Question: You have done four projects with different content. Can you elaborate on why it has turned out this way?

 

Answer: To explain why the projects are so different, the first thing I would point to is my background. As I talked about in the beginning, I have a broad musical experience, and it was always the intention to use this background as the foundation for the artistic work in my research. I wanted to use this background in a 'musical conversation' with the new inspiration from gamelan. I saw no intention of trying to merge all my different styles into one expression. That was the starting point; various projects to highlight my broad background. But during the process of the research, I could see a more united idea, which I feel merged into the last project,  “Espen Aalberg & En En En” where I feel a strong connection between improvisation, performing practice and compositional thought. If my research project would have lasted longer, I would probably follow this path further.

Also when working with the rehearsal process for my duo for Vibraphone and marimba,  my musical partner, Lars Sitter, and I decided to "open up" some parts of the written score and ad some improvisation parts, based on the written music and concept behind the music. The reason for this was just that we wanted to test something new in movement 2, and the musical result felt more alive. I find the idea of learning a piece of contemporary music, and then open up for improvisation based on this piece fascinating, and is something I am going to do more. Over the years, I have learned many challenging pieces of contemporary music, just to be put into the (mental) drawer and forgotten. Why not just "fool around" with the material and try to make an improvisation language out of it. Also, since it is my composition, I can do what I want. That is an enormous freedom.  So the concept of written contemporary music combined with improvisation is a future project.

All things need to have an end, so for the research, I´m pleased with ending with the “Espen Aalberg & En En En”, which for me point toward the future. In that way, I can say that my aesthetics or musical ways of solving my project has developed through my research. I would never have done the last project first,  and as for the first, the “Basement sessions”, I would maybe not have done at all if my starting point was the last project. This makes it sound like I´m not pleased with “Basement sessions” which is not the case. I am happy with the results, both musically and how it integrated the gamelan world into a more modal jazz setting. “Basement sessions - The Bali tapes” was solved as I intended, and I saw no reason to continue the work with this project.

 

The “Basement sessions” project was done with a need to do a project where I felt I had control over the musical outcome. Even though I didn't know in detail how this project would sound, it was in general based on a way of working with other cultures music which I had some experience with through my work with The Indian Core. In all simplicity, I merged two different music styles, gamelan and modal-jazz, into a fusion of these two styles. As I discussed in the reflection of “Basement sessions” this is in line with other jazz music, like the works by Don Cherry, Jan Garbarek and Keith Jarrett among others, were these musicians have used inspiration from foreign cultures to create new music. 

 

My research has evolved from “Mantra” and the cooperation with composer Ellen Lindquist, through my compositions in the third project, ending up in “Espen Aalberg & En En En”. Even though this last project is a more open improvisation concept, I made a lot of choices that in the end, made a significant impact on the sonic result. You could say I developed my musical ear through the different projects, making me ready to plan the last project. In this evolution, I did not know what the musical outcome would be. In “Mantra” the musical result is mainly due to  Ellen Lindquist´s work with composing the music, but through my work with improvisation, I influenced how the music at the end sounded. Through the different musical attempts related to “Mantra”, I discovered new ways of using the gamelan instruments. These different ways of using these instruments have coloured my work with the third and fourth projects.

My "Duo for Vibraphone and Marimba", in the third project, is also different from the other parts of my research; there are no gamelan instruments involved. The creating process was, because of this, very liberating. I did not need to try to “fit” anything together. For me, the vibraphone and marimba have a united timbre, and my focus was to unify these instruments in the context of inspiration from gamelan and other western contemporary composers. The work with the "Duo for Vibraphone and Marimba" has encouraged me to compose more in the future.

 

Another factor that influenced the development of the research was feedback regarding copyright issues and comments regarding the cultural appropriation phenomenon during my presentation at a PkU seminar. Copyright issues are for me, not a subject. I have earlier composed music based on clear inspiration sources, which is also the case for “Basement session”. Even if I borrowed/used some clear gamelan foundation, in for example the composition “Slow ostinato”, it was composed by me with a distinct reference to the gamelan tradition. One of the other pieces, “Ilir Ilir” was based on a Javanese traditional/folk song, which was noted in cover text of the release. The work with the repertoire in “Basement sessions” was much the same as I have been doing when composing music for ensembles like “The Core/The Indian Core” and our previous releases with "Basement sessions". I have listened to the music, which was the foundation for the expression I wanted and tried to write composition in that style. I think many other jazz composers use the same process when composing for jazz. To borrow or imitate is, for me, an essential part of learning music. In jazz, you listen to the great masters and learn from them, but you hopefully add something new in the mix. The new generation listens to what you have done, and then you have an evolution based on imitation or borrowing. 

The comment regarding cultural appropriation was a more significant dilemma to consider. In my presentation, my opponent asked questions related to how I, as a western, reflect on my research within a non-western culture.  The debate was an eyeopener for my further reflection. It was not that I was avoiding the issue, but I have not thought about it as a “problem” working with other cultures. Earlier when I have done similar projects, like “The Indian Core” which was a commission front the Norwegian “Rikskonsertene”, it was just about making great music in terms of the project. Rikskonsertene had a “go east” project where Norwegian artists were invited to do a cooperation tour in India. I have also done some projects with the Joik singer Inga Juuso during my landsdels-musiker position in North-Norway. Much of the jazz music I listen to also hold an inspiration from eastern music. After this presentation, I needed, for my own credibility, to do a thorough reflection on how my music and use of gamelan could affect people's perception of this culture.