Artist: NDR Big Band
directed by Colin Towns
Title: The Theatre Of Kurt Weill (CD)
Record Label: ACT
Catalogue No.: 9234-2
Year: 2000
Track listing:
- Mack The Knife (from Die Dreigroschenoper) (4.42)
- Dance Of The Tumblers (from Lady In The Dark) (5.53)
- Alabama Song (from Aufstieg Und Fall Der Stadt Mahagonny) (5.09)
- Speak Low (from One Touch Of Venus) (5.37)
- Surabaya Johnny (from Happy End) (6.57)
- Bilbao Song (from Happy End) (5.45)
- Lost In The Stars (from Lost In The Stars) (8.16)
- My Ship (from Lady In The Dark) (4.36)
- Mack The Knife (from Die Dreigroschenoper) (7.37)
Total running time = 54.33
Personnel
Trumpets: Lennart Axelsson, Ingolf Burkhardt, Claus Stötter, Reiner WinterschladenTrombones: Joe Gallardo, Jürgen Neudert, Stefan Lottermann, Rainer Müller
Reeds: Fiete Felsch, Peter Bolte, Christof Lauer, Lutz Büchner, Julian Argüelles
Piano: Vladyslav Sendecki
Guitar: Stephan Diez
Bass: Lucas Lindholm
Drums: Wolfgang Haffner
Percussion: Marcio Doctor
Recording details
Produced by: Michael Plötz and Katja Zeidler for NDR Norddeutscher RundfunkMastered by: Angelika Körber
Recorded 'live' on 10th March 2000 in the Rolf-Liebermann-Studio, Hamburg
A suite by Colin Towns for the 100th birthday of Kurt Weill
After George Gershwin and Duke Ellington the NDR Big Band celebrates another composer with a centenary: Kurt Weill was born exactly one hundred years ago on 2nd March 1900. Songs like Mack The Knife, Lost In The Stars or Speak Low have lost none of their qualities 50 years since Weill's death. They still today circulate in priceless variations from the greats of jazz - from Louis Armstrong and Sonny Rollins to Carla Bley and Charlie Haden
Already in the early 1920s Kurt Weill was able to bridge the divide between so-called 'light' and 'serious' music. In his repertoire a blues or tango had equal value with a violin concerto. In jazz particularly, Weill saw the 'Rhythm Of Our Times' and consciously absorbed jazz elements regularly into his compositions. Weill also understood how to carry his audience with him, with his clear precise musical language and catchy themes. He brought an artistic and political dimension to songs which anyone could whistle on the street From early on Weill found in Bertolt Brecht a soul mate who likewise was able to take on all stylistic influences, in order to create something new. Their joint Threepenny Opera was a worldwide success in 1928 and revolutionized music theatre. After fleeing Germany in the mid 1930s Kurt Weill was able to gain a foothold on Broadway and was soon known, along with Gershwin, as 'the father of American opera'. In New York Weill was also able to remain loyal to his belief in order to achieve a qualitative art of need: a music which wants to be more than just a light bite but nevertheless remains meaningful and worthy
The composer, arranger and pianist Colin Towns has been regarded as a fresh breeze in British jazz. "Towns has proved to be one of the most heartening surprises of the past few years" wrote The Sunday Times newspaper, raving about his music, and the Daily Telegraph swooned: "He is the most promising trailblazer for the jazz scene." Towns once played rock keyboard in the band of Deep Purple's front man Ian Gillan and became later one of the most in demand film and TV composers in the UK. His credo is: "Music should have energy and purpose. I like to take music to the limits and bring the audience along with me."
That's also true for his homage to Kurt Weill which Colin Towns premiered with the NDR Big Band. Mack The Knife, Alabama Song, My Ship and Surabaya Johnny merge together in bittersweet arrangements with a breathless change in tempo. The 50 minute work is however no typical hit medley
"It's like entering a room with sounds and colours you know and are comfortable with. There's always a door you haven't been through - who knows where it will lead? Kurt Weill has terrific theatre in his music, from beautiful melodies such as Speak Low to songs about murderers like Mack The Knife. For me it was a huge challenge to portay this theatre, both the beauty and the darkness. Together with the incredible musicians that make up the NDR Big Band, I hope that we have paid homage using jazz/improvised music as the tool to treating his wonderful music with the utmost respect."
This view over barriers and art, so as to make the complex popular, binds Colin Towns with Kurt Weill. "When my music has achieved a broad public, then it speaks not against, but rather for itself," said Weill. Towns smiles and nods in agreement
Colin Towns would like to extend special thanks to Wolfgang Kunert for asking him to be a part of this celebration and to the NDR Band who played the music so beautifully