Deep dive with Brian Marsella trio
To quote what Lukas Kranzelbinder from Shake Stew said the other day – all the rumours about the Sarajevo jazz festival are true! The atmosphere, the music, the connection between us all. Or as Brian Marsella put it – we are here because music is what’s important.
This is how the story of the 23rd Sarajevo jazz festival begins, especially the part dedicated to the Brian Marsella trio.
The music today is definitely not background music. The music is on focus and it touches the senses. We listen to the Brian Marsella trio – Brian Marsella on the piano, Trevor Dunn on the bass, and Kenny Wollesen on drums. That’s it.
Brian Marsella, Trevor Dunn, and Kenny Wollesen are not just some of the brightest contemporary musicians, but they are also some of the musicians we have listened to live the most. In all kinds of formats and variations – together and apart. Their latest project provoked a lot of thoughts. Beyond John Zorn’s music – in their own world, captivated by romanticism and the European classical music. This definition in one of the pieces makes it clear enough – Facebook Stalker! A mind that can come up with such a comparison deserves our admiration. And they are spectacularly refreshing and different. In search of the perfect sound. And totally acoustic. There are no pedals here. That’s what we were saying to each other while still listening to the album at home… Now we are saying – music for reading.
But when this music happens live, and you hear it from the fifth row – that is when, like a friend likes to say, you refuse to accept perfection. You can simply not believe that a person like Marsella, that just played a thousand notes in a second, will just come out to talk about music and will offer you records to buy. Yes, there are such moments in life, when perfection crushes you. Today we talk about Marsella, Dunn, and Wollesen in search for the perfect sound. With an indescribably brilliant sound, that can hardly come through via a record, but their latest studio album comes close. From first-hand experience – this kind of music played live is a journey through space.
And this is sort of what the thought process is like while listening…
We have probably all asked ourselves this question at some point of our life – where does the soul go? Does it transform? Does it have continuity? Today we have an answer – Yes, it does!
A great example about how we can spin the past into today. And completely blown away by its sublimity, we repeat – there is hope. While there are people that write such music, books, draw such paintings – there is hope!
Listening to this kind of music can scare you at first. There are a couple of reasons for that – fast thought, incredible technique, unique collaborators. If you start feeling like you’ve just been ran over by a truck – don’t worry, it’s normal. There aren’t many artists that can send you on such a journey. The melancholy and the olden time sound are very apparent. Give the music a chance and don’t give up immediately.
Here is what’s important here – an album, inspired by Marsella’s vision and the contemporary world. With all its sarcasm and disgust, but also with hope. Such a reaction requires bravery. There will be no facts – just how we felt – real!
This text started to form before our meeting with them and finishes with an image in our heads – the hands of Marsella moving with cosmic speed – exactly like an animated character, Wollesen bends a cymbal, and Dunn captivates this energy in the most elegant way. Pure poetry!
Today you should really put in the effort to listen to the links!
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