(version française en bas de page)
Only a one-hour flight from Rome to Cagliari! And an hour and a half of hairpin turns through the Sardinian scrubland, an almost lunar scene under the pale sun: David, at the wheel of our Fiat 500, agilely and prudently negotiates the twists and turns that lead us to the Sant’Anna Arresi festival. We arrive there a few days before the concert date so that we can enjoy the Sardinia’s wild beauty. From isthmuses to islands and from beaches to coastal
roads, we practice our favourite sport: finding the best restaurants! Red Sardinian tuna in Caloforte; spaghetti bottarga in Porto Pino; grilled steak with chicory in Sant’Anna Arresi; prosciutto, black figs and tillicas according to market availability, and so much more. Plenty of food to nourish a culinary chronicle of the region!
We even have time to enjoy the festival, a rare treat since we normally arrive just one day before the concert, if not the same day. We thus discover Paolo Angeli, a Sardinian guitarist and vocalist, on stage with Antonello Salis’ band on the first night and in a solo concert the second, with Gavino Murgia (voice) as the final piece’s guest artist. Barely are we seated on the church steps, just behind the bleachers, when we both fall completely under the spell of his music and intelligence, so remarkable it renders us an out of body experience. The oniric world of this musician has the invocative power of thousands of years of history and ancestors and deep roots; of the eternal stars in the nocturnal blue heavens. His music is as magical as the most fabulous legends, yet never reveals its mystery… There are men and women, you know, who I think are chosen ones.
David is over the moon: “First thing, I thought it was a cello because he was playing the bottom of it with a bow. I mean, he made a guitar that has 6 strings, and the 2 bottom strings act almost like a bass. He’s modified his guitar to kind of resemble a cello, and then he uses foot pedals like for an organ. It is like a cello, a traditional guitar, and he added electronics to alter it. On top of that, he brings his own Sardinian traditional voice, and he incorporates all these vocal technics inside. He’s got such a dreamy high tenor voice. And he brings Gavino Murgia on, who is lower than a bass: this guy sounds like a bull frog! These two make a whole orchestra, just the two of them! It had me dreaming that night. I mean, I am very impressed with Paolo as a thinker, as a conceptualist, as a musician, and as a singer.”
Paolo Angeli makes me think of one of David’s stories about the most wonderful compliment he ever received. One day, a couple with a baby in their arms came to thank him: they had conceived their child after having attended one of his concerts with strings… Yes, that’s it, yes, that says it all.
We leave Sardinia for another stopover in Rome before leaving for the jazz festival in Florence. The sweetness of the late season, of ochre, blue skies and renewed friendships make the week pass in the blink of an eye. David has a rendez-vous with a life-long friend,
Roberta Garrison. I watch the two of them become enlivened, telling themselves, remembering the New York of the 1970s, places, concerts, choreographies, apartments, parties and people who made this time of their life. I don’t hear everything from the other side of the table because she speaks so rapidly and is very clearly thrilled and moved to be sharing these emotions with her friend and compatriot. But I now know that she moved to Italy in 1979, a few years after the passing of her husband, Jimmy Garrison, John Coltrane’s bassist; that she still dances and choreographs in Rome; that she bought her first house there, not far from the Coliseum; and that the beautiful apartment she still lives in saw her children grow up. That if she kept dancing after the death of her true love, it’s because she promised him she would. That her contagious vitality is such a precious gift for anyone who is invited to enter her universe!
The final concert of the summer season is already upon us! The trio is scheduled to play at the Villa Limonaia, known in Florence since the Italian Renaissance as the Villa Strozzy, so named for the family to which it belonged. La Limonaia: Lemon House, according to all good translations. I prefer “The Citrus Orchard,” for the sublime elegance of this place that so reminds me of Chekhov’s characters. The strength of the imagination always astounds me, mover of mountains of an incalculable number of words, pages, images and landscapes that seemingly appear out of nowhere, well, from our memory, to create new stories, to better understand our universe, to make it our own...
The evening ends with Flowers For Albert*, which David hasn’t played for a long time. “It is a song like Duke Ellington’s Satin Doll, a song that you continually reinvent. I’ve done many arrangements of it in order to keep it interesting for me as a player. I’ve recorded it 13 times in 45 years in every style! It’s my musical signature. And I never sang it myself before! You and I collaborated together to incorporate Albert’s famous quote ‘Music is the healing force of the universe’ into the lyrics. It brings a renewed inspiration.”
I must say that every time David takes the microphone to sing this piece, the energy in the stands kicks up a notch. Something very special happens to those of us in the audience… I believe that it’s as if all of a sudden, we enter into the intimacy that his saxophone and his clarinet imperceptibly protect.
* Albert Ayler, american saxophoniste who introduced the use of multiphonics in jazz
September 12, 2021, Florence
photos: 1- San Pietro, Sardenia 2- Roberta Garrrison and David Murray in Rome
ARRIÈRE-SAISON
Une heure d’avion seulement de Rome à Cagliari! Et une heure et demie de lacets dans le maquis sarde, spectacle quasi lunaire sous ce soleil blafard : David, au volant de notre Fiat 500, négocie, souple et prudent, les virages qui nous conduisent au festival de Sant’Anna Arresi. Nous y arrivons avec quelques jours d’avance sur la date du concert pour
profiter de la beauté sauvage de la Sardaigne. D’isthmes en îles et de plages en chemins
côtiers, nous pratiquons notre sport favori : les bonnes tables! Thon rouge de Sardaigne à Caloforte, spaghetti bottarga à Porto Pino, entrecôte grillée et chicorée à Sant’Anna Arresi, prosciutto, figues noires et tillicas au gré des épiceries, etc. De quoi écrire une chronique gourmande de la région!
Nous avons même le temps de profiter du festival, plaisir rare comme nous arrivons en général un jour avant le concert, voire le jour-même. Nous découvrons ainsi Paolo Angeli, guitariste et vocaliste sarde, sur scène avec la formation d’Antonello Salis (piano et accordéon) le premier soir, en concert solo le deuxième, avec Gavino Murgia (voix) pour invité au dernier morceau. Nous sommes à peine assis sur les marches de l’église, juste derrière les gradins, que nous tombons tous les deux sous le charme de sa musique, de son intelligence si remarquables que l’on s’y abandonne, comme en apesanteur. Le monde onirique de ce musicien a une puissance invocatrice de millénaires d’histoire et d’ancêtres et de racines profondes, d’étoiles au firmament du bleu nocturne de toutes les nuits du monde. Sa musique a la magie des légendes les plus fabuleuses, sans que le mystère en soit jamais dévoilé… Il est des hommes et des femmes, comme ça, dont je me dis qu’ils sont choisis.
David est aux anges : « First thing, I thought it was a cello because he was playing the bottom of it with a bow. I mean, he made a guitar that has 6 strings, and the 2 bottom strings act almost like a bass. He’s modified his guitar to kind of ressemble a cello, and then he uses foot pedals like for an organ. It is like a cello, a traditional guitar, and he added electronics to alter it. On top of that, he brings his own Sardinian traditional voice, and he incorporates all these vocal technics inside. He’s got such a dreammy high tenor voice. And he brings Gavino Murgia on who is lower than a bass: this guy sounds like a bull frog! These two ones are a whole orchestra just the two of them! It had me dreaming that night. I mean, I am very impressed with Paolo as a thinker, as a conceptualist, as a musician, and as a singer. »
Paolo Angeli me fait penser à cette histoire de David dont il dit que c’est le plus beau compliment qu’il ait jamais reçu. Un couple était venu le remercier un jour, un bébé dans les bras : ils avaient conçu cet enfant après être venus à un de ses concerts… Oui, c’est ça, oui, tout à fait ça.
Nous faisons de nouveau escale à Rome en quittant la Sardaigne, avant de partir pour le festival de jazz de Florence. Les douceurs de l’arrière-saison, d’ocre, de ciel bleu et d’amitiés retrouvées, font passer la semaine en un clin d’œil. David a rendez-vous avec une
amie de toujours, Roberta Garrison. Je les regarde tous les deux s’animer, se raconter, se souvenir du New York des années 1970, des lieux, concerts, chorégraphies, appartements, fêtes et personnes qui ont fait cette époque de leur vie. Je n’entends pas tout de l’autre côté de la table tant elle parle vite, visiblement toute à la joie et à la tendresse partagées d’être avec son ami et compatriote. Mais je sais d’elle maintenant qu’elle est arrivée en Italie en 1979, quelques années après la disparition de son mari, Jimmy Garrison, bassiste de John Coltrane, qu’elle danse et chorégraphie toujours à Rome, qu’elle a acheté sa première maison là, pas loin du Colysée, et que le bel appartement qu’elle occupe toujours aujourd’hui, dans le même quartier, a vu grandir ses enfants. Que si elle a continué à danser après la disparition de son amour, c’est qu’elle a dû lui en faire la promesse avant qu’il ne parte. Que sa vitalité, contagieuse, est un cadeau inestimable pour quiconque est invité à entrer dans son univers!
Le dernier concert de la saison estivale est déjà là! Le trio est programmé à la villa Limonaia, connue à Florence depuis la Renaissance italienne sous le nom de villa Strozzy, du nom de la famille à qui elle appartenait. La Limonaia : la maison du citron, dans toutes les bonnes traductions. Je préfère « La Citroneraie », pour la sublime élégance de ce lieu qui me rappelle les personnages de Tchekhov. La force de l’imaginaire m’épate toujours, déplaceuse de montagnes au nombre incalculable de mots, pages, images et paysages, surgissant d’on ne sait où, enfin, de notre mémoire, pour créer de nouvelles histoires, mieux comprendre notre univers, nous l’approprier...
La soirée se termine sur Flowers For Albert*que David ne jouait plus depuis longtemps. « It is a song like Duke Ellington’s Satin Doll, a song that you continually reinvent. I’ve done many arrangements of it in order to keep it interesting for me as a player. I’ve recorded it 13 times in 45 years in every style! It’s my musical signature. And I never sang it myself before! You and I colaborated together to incorporate Albert’s famous quote « Music is the healing force of the universe » into the lyrics. It brings a renewed inspiration. »
Je dois dire que chaque fois que David prend le micro pour chanter ce morceau, l’énergie monte d’un cran dans les gradins. Il se passe alors quelque chose de très particulier pour nous, spectateurs… Je crois que c’est comme si, tout d’un coup, nous pénétrions dans l’intimité que son saxophone et sa clarinette, mine de rien, protègent.
* Albert Ayler, saxophoniste américain qui a introduit l'utilisation de la multiphonie dans le jazz
12 septembre 2021, Florence
photos: 1- San Pietro, Sardaigne 2- Roberta Garrrison et David Murray à Rome
Comments