traces

(2024)
for alto saxophone, percussion and piano
WP 11.06.2024, Unerhörte Musik (Berlin)

Traces is, in a sense, conceived as an autobiographical piece, as it reflects my artistic journey, which has taken me from jazz through free improvisation to composed contemporary music. Undoubtedly, it is a concert piece of contemporary music, but within it, traces of jazz and improvised music can be found. The first of these traces lies in the instrumentation, which at first glance resembles a typical jazz trio. However, the percussion setup deviates significantly from a traditional jazz drum kit, incorporating, for instance, a marimba and several deep drums, giving it a melodic and harmonically distinct character with a sound that is darker and more grounded.

Additional traces are found in the formal design of the piece, which I have conceived as a kind of rondo form with thematic and soloistic sections, in the semi-improvised saxophone part, and in a passacaglia-like middle section influenced by two of the (in my opinion) most important saxophonists and improvisers of the 20th century—Anthony Braxton and Steve Coleman. All these traces of jazz and improvised music are embedded, overlaid, and transformed by a rigorously composed structure that firmly belongs to contemporary music in its harmonic, timbral, and gestural dimensions.