Bill Dixon Chamber Orchestra 2007

Sound Vision Festival, 2007

Informal images of rehearsals, soundcheck and performance courtesy of Isabelle Moisan and Michel Côté.

For more images, check out Peter Gannushkin at Downtown Music Gallery.

Bill Dixon Chamber Orchestra Redux
Vision Festival 2007

Aside from the exceedingly pleasurable experience of working with Bill and the ensemble (more on this later) to realize this new music, the past week has brought one particular thought persistently to mind: where are the reviews, the commentaries, the documentation that one expects to accompany such an historical event?

We were fortunate enough to receive a thoughtful preview piece in the NY Times thanks to Ben Ratliff, who spoke with Bill by phone in Vermont and did a wonderful job of utilizing Bill's voice to tell the story of intent, publishing a beautiful black and white image of Bill-this in tandem with Hank Shteamer's generous 'backstage" interview (conducted in Vermont) of Bill for TimeOut New York. Passing commentary is offered by Larry Blumenfeld in the Village Voice. Nate Chinen's thoughtful appreciation of the concert premier (most writers still struggle to accurately describe Bill's trumpet sound and technique, I suppose a measure/testimony to Bill's sonic singularity) has been the only review devoted solely to the piece that I have found to date in the mainstream press.

The silence has been shameful and somewhat puzzling. If one believes in the notion of the "community" in this music, one wonders who has chosen not to comment and why. Food for thought.

What is reassuring in all this is that the concert was recorded for release, and that Bill is engaged in the process of evaluating the raw recordings from the performance. A number of folks, arguably the true collegial community, have begun to share reflections and gathered quotes from Bill and we await postings of the images captured by the numerous photographers that were there engaged in collective witness that evening, to accompany those taken by Peter Gannushkin and just posted on the Downtown Music Gallery site. For that matter, the tireless Music Witness, Jeff Schlanger, was hard at it while the sound was being created.

In the end, the sound and spirit of the work are held in the hearts and minds of the audience, who leapt to their feet in thunderous applause at the conclusion of the performance, and in the cellular structure of the ensemble. On that note, a number of us hope to continue the work with Bill. More on that later.

Time to speak up folks. And the response needs to be as definitively articulate, passionate and aesthetically informed as the music and it's creator, Bill Dixon.

Bill Dixon Chamber Orchestra
Vision Festival, New York, June 2007


I have been asked to join my mentor, Bill Dixon, in performance at this year's Vision Festival. The prospect of working with Bill in an orchestral setting is, unfortunately, a rare thing of late. The high brass section will incude Taylor Ho Bynum, Graham Haynes and myself. Old friends Joseph Daley, Warren Smith and JD Parran will also be aboard. The concert will take place on Wednesday, June 20. There will be an open rehearsal of the work the preceding day. I encourage folks to attend both! I understand that the music may be recorded during the process.

From Greenleaf Music, a review by Dave Douglas

Dave Douglas (Artist Thoughts)
September 21, 2006, 02:04 PM
posted by Dave Douglas

Taylor Ho Bynum and Stephen Haynes gave us a unique take on the double trio format at the Standard last night. On one side Taylor (technically a cornetist, but we at FONT don't split hairs...) with Mary Halvorson on guitar and Tomas Fujiwara on drums. Stephen on the other with Allan Jaffe on guitar and Warren Smith on drums.

The sound and compositions were rich and filled the space. It was refreshing to see something so different at a club in New York, and during the particularly abstract moments I found myself beaming at the big sign over the bandstand that says JAZZ STANDARD. Yes, finally!

Both brass players have full sounds, Stephen ranging from airy and transparent to cutting and brassy, Taylor delving often into half-valved burry tones and squiggly lines. The construction of the pieces was ingenious, constantly shifting the relationship of trio to trio, instrument to instrument, melody to melody. Lots of memorable exchanges between Mary and Allan, Tomas and Warren.

When I walked in and saw the stage it seemed there was something wrong with the set-up: Warren Smith had a large kit with a wall of gongs and an orchestral bass drum behind it. Tomas played a small kit arrayed on the opposite side of the stage, almost hiding behind the piano. Once the music started it was clear there was no disparity at all, just two very creative percussionist with two very different sets of instruments. It made for a great evening with a wide variety of sound.

Taylor and Stephen were recording last night, so at some point soon this music will be available on a CD (or in some as yet undiscovered format...). Taylor also has some nice free music up at the link above, and a new CD with Spider Monkey Strings.