Nguyên Lê Tiger's Tail Quartet

Pre-concert discussion in Brooks-Rogers Recital Hall at 7:00 p.m.
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Nguyên Lê , electric & acoustic guitars, electronics & computer

Art Lande ’69, acoustic piano

Paul McCandless, oboe, English horn, soprano sax, bass clarinet

Patrice Heral, percussion

All compositions by Nguyên Lê to be chosen from this list:
Walking on the Tiger’s Tail
Bee
Eventail
Mazurka
Hen Ho
Miracles
Zamora
Snow on a Flower
Butterfly Dream
Yeilding Water
Totsu!
Jorai
Wingless Flight
Sre Song
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“My encounter with Art Lande (Williams Class of 1969), American piano player, in 1986, was a big step on my musical path. With the first notes we played together I understood some essential aspects of jazz: a music which has no other meaning than the sharing of a common passion, the instant flow of improvisation, and that rare alliance of body and soul, poetry and science. Such is the freedom of jazz: everything is possible when you mean it, with an intense and open mind.”

“Art Lande is a mythical piano player whose contribution to the making of the ECM sound can be heard on such recordings as Rubisa Patrol, as well as A Shift in the Wind (trio with Gary Peacock & Elliot Zigmund), & also Red Lanta, in duo with Jan Garbarek. A facetious yet profound master of improvisation, he is also renowned for his innovative concepts of music pedagogy. He was a key partner on my first two recordings, Miracles (1989, with Peter Erskine & Marc Johnson) and Zanzibar (1992). That was the time before the electric & ethnic vibes of my following projects.”

“It was natural to associate Paul McCandless, already featured on my 2nd CD Zanzibar, and who has been a friend of Art Lande’s for a very long time. Mostly renowned as the reed player of the OREGON quartet, one of the first world music bands, Paul brings us his unique sound and lyricism along with his knowledge of classical European tradition and history of jazz. His instruments are rare, as much as his expressivity on the oboe, the soprano & sopranino saxophones & the bass clarinet.”

“Danny Gottlieb, drummer is an old friend of mine, as are Art and Paul.
They met in 1993 in the WDR BigBand directed by Bob Brookmeyer, and recorded in trio with Dieter Ilg (bass) Millon Waves, Nguyên’s first album for ACT. This was the start of numerous tours in Germany, France & Canada. Danny Gottlieb is known for his work with Pat Metheny as well as the Blues Brothers and the Gil Evans Orchestra. He plays with exquisite finesse, unbound energy, impeccable technique, and always with a deep heartfelt generosity.”

“With this new quartet I wish to get back to the precious & rich understanding which relates me to these musicians, and extend this spirit with all that I have learned from the projects I have carried since : the cultures from Asia (Tales from Viêt-Nam, Huong Thanh), Africa (Ultramarine, Maghreb & Friends), and the modernity of Electronica. After the electric trance of my last CD Purple – Celebrating Jimi Hendrix , coming back to the sense of detail, nuance & restrain; back to other sources.” – Nguyên