The mere
fact that two such innovative and inventive pianists as Claire Ritter and Ran
Blake weave their singular voices together so beautifully would suffice to make
this stellar recording a very special occasion. But the stunning performance
captured on Eclipse Orange (from Zoning Recordings),
recorded live at Queens University in Ritter's native North Carolina,
celebrates a number of other landmarks, all of which flow into the music's
transcendent tapestry.
First and
foremost, the October 2017 concert honored the 100th birthday of fellow North
Carolina native Thelonious Monk, a key influence for both Blake and Ritter. It
also coincided with the 50th anniversary of the North Carolina Arts Council,
making the performance a living testimony to the important work being done by
the organization in supporting the state's vibrant arts and culture scene.
Eclipse Orange was sponsored by a Charlotte Arts & Science Council artist
grant funded via the state arts council. Informally, but crucially, the evening
marks the latest flowering of the three- decade collaboration between the two
pianists, one that has evolved from mentorship to collaboration. If that
weren't enough, add in homages to trailblazing female painters, the influence
of the legendary Mary Lou Williams, and the thrill of newly-forged
partnerships, as represented by the appearance of Australian-born saxophonist
Kent O'Doherty.
"This
performance was a very special, once in a lifetime opportunity, to say the
least," Ritter says. "It was a unique opportunity to not only record
my first two-piano performance album, but to do it with my mentor and at Queens
University, where I received my Bachelor of Arts degree in classical piano. To
be able to share all of that with my own students and a hometown audience
really brought everything full circle."
The two
pianists actually met in 1981, when Ritter arrived in Boston to study at New
England Conservatory, where Blake has now taught for more than 50 years. Ritter
later joined him on the faculty of the Department of Contemporary Improvisation
(formerly the Third Stream Department founded by Gunther Schuller), where she
taught a contemporary songwriting class in the 1990s. But Ritter dates their
collaboration as peers to 1988, when Blake was a guest on her debut album In
Between. "Ran is a great motivator and stimulator of the
imagination," Ritter says. "His genius lies in his harmonic
structures, in recomposing any kind of piece in any kind of idiom. He
stimulated the composer in me, bringing out a lot of color, unpredictability
and ways of thinking about melodic phrasing in more interesting ways by
encouraging me to listen to a very wide range of different types of
music."
Blake begins
the concert by navigating his own circuitous path through three of his former
student's compositions. All three of Ritter's eloquent pieces are title tracks
from her catalogue, beginning with the present album: "Eclipse
Orange" flows into "Waltzing the Splendor," then ends with the
aforementioned "In Between," thus spanning her 30-year recording
career in just over four minutes.
Ritter joins
Blake for the first Thelonious Monk composition on the program, "Blue
Monk" (later followed by "I Mean You" with Kent O'Doherty). The
iconic pianist is also the inspiration behind pieces by both composers: Ritter
dedicates her tunes "Blue Grits," "Cool Digs,"
"HighTop Sneakers" and "Integrity" to Monk, while Blake's
"Short Life of Barbara Monk" pays tribute to the jazz legend's late
daughter. Mary Lou Williams, another former teacher, receives a nod in Ritter's
newly composed Monk-like "Backbone."
Monk's
spirit hovers over the entirety of the proceedings, however, and not just due
to the occasion of his centenary. "Ran and I have certainly both been very
influenced by Monk," Ritter explains. "His love of space has been
incorporated into my compositional language. I also love his unique phrasing
and his angular, unusual intervals. To me, his work is the most original of any
jazz composer."
The dramatic
theme of Ritter's title track returns for a full duo outing. "Eclipse
Orange" was originally composed following the solar eclipse of 2014, while
this two-piano version was created in the wake of the summer 2017 eclipse.
Nature is a strong source of inspiration for Ritter, as on "Emerald &
the Breeze," which reflects on the Makah Indian Reservation of Cape
Flattery on the far Northwest point of the Washington coast.
Several of
Ritter's works draw inspiration from other women's interpretation of beauty
through visual art: her new piece "Karma Waltz" was inspired by Maria
Helena Vieira da Silva's painting "La Scala - The Eyes," while
"Waltzing the Splendor" interprets Georgia O'Keefe's "Orange and
Red Streak." Blake's solo "Improvisation of Selma" carries that
theme into a spontaneous reaction to Barbara Pennington's "Selma," a
painting in the collection of Charlotte's Mint Museum.
"I
think of paintings as windows to the soul," Ritter says. "The
artistic vision of these masters is definitely an inspiration, leading us to
embrace the moment of creativity on a higher level through sound and color and
combining the two."
Melbourne-born
saxophonist Kent O'Doherty during his recent visit to Charlotte in 2017,
reached out to Ritter as one of the local jazz community's leading lights.
Their lively duo jaunts through Ritter's "Blue Grits", "HighTop
Sneakers", and "Cool Digs" reveal an instant spark for this
newly-minted collaboration. Blake also brings his unparalleled artistry to the
transformation of several standards, including "Summertime" (a propos
for this excursion into the south), Hubert Powell's "There's Been a
Change," and a medley of Brazilian favorites by Antonio Carlos Jobim and
Ary Barroso. Ritter rejoins him for the classic "Over the Rainbow"
before closing the evening with her own Monk-inspired "Integrity."
Whether
exploring the paths forged by foundational jazz composers, her own mentors or
gifted artists in other media, Ritter recognizes and is galvanized by a kindred
spirit. "In the work of all of these masters, I find an equivalent
independent artistic vision, which symbolizes unique personal experiences and
transforms them into many abstract forms of expression." The same is
undoubtedly true of Ritter and Blake, two artists of the piano who transform
their inspirations in myriad dazzling forms throughout Eclipse Orange.
The music of
Charlotte, North Carolina-based composer/pianist/educator Claire Ritter is regarded
among "the most successful Third Stream synthesis of jazz & classical
musics" by author Ed Hazell. Ritter is the author of over 200 compositions
which have been performed at festivals, concert halls, and museums in the US,
Canada, Europe, and Asia. Her discography includes 12 CD/DVD recordings on her
own Zoning Recordings imprint. In 2017, Ritter was the recipient of an artist
grant awarded by the North Carolina Arts & Science Council, her fourth. She
has also received a NC Arts Council Jazz Composer Fellowship. Beginning with
the great Mary Lou Williams at Duke University in the 1970s, Ritter has
studied, worked, performed andrecorded with some of the music's most revered
artists including over a decade with MacArthur "genius" grant recipient
Ran Blake at New England Conservatory in Boston.
No comments:
Post a Comment