Rabble Without A Cause, October 16: Fanfares & Freedom
On this show we will hear Laura Jurd’s composition, “Fanfares & Freedom” with Paul Dunmall’s Quartet, and a trio with Paul Dunmall
Laura Jurd is a British trumpet player and composer. She was commissioned to write a suite for a scored ensemble plus improvising quarter, which was first performed in 2023. We will hear the entire album. Jurd commented on the recording:
I don’t think I’ll ever forget hearing Paul Dunmall play for the first time. Whilst aware of his gravitas as an improviser, I hadn’t been in the same room as him playing the saxophone until the first rehearsal of this music. His utterly courageous and no-holds-barred engagement with the present is something to behold. This album was recorded live at the Vortex Jazz Club in London. In an effort to capture the music at its best, we performed the same set of music twice, the resultant recording being the second set (bar one short improvisation from the first). Paul’s energy and dynamism was unwavering and I have no doubt that he had a third set in him also - a true ‘tour-de-force’.
When commissioned to write this music, I was immediately excited and in some ways, joyfully daunted by the challenge. Aware of the dynamic magic of his quartet, it was immediately clear that the only role for Paul in the work was one of complete freedom. The question at that point, was how to make this the work of a ‘composer’ and put my artistic stamp on the whole affair? Whilst there are many composers interested in the blur between the written and the improvised, I wanted to give the listener a satisfyingly coherent sense of when they were listening to improvisation and when they were listening to conventional notation - the written music for the most part, fairly brazen in it’s stylistic identity. I’ve long been excited by the prospect of composing music for a chamber ensemble of brass players - all at equally home reading notation, improvising freely and in more of a typical jazz context . And there it began - a musical dialogue between the Paul Dunmall Quartet and Brass Quintet, both parties summoning, reacting to, propelling, welcoming, daring and disrupting the other. This was an album I never expected to make, which in itself feels like a celebration of spontaneity and the unexpected. I hope you enjoy listening.
From NOW until Nov. 29, 2024, CBC will be installing a new master FM antenna on the tower at Camp Fortune. These upgrades to the transmission infrastructure are necessary and long overdue. The work will unfortunately result in some signal strength reductions and service interruptions to all FM and television stations broadcasting from the site, including CKCU.
The CBC has been communicating with staff at CKCU and has assured us that precautions are being taken to limit the frequency and duration of interruptions to our signal. If there is a disruption to the FM signal, you can continue to listen to us online at ckcufm.com.
We will end the show with a track from “The Beholder’s Share” featuring Alex Bonney, Paul Dunmall and Mark Sanders. This release from last year features Alex Bonny on trumpet and electronics, Mark Sanders on drums, and Dunmall on saxophones.
You can listen to the show live in Ottawa at 93.1 on the FM dial or online at CKCUFM.com. The show will also be available for on demand streaming.