Transcript for the Piece Audio version of RN Documentary: Raising Cain(e) with Mahler
?Raising Cain(e) with Mahler?
American jazz pianist and composer Uri Caine on his jazz interpretations of work by Viennese composer Gustav Mahler.
Music: Urlicht/Primal Light; Dark Flame; Toblach; Bernstein ?Das Lied von der Erde?
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Ambience 1
DAVID: Summer is festival season ? especially for music. Whether your taste is classical or modern, jazz or pop, you usually know what to expect when you buy your ticket. But sometimes there are surprises. Imagine traveling to Toblach, tucked in the heart of the Italian Dolomites, for the annual International Gustav Mahler Festival. You?re ready for an evening of solemn symphonic fare. And then the Uri Caine Ensemble takes the stage.
MUSIC1: ?I went out this morning over the countryside? ? Primal Light
URI ? FW: ?A lot of people are surprised?
LW: ?as a basis for improvisation.? (23?)
FW: ?The thing that attracted me to Mahler?
LW: ?inclusive of other types of music.? (27?)
DAVID: Eclectic is a word which could be used to describe the musical world of jazz pianist and composer Uri Caine. Born in Philadelphia, he now lives in New York City where he regularly performs at the renowned Village Vanguard. But he?s often on the road ? especially in Europe. To give you an idea of the range of his work, he premiered his Mozart Remix at the 2006 Holland Festival; and a month later was back in The Netherlands for the North Sea Jazz Festival improvising on laptops with his trio Bedrock. But I was most intrigued to talk with him about his re-imaginings of Mahler. He?s produced three CD?s based on the Viennese composer?s work ? including this live recording of the concert in Toblach, where Mahler spent the last three summers of his life. Uri Caine greeted me with a friendly smile when we met in Amsterdam ? another city to which Mahler had a strong connection.
URI ? FW: ?Well, Mahler?s connection to Amsterdam?
LW: ?Amsterdam - He loved Holland.? (1?15?)
URI ? FW: ?The real impetus for the project?
LW: ?improvise in a Klezmer style.? (1?30?)
MUSIC2: ?Symphony no. 1
URI ? FW: ?One thing I read, Mahler was in NY?
LW: ?cultural life until he got too sick.? (1?45?)
DAVID: A year earlier, Mahler had been diagnosed with a heart ailment. Facing an uncertain future, he began composing what he called his ?most intimate? work: ?Das Lied von der Erde? or ?Song of the Earth.?
MUSIC3: ?Das Lied von der Erde? ? Bernstein recording (repeat in 2nd Uri)
URI ? FW: ?The first time I heard?
LW: ?impression on me ? his version.? (21?)
FW: ?I was not necessarily?
LW: ?with that theme.? (28?)
FW: ?People were saying?
LW: ?of that music.? (13?)
URI ? FW: ?But when I heard it?
LW: ?synagogue singing that.? (6?)
MUSIC: The farewell ? Uri Caine
URI ? FW: ?In fact I had the experience?
LW: ?connection is so strange.? (23?)
FW: ?It made sense?
LW: ?exotic culture.? (35?)
FW: ?And also he had to betray?
LW: ?feeling for this culture.? (35?)
FW: ?I thought what if?
LW: ?somewhere else.? (56?)
MUSIC continues?
URI ? FW: ?Mahler went to conduct?
LW: ?same connection.? (1?08?)
MUSIC up & cross to:
MUSIC: ?The lonely one in autumn? ? Dark Flame
URI ? FW: ?Why did you?
LW: ?Chinese folk music? (30?)
FW: ?It was surprising?
LW: ?folk music to us.? (12?)
FW: ?He was trying to write?
LW: ?poems really reflect.? (40?)
MUSIC up to end.
URI ? FW: ?Mahler had a famous meeting?
LW: ?what Freud told him.? (1?20?)
MUSIC: ?Labor Lost? ? Dark Flame
URI ? FW: ?I used the poet?
LW: ?recited his poetry.? (12?)
MUSIC up to end
URI ? FW: ?Some people have told me?
LW: ?that?s very disturbing.? (1?20?)
MUSIC: jazzy improve
URI ? FW: ?It?s one thing to be?
LW: ?a very good definition.? (50?)
URI ? FW: ?Do you defy being categorized?
LW: ?reflect that ? hopefully!? (1?21?)
MUSIC UP TO END
Ambience (Applause)
DAVID: ?Raising Cain(e) with Mahler? featured Uri Caine and his ensemble with music from the CD?s Urlicht/Primal Light, Dark Flame, and Mahler in Toblach all released on the Winter & Winter label. Special thanks to Robyn Johnston and David La Maye at the Austrailian Broadcasting Corporation. The program was produced by David Swatling with sound engineer Robert Geisselbach. (For more information and links to find Uri Caine?s recordings, log on to our website at www.radionetherlands.nl.)
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