Iversen explains that, “the title track on this album was inspired by a literal race with a butterfly I had during a run one summer morning in Provence, France. Running along the lavender fields on a dirt road, while the temperature was quickly rising, a colorful butterfly came out of the wild flowers that grow on the roadside; having apparently decided to keep me company. We stayed side by side for a moment and then it started to play. It flew ahead, dropped back, caught up with me again, spun circles, twisted and turned in a kind of a dance. This went on for a surprising long while until the butterfly finally took off. It was the fun, the enjoyment, the playfulness and lightness that was so beautiful and which nature displayed so naturally, that made me feel that I really ought to celebrate those sides of life more than I have previously done in my music. So, I set out to write new music that reflected this experience, and aimed for lightness and playfulness in its overall attitude, and that became the inspiration for Racing a Butterfly.”
Established in NYC in 2002, the musical relationship and the improvisational rapport of The Anne Mette Iversen Quartet + 1 has developed to the point where mere words start to fail you in describing them. The band, sinking their teeth (not to mention their hearts and souls) into nine new Iversen gems, is clearly engaged in the fun, the enjoyment, the playfulness and the lightness that can only come when you are utterly comfortable on your instrument, and in the situation you’re playing music in (the group’s longevity is clearly one of the major factors). Having out-and-out faith in the bandleader/composer’s vision doesn’t hurt either, and that is clearly the case here.
Artists reach audiences with emotions conjured up from the sounds they produce. Through this emotional bond, art and music can be a great way to reach people that we otherwise may not reach through other means. Iversen and her band have much to say about the climate, the future of human life on earth, the many horrible political situations around the world, and they wish to bring about contemplation, introspection, and joy in their audiences. “I hope that the playfulness and the fun of Racing a Butterfly will make people want to listen, at length, from the get go. Regardless of how little time anyone has or the current speed of life and society, to have a deep experience and connect to essential emotions, you have to allow yourself ample time. Real experiences require contemplation and much more than the thirty seconds that most digital platforms allow for a preview. To grow, one must invest oneself!,” proclaimed Iversen.
Later in the process of the album production Iversen discovered a poem titled “Tour de France” by the German poet Günter Grass, which also speaks of butterflies:
When the leading bunch
were overtaken
by a Brimstone butterfly
many cyclists gave up the race
- from Ausgefragt (Questioned Out), 1967
"The poem started another run of thoughts about my experience of the race with the butterfly,” said Iversen. "I imagined the front group biking up the Champs-Élysées on the last day of the Tour de France, watching one rider after another dropping out, demoralized by the butterfly besting them. However, maybe the riders are not demoralized at all. Perhaps they all have a realization that there are more important things in life than a race up the Champs-Élysées. Or maybe they suddenly become aware of the limitations of human life, the impermanence of it all . . . or maybe they are simply stricken by the wonder of nature as it manifests itself in a butterfly that wins the last race of the Tour de France! In the contrast that arises between nature and the comic figure of man speeding up an asphalt road on a bike, having trained and prepared his whole life for this race, he begins to connect and have perspectives of our human existence on a deeper level. Well, however you may think of this poem, I think it offers us a brilliant example of how to approach fundamental and important questions with lightness, playfulness and humor.”
And that is exactly what this album is aiming to do; bring you in on a joyful note, and while preserving the playful attitude and atmosphere, reveal the deeper emotions that the composer and the musicians have transferred into the music.
Racing a Butterfly was recorded on November 5 & 6, 2018 by Thomas Vang at The Village Recording , Copenhagen, Denmark. Mixed and mastered June & November 2019 by Dave Darlington at Bass Hit Studio, NYC. All compositions by Anne Mette Iversen.
More about Anne Mette Iversen: Danish bassist Anne Mette Iversen arrived in New York City in 1998, where she produced much of her contemporary work, using the organic staccato beats of her adopted city as inspiration. In the summer of 2012 she relocated to Berlin, which provides other outlets for jazz musicians and new opportunities. Ms. Iversen has eleven recordings available as a bandleader, including one as composer and artistic director for the Norrbotten Big Band.
Iversen tours regularly in Europe and the U.S., with performances at esteemed clubs and festivals. She leads her long running jazz quartet, Anne Mette Iversen Quartet, which in recent years has evolved into a quintet, Anne Mette Iversen Quartet + 1, the Berlin based group Ternion Quartet, Double Life – a collaboration with her jazz quartet + 1 and 4Corners string quartet, and the Poetry of Earth project.
Iversen has worked extensively as a sideman and performed with world-class musicians in and out of New York City and Berlin. She has curated and performed for the Royal Danish Embassy in Washington DC and for The Danish Consulate General in NYC.
For 2016 Ms. Iversen was Composer in Residence for Norrbotten Big Band.
Ms. Iversen holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Jazz Performance from The New School, NYC, and is a former classical piano major at the Royal Conservatory of Music, Denmark. She is a current member of the musician’s organization, Brooklyn Jazz Underground, and co-owner of the label, Brooklyn Jazz Underground Records.
In the area of education is Ms. Iversen is equally impressive, currently Professor of Jazz Composition and Arrangement at the Institute for Music at Osnabrück University for Applied Sciences, and was previously docent at the Film University Konrad Wolf in Babelsberg, in the Sound department.
Ms. Iversen is considered an important voice as a composer, leading the way for modern, contemporary jazz composition. Whether composing for small groups, big bands or crossover ensembles, her unique and personal voice shines through. The artist has, with great success and critical acclaim, integrated jazz and classical musicians, and while the majority of her works are within the jazz realm, she also composes in the classical realm. Iversen also performs as guest composer/guest conductor for various big bands.
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