BY SAMUEL COTTELL
If it ain’t Baroque, don’t fix it.
It might seem an old and well accepted phrase. But for new music, it is the act of taking risks that often makes the best art. Viola da gamba player player Jenny Eriksson would know. On November 25 her unique group Elysian Fields is having its official band launch at Foundry 616. This is no ordinary music ensemble – at the core of the jazz ensemble is an electric viola da gamba. This ensemble brings the past, present and future of music together. The band is Matt McMahon (piano), Matt Keegan (saxophones), Siebe Pogson (electric bass), Finn Ryan (drums) and on November 25 there will be two guests: Steve Elphick (bass) and Sarah Belkner (vocals).
Initially starting out on the cello, it was a chance hearing of Bach’s St. John Passion conducted by Richard Gill that peaked Jenny’s interested in the viola da gamaba. It was here that she heard cellist Katy Finnis playing something remarkable. “All of a sudden, I noticed I was not hearing the cello but an amazing new sound,” Jenny recalls. “I looked up and saw this strange instrument with frets. My cello teacher knew Katy Finnis and introduced me to her for some lessons. I’d soon given up the cello and was off to Holland to study the gamba.”
After a long-term successful career in Baroque music, performing and running various ensembles including the Marais Project, Sounds Baroque (a touring Baroque chamber group that presents Baroque music to school students all over the country), Jenny Eriksson is taking the viola da gamba to unexplored territory. Jenny is the first person in Australia to play and commission new works for electric the viola da gamba, let alone in a jazz setting.
I ask Jenny if the viola da gamba worked in a jazz setting and what some of the challenges are in using this instrument in this way.
“The acoustic viola da gamba is, of course, a fairly quiet instrument and easily overwhelmed in large ensembles let alone with amplified instruments,” she explains. “I was increasingly going to jazz gigs and thinking it would be nice to play with some of these amazing performers. Like a lot of classical musos, I was probably suffering from improvisation envy, just blown away by that sense of in-the-moment freedom of expression all great musicians have, but that is particularly gripping when engaging as an audience member with good jazz.”
Jenny only realised the viola da gamba could work in a jazz setting when she discovered that electric versions of the instrument existed – and she could buy one. “I never felt the acoustic instrument would work for jazz, not the least because we play a semitone below normal pitch. But it’s been an experiment, like all art. We’ve tried things and found what worked. Matt and Matt are such sensitive musicians, they can adjust to a broad range of situations.”
What are the main differences between a ‘standard’ and electric viola da gamba, anyway? “In comparison, the electric viola da gamba is held on a stand and I stand behind it to play it. It looks something like the electric version of an upright bass you see in some bands. It was more difficult than I thought to get used to standing up and playing but I suppose classical and jazz double bassists do it all the time. The other major difference is that it is amplified. If I want to play louder, I turn a knob or, more accurately, push down on my volume pedal. What a blessing!”
While it may seem strange to create a jazz-oriented group with the viola da gamba, there are some similar stylistic trends in Baroque and jazz music, according to Jenny. “Baroque music has a history of improvisation whether ornamenting around the written notes or filling in the accompaniment or ‘continuo’ as we call it. A baroque continuo chart is not dissimilar to a jazz or rock chart: a bass line and some symbols to tell you what chords to play, but not much else.”
While most of the French Baroque music that Jenny performs on the viola da gamba is completely notated, she is working alongside continuo players who are improvising. In expanding her musical language, Jenny has been listening to some jazz violin music to gain inspiration. “I’ve learned a lot from the famous jazz violinist, Jean Luc Ponty, both from playing transcriptions of his music and from listening to how he makes the violin work in the jazz context.”
The idea for including the electric instrument in jazz music came when Jenny was attending jazz gigs and she then asked jazz pianist McMahon and saxophonist Keegan to write and arrange music for the viola da gamba. Jennny also asked her son Siebe Pogson, who was originally a Conservatorium-trained classical pianist but now works as an electric jazz/funk bassist and composer, to write some music for the group. “Before we knew it, we had a couple of sets of music. So we started playing then gave the band a name,” Jenny says.
As for repertoire, there has been none in existence for this specific combination and the pieces that Elysian Fields will be presenting at their launch on November 25 are also world-first Australian compositions. Aside from the works of McMahon and Pogson, the group had arranged a few Australian and Swedish jazz charts for the group. “In terms of arrangements, I have a good ear for pieces that might work on the instrument,” Jenny says. “The piano and tenor sax blend fantastically well with electric gamba and Matt Keegan’s new piece ‘Elysium’ includes a baritone sax part that he will play, so I am looking forward to that.”
What does the future hold for the electric viola da gamba in Elysian Fields?
“Who knows! We are just going to do a few gigs, play the music in and see what happens. I am not giving up my Baroque music day job just yet. I would like to play more Jean Luc Ponty, for example, and I love working with singers anywhere and anytime,” Jenny says.
“I’ve always taken an intuitive approach to my career as a musician and done what I think I need to do artistically, when I think the time is right. Sometimes it works, and sometimes not. But you’ve got to try new things and take risks. Otherwise, I may as well go and get a real job.”
Elysian Fields will have its band launch at Sydney’s Foundry 616 on November 25. For tickets and further information click here.
Image supplied.
