7) My First Encounters With Myanmar in 2014
It was one of these things, that came straight out of the blue.
I was not actively heading into this kind of musical direction. On the contrary at that moment of time I was preparing for an artist in residence in Istanbul, my head was more searching for oriental approaches of music when the Goethe Institut Yangon/Myanmar invited one of my fellow musicians. And Meike Goosmann chose to invite me into her band to travel to Myanmar.
Meike Goosmann is a German saxophonist who lives in Berlin. And we have met in different contexts so far.
And now she asked me to be part of a very special trip.
What a challenge!!!
So we were invited to travel to Myanmar in November 2014. I remember I traveled from Istanbul to Yangon and then back to Germany afterwards for some beautiful classic jazzmusic on a tour with the legendary American jazz singer Sheila Jordan and the wonderful band "Lines For Ladies". So this trip to Myanmar for me happened in the middle of a very crazy and busy period.
We were to hold a week of a Jazzworkshop for music students at the Gitameit Music School in Yangon and at the end of our stay we played two concerts at the Yangon International Jazz Festival: One concert with the workshop band and another concert was a collaboration with a famous ensemble from Myanmar:
Hein Tint and his Tsaing Waing ensemble. (*)
Some intense days lay before us.
After the concerts in Yangon we played another concert with the workshop band in Mandalay.
I remember my thoughts back then.
Since the project was also about cultural exchange we were asked to contribute some musical input. A piece, an arrangement of a traditional piece, something. I had literally no idea where to start, what to write.
A folder of music was provided where everyone could dive at least a bit into this exotic world of music.
I was so busy at that time, I tried to make up some thoughts, but I could not contribute something of my own I remember. I was overwhelmed. And a bit scared even. Of what would await me.
Finally at least I came up with a little "frame arrangement" to a piece of Thaung Htike (i.e. Hein Tint)
called "Spazieren Gehen". I added some modern voicings to his melodic composition.
I will add another post with an analysis of what I did then.
Music came in. Inspiration from the other members of our cultural journey.
Namely two interesting things that I would like to point out.
1.) Puppet´s Grace composed by Meike Goosmann.
2.) Sein Bo Din composed by Thaung Htike (in the style of his master), arranged for the Tasing Waing and Jazzensemble by Christoph Hillmann.
Another post will show these tunes.
The problem a jazz piano player or any harmonic instrument has facing the Burmese music tradition in general is that this music is highly melodic. At first sight there is no harmony. And it is not an easy task to add tasteful harmonies. To find a way to arrange a respectful fusion of traditional burmese music and modern jazz music.
As a beginner in the tradition of burmese music you don't understand a thing. It´s like listening to Japanese for the first time. There is hardly a familiar code for a European.
Well there are things, there are a lot of melodies. Rhythms. There are tunes. But you have to learn about them. And also about how music flows in Myanmar. How timing and rhythmical understanding can be different from our musical training.
There is hidden polyphony in the drum parts.
And the more you know about the music the more it unveils its beauty.
As I say I didn't know a thing when we traveled there and I was very lucky to learn a lot during those days in November 2014.
About Burmese music, about people in Myanmar and also about those people who had first started the cultural exchange between Myanmar and Europe.
They are Tim Isfort and Jan Klare. They started the whole thing of Myanmar Meets Europe in 2010.
And back then there was also a french young lady on the drums. Anne Paceo also went her way forward until now and just release an album of her collaboration with her jazzband and Hein Tint´s Tsaing Waing.
Tuning and preparing for a rehearsal in Pansodan Galery / Yangon.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/vyz6tnh69p22nmd/IMG_0787.mov?dl=0
Some more impressions of the working athmosphere in 2014. Pansodan Galery is a very nice and arty place.
The fine art scene in Myanmar is young and huge. But that is another topic...
(*) I will explain a bit about burmese music tradition in another post. Including the character of the Tasing Waing Ensemble.
I was not actively heading into this kind of musical direction. On the contrary at that moment of time I was preparing for an artist in residence in Istanbul, my head was more searching for oriental approaches of music when the Goethe Institut Yangon/Myanmar invited one of my fellow musicians. And Meike Goosmann chose to invite me into her band to travel to Myanmar.
Meike Goosmann is a German saxophonist who lives in Berlin. And we have met in different contexts so far.
And now she asked me to be part of a very special trip.
What a challenge!!!
So we were invited to travel to Myanmar in November 2014. I remember I traveled from Istanbul to Yangon and then back to Germany afterwards for some beautiful classic jazzmusic on a tour with the legendary American jazz singer Sheila Jordan and the wonderful band "Lines For Ladies". So this trip to Myanmar for me happened in the middle of a very crazy and busy period.
We were to hold a week of a Jazzworkshop for music students at the Gitameit Music School in Yangon and at the end of our stay we played two concerts at the Yangon International Jazz Festival: One concert with the workshop band and another concert was a collaboration with a famous ensemble from Myanmar:
Hein Tint and his Tsaing Waing ensemble. (*)
Some intense days lay before us.
After the concerts in Yangon we played another concert with the workshop band in Mandalay.
I remember my thoughts back then.
Since the project was also about cultural exchange we were asked to contribute some musical input. A piece, an arrangement of a traditional piece, something. I had literally no idea where to start, what to write.
A folder of music was provided where everyone could dive at least a bit into this exotic world of music.
I was so busy at that time, I tried to make up some thoughts, but I could not contribute something of my own I remember. I was overwhelmed. And a bit scared even. Of what would await me.
Finally at least I came up with a little "frame arrangement" to a piece of Thaung Htike (i.e. Hein Tint)
called "Spazieren Gehen". I added some modern voicings to his melodic composition.
I will add another post with an analysis of what I did then.
Music came in. Inspiration from the other members of our cultural journey.
Namely two interesting things that I would like to point out.
1.) Puppet´s Grace composed by Meike Goosmann.
2.) Sein Bo Din composed by Thaung Htike (in the style of his master), arranged for the Tasing Waing and Jazzensemble by Christoph Hillmann.
Another post will show these tunes.
The problem a jazz piano player or any harmonic instrument has facing the Burmese music tradition in general is that this music is highly melodic. At first sight there is no harmony. And it is not an easy task to add tasteful harmonies. To find a way to arrange a respectful fusion of traditional burmese music and modern jazz music.
As a beginner in the tradition of burmese music you don't understand a thing. It´s like listening to Japanese for the first time. There is hardly a familiar code for a European.
Well there are things, there are a lot of melodies. Rhythms. There are tunes. But you have to learn about them. And also about how music flows in Myanmar. How timing and rhythmical understanding can be different from our musical training.
There is hidden polyphony in the drum parts.
And the more you know about the music the more it unveils its beauty.
As I say I didn't know a thing when we traveled there and I was very lucky to learn a lot during those days in November 2014.
About Burmese music, about people in Myanmar and also about those people who had first started the cultural exchange between Myanmar and Europe.
They are Tim Isfort and Jan Klare. They started the whole thing of Myanmar Meets Europe in 2010.
And back then there was also a french young lady on the drums. Anne Paceo also went her way forward until now and just release an album of her collaboration with her jazzband and Hein Tint´s Tsaing Waing.
Tuning and preparing for a rehearsal in Pansodan Galery / Yangon.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/vyz6tnh69p22nmd/IMG_0787.mov?dl=0
Some more impressions of the working athmosphere in 2014. Pansodan Galery is a very nice and arty place.
The fine art scene in Myanmar is young and huge. But that is another topic...
(*) I will explain a bit about burmese music tradition in another post. Including the character of the Tasing Waing Ensemble.
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