The Long View

by Marty Ehrlich

Overview

The Long View is an extended work from reed player and composer Marty Ehrlich that was created to be played in conjunction with an exhibition of six new paintings by abstract/expressionistic painter Oliver Jackson. The piece was developed while Ehrlich and Jackson were artists in residence at Harvard University in 1999/2000. Their collaboration was dedicated to free jazz visionary Julius Hemphill. Ehrlich's composition is a demanding piece that will challenge the patience and endurance of all but the most persevering listener. It consists of six movements and a postlude performed by ensembles that range from a trio to 14-piece reed, brass, and string groupings. The larger settings are conducted by Mark Helias, one of several progressive, contemporary contributors to the project. At times, the music's atonal abandon predominates; at others, the ensemble arrangements and composed structures are in greater evidence. In the main, the music is characterized by stark, clashing, instrumental juxtapositions and ad libbed stretches that offer no rhythmic or harmonic reference points. There are occasional teasers of "straight" jazz playing -- a walking bass, a Gil Evans-like ensemble section, some nice bits from Ehrlich on his various horns -- but these are few and fleeting. Ehrlich contends that The Long View works as a piece interacting with Jackson's paintings and as an autonomous work. Yes and no. It's easy enough to appreciate how the painter's six new canvasses could serve as a nurturing medium for Ehrlich's piece and how the music could work as an effective aural complement to the paintings. On its own, though, The Long View struggles to reciprocate the demands it makes on the listener. ~ Jim Todd

Product Details

Release Date:	10/21/2003
Label:	Enja / Enja/Matthias Winckelman
UPC:	0063757945222
Rank:	246003

Tracks

1. Movement I
2. Movement II
3. Movement III
4. Movement IV
5. Movement V
6. Movement VI
7. Postlude

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Marty Ehrlich   Primary Artist,Flute,Soloist,Sax (Alto),Sax (Tenor),Sax (Soprano),Clarinet (Bass)
Bobby Previte   Guest Artist,Drums,Tambourine,Drums (Bass)
John Clark   Guest Artist,French Horn
Wayne Horvitz   Guest Artist,Piano
Ralph Farris   Viola
Marcus Rojas   Tuba
Andy Laster   Clarinet,Sax (Baritone)
Clark Gayton   Trombone
James Zollar   Soloist,Trumpet
Mark Feldman   Violin
Ray Anderson   Trombone
Michael Sarin   Drums
Mark Dresser   Bass
J.D. Parran   Sax (Tenor),Clarinet (Contrabass)
Robert DeBellis   Soloist,Clarinet,Sax (Tenor),Sax (Soprano)
Erik Friedlander   Cello
Eddie Bobe   Bongos,Cowbell
Eddie Allen   Soloist,Trumpet
Mark Helias   Bass,Conductor
Sam Furnace   Flute,Sax (Alto)
Pheeroan akLaff   Drums
Ned Rothenberg   Clarinet (Bass),Sax (Alto)

Technical Credits

Michael Brorby   Engineer
Joan Chase   Photography
Ross Petersen   Assistant Engineer
Ingo Wulff   CD Art Adaptation
Katya Kallsen   Photography
Paul Zinman   Mastering Engineer
Joe Ferla   Engineer
Wayne Horvitz   Producer
Marty Ehrlich   Composer,Liner Notes,Executive Producer
Oliver Jackson   Paintings