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economy has wreaked on arts and entertainment budgets. He admits that
he’s unsure about where it’s all headed and how he’ll fit into it. But he
knows things are transforming quickly.
“How are you supposed to convince people—especially younger people
who’ve come up with this in place where they can get anything for
free—that they should spend $10 to get this person’s record” he asks.
“They’re going to be like, ‘You’re high.’ There’s no way, logically, that’s
going to make sense to them. I have friends who understandably get
angry about the situation and try to prevent people from recording shows
or doing this or that. I see their point of view, but the dike has broken and
you’re standing there with your finger pointing at it. The issue of making
a living with work that is essentially free now—how do we continue to
do that work and pay our bills”
While Vandermark prefers a more stable environment than the one he
finds himself within right now, his music has always thrived on the same
kind uncertainty afflicting the business. In fact, his passion for exploration
and pushing hard upon his own limitations is a quality that seems vastly
underappreciated by the mainstream jazz community in the United States.
He’s a process guy, compelled and energized by the act of creation. For
him, the act of improvisation is an all-encompassing ethos.
“A long time ago [veteran British percussionist] Paul Lytton told me
that ‘improvisation is an attitude,’” Vandermark said. “There is a common
attitude with the people I like to work with, where they are interested in
the moment of playing and not being satisfied with what happened last
night, and not resorting to what works, who instead try to discover stuff
and take chances with the music. This is exactly why I like to do this.”
Powerhouse Norwegian drummer Paal Nilssen-Love, a steady collaborator
of the reedist during the last decade, loves this facet of Vandermark’s
work. “He’s at his best when he’s losing control, and he doesn’t know
what’s happening,” Nilssen-Love said. “That’s good for all of us, but
especially him.”
The percussionist isn’t suggesting that Vandermark gets lost in the
music, but that when he clambers to gain a foothold, he taps into rich
musical instincts.
“I still feel as driven as I ever have been to push myself and to try to
put myself in situations where I’m challenged,” Vandermark said. “I don’t
want to get into a place where I’m feeling comfortable, which is why I try
to do different things. I’ve always tried to put myself in contexts where
I’m out of my element or I’m forced to play above my ability.”
Context has been a major preoccupation for Vandermark. Over the
years he’s formed a dizzying array of ensembles to explore specific
strains of music making. Some of them lasted only a few
gigs, others soldiered on for a year and made a lone document, while the
Vandermark 5 has endured for 14 years. His web site lists more than 60
different contexts, which is by no means a complete list of the projects
he’s helmed over the years. His predilection for dedicating original compositions
to individuals (musicians, visual artists, acquaintances) isn’t his
way of making random shout-outs; by using a specific person for inspiration
he attempts to inhabit someone’s spirit or methodology, thus bringing
new ideas to his own work. But the real thinking goes into putting his
bands together.
When he assembled the Vandermark 5 back in 1996 he had broad aims
for the ensemble, which then featured bassist Kent Kessler, fellow reedist
Mars Williams, drummer Tim Mulvenna, and trombonist and guitarist Jeb
Bishop. “I wanted to put together a small group that could be as expansive
as possible,” said Vandermark of the group, which now features Kessler,
drummer Tim Daisy, saxophonist Dave Rempis and cellist Fred Lonberg-
Holm. “I wanted to have a group that could do everything I was interested
in, whether it was a funk thing, a new music thing, jazz or whatever, and
to have an outlet where I could write whatever I could imagine and have a
pool of musicians who were willing to work on it and realize it.”
Over time, however, he realized that this aim was misguided, because
all musicians have specific strengths and weaknesses, and personal interests
tend to dictate flexibility. Vandermark points to his deficiencies as a
June 2009 DOWNBEAT 49