the poem, the fusion ensemble jumps in – as mad fingers indeed begin to play. A reoccurring motive alternates between two harmonic resolutions, while each motivic iteration extends and develops further than the previous one. Solos include electric guitar, and 12-bar phrases traded by Rhodes and flute. Eventually the strings re-enter the fray, and take center stage, before dissolving into the ensemble, and finishing alongside the piano and voice similar to the way the piece began. Eric Johnsen’s Liminality seeks to explore liminal spaces: that space at the threshold of profound change; the state of suspension between the death of what was, and the birth of what will be -- or could be.Combining an improvisational chamber ensemble with strings, Liminality weaves together jazz, fusion, and world beats with chamber and orchestral elements. The music ranges from strictly composed to purely improvisational. Textures range from the power of the full ensemble with chamber string orchestra to the delicacies of solo and duet performances. At times the music floats in ethereal spaces; at other times it is rhythmically driving, anchored by American, Indian, and Afro-Cuban influences. All music composed and produced by Eric Johnsen. For more info: http://ericjohnsenmusic.com