Music in the Big Key
Copyright © 2009 Paul Dunmall, Beni Williams, & Philip Gibbs. All rights reserved. International Copyright secured. Published by Duns Limited Edition, 2009.
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Today I will go once again Into life, into haggling, into market, And lead the army of my songs To duel against the market tide. 1914
Wind is song Of whom and of what? Of the sword's longing To be the word. People cherish the day of death Like a favorite daisy. Believe that the strings of the great Are strummed by the East these days. Perhaps we'll be given new pride By the wizard of those shining mountains, And I, of many souls captain, Will wear a white snowcap of reason. 1918-1919
Two poems by Velimir V. Khlebnikov – ‘The King of Time’
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MUSIC IN THE BIG KEY
Figure 1. The ‘Big Key’ – with saxophonic trajectory marked in blue.
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CONTENTS
Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Prefatory Note . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 1. Core Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 2. Exposition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 i Re-imagining music in the Big Key . . . . . . . . . 10 ii Playing and practice inside the Big Key . . . . . . 18 iii Crossing the boundary zone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 iv Operating in the outer space of the Big Key. . . . 36 v Time and the Big Key – the ‘Big Rhythm!’. . . . . 44 3. Commentary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 4. Interview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 Appendix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
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Foreword
Paul Dunmall’s ‘Big Key’ – an all-embracing musical vision
At many points in his career, renowned British saxophonist Paul Dunmall has been asked about his approach to improvisation – what his „concept‟ is; how and why he plays the way he does. That is a very big, important, and dauntingly difficult question for any serious artist. Accurately answering it has been on Paul‟s „to-do‟ list
1
Today I will go once again Into life, into haggling, into market, And lead the army of my songs To duel against the market tide. 1914
Wind is song Of whom and of what? Of the sword's longing To be the word. People cherish the day of death Like a favorite daisy. Believe that the strings of the great Are strummed by the East these days. Perhaps we'll be given new pride By the wizard of those shining mountains, And I, of many souls captain, Will wear a white snowcap of reason. 1918-1919
Two poems by Velimir V. Khlebnikov – ‘The King of Time’
2
MUSIC IN THE BIG KEY
Figure 1. The ‘Big Key’ – with saxophonic trajectory marked in blue.
3
CONTENTS
Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Prefatory Note . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 1. Core Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 2. Exposition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 i Re-imagining music in the Big Key . . . . . . . . . 10 ii Playing and practice inside the Big Key . . . . . . 18 iii Crossing the boundary zone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 iv Operating in the outer space of the Big Key. . . . 36 v Time and the Big Key – the ‘Big Rhythm!’. . . . . 44 3. Commentary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 4. Interview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 Appendix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
4
Foreword
Paul Dunmall’s ‘Big Key’ – an all-embracing musical vision
At many points in his career, renowned British saxophonist Paul Dunmall has been asked about his approach to improvisation – what his „concept‟ is; how and why he plays the way he does. That is a very big, important, and dauntingly difficult question for any serious artist. Accurately answering it has been on Paul‟s „to-do‟ list