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The Marmalade King

by Gerry Hemingway Quintet

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about

"The Marmalade King" is an extended suite that was completed, toured and recorded in 1994 (and released the beginning of 1995). It is made up of five sections that flow one into the next. It is conceived as a musical equivalent to a children's story, with each section, structured like a chapter. The titles of each section reflect this idea by suggesting the opening line of a chapter, such as "Having wandered this far". The notion is that the music takes over where the title leaves off. Among other musical elements the suite features five unaccompanied solos by each member of the quintet.

credits

released February 1, 1995

Gerry Hemingway Quintet
The Marmalade King



Michael Moore - alto saxophone, clarinet & bass clarinet
Wolter Wierbos - trombone
Ernst Reijseger - cello
Mark Dresser - bass
Gerry Hemingway - drums

1 Everyone had gathered for the celebration 10:38
2 The breeze spoke swiftly on the cliffs that night 8:39
3 The Checkerboard laughed and eluded everyone 9:28
4 Having wandered this far 9:00
5 As the stars faded and dawn began, nothing quite looked the same 16:15

Total Time (DDD) 54:00

All compositions by Gerry Hemingway/GEMA/BMI
Recorded by Dick Lucas, February 10, 1994 at the Teatre aan de Molen Laan in Bussum, Netherlands
CD-master by Jim Hemingway & Peter Pfister
Liner Notes by Gerry Hemingway
Photos by Hugo Gosse
Graphic concept by fuhrer vienna
Recording produced by Gerry Hemingway
Executive production by Pia and Werner X. Uehlinger.

Special thanks to Hans Hasebos, Georg Graewe, Karin Kreisl, Thomas Stowsand and Saudades Tourneen, Jim Hemingway, Bim Huis Amsterdam, and Nancy & Jordan Hemingway.

Dedicated to those exhausted parents who manage to appease their children's bottomless appetite for just one more story before both drift off to their dreams.

Liner Notes:

The Marmalade King

I have always been attracted to extended form in composition, perhaps because I've always liked a good story. My mom, who was quite a storyteller, used to tell her more elaborate yarns over the course of a whole dinner complete with numerous digressions, asides and interjections from the family. By the end of the meal we weren't quite sure how her tale had begun but clearly we had made a journey together to the other side of the forest and somehow had emerged triumphantly. Its not so much that I equa­te the experience of listening to a longer work of music with reading or hearing a story. Its more that some of the funda­mental elements that are used to con­struct a linear written work; theme, cha­racter, place, conflict and resolution have interesting parallel counterparts and appli­cations in the more abstract world of music. Lately I have been reading so many stories about choo-choo trains, bears, tractors, spaghetti and frogs. Interestingly they range from a straight fo­rward story to a set of images with no text. So it seems natural in my evolution to have composed "a story", in this case The Marmalade King which investigates this relationship in a more direct way.

The Marmalade King is a suite of five works that are organized like chap­ters of a fanciful children's tale. The title of each part of the suite is made to resemble the opening line of a chapter from which the music suggests the rest of the story. It is also intended that each part of the suite have tangible relations­hips with other parts, not unlike an ele­gant meal where each course compli­ments the others and when finished, feels complete. In representing this con­cept musically I chose not to recapitulate any material from one part to the next but instead have woven relationships into the harmonic and rhythmic frameworks of each of the pieces.

Many of the pieces in this suite have layered independent parts that coincide in unexpected and sometimes not so obvious ways, something akin to clues that when assembled, solve a mystery. Certainly my interest in developing these more elaborate constructions is in one sense an outgrowth of my explorations of independence as a four limbed percussio­nist. I also feel that like non-narrative writ­ing, its a method by which more complex expression can be articulated by a small ensemble.

A good example of this is "The Checkerboard laughed and eluded ever­yone". In this piece different tempi, harmo­nic and rhythmic phrasings are layered like the delicate strata of a well prepared tiramisu giving each element of the piece a double meaning. The notion of layering different tempi began in a work I wrote in 1980 and eventually recorded with the quintet entitled Outerbridge Crossing. This two-tiered construction was achie­ved primarily by layering different repetiti­ve grooves on top of each other. The Checkerboard laughed and eluded ever­yone adds shifting harmony and melody to the mix further coloring and refining the double exposure of what sometimes feels like two independent pieces occu­rring simultaneously.

In "Everyone had gathered for the celebration" the form resembles two simultaneous conversations, that of the clarinet and trombone and the other of the trio of bass, cello and drums. These independent discussions intersect at unexpected moments and by the and suggest that their independent content is actually two sides of the same story.

By the time the suite has arrived at its final chapter, melody and accompani­ment have become so intertwined that all previous relationships seem resolved by being thrown into question once again.

"As the stars faded and dawn began, nothing quite looked the same" reaches its final reflection in the form of Michael Moore's alto saxophone solo. An air of melancholy propels it's spirit, intending to brush us closer to meaning.

I feel very lucky to have the company I keep. The quintet has developed a sound which in no small part is achieved by the way in which we listen to what each other has to say. I also feel that I've found some new connections between my aesthetics as a composer and the uni­que vocabulary of each member of the group. The result is akin to a good curry, where all the ingredients work together to create a new flavor while retaining their individuality. To me this is big part of what music is all about.

The Marmalade King finds much of its inspiration in the many wonderful moments I have shared with my now two and a half year old son, Jordan. There is nothing quite like the imaginary paths that have been blazed by my son's enchanted digressions off the page of whatever we're reading. A picture, a de­tail, a sound are so alive with possibility.

Gerry Hemingway, October 1994

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Auricle Records Lucerne, Switzerland

Auricle Records is the artist owned label established in 1978 by composer, percussionist, visual artist and songwriter Gerry Hemingway. For more information visit his website.

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