ABOUT THE COMPOSER
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The music of composer and guitarist Paul Nash reflects a restless commitment to musical experimentation—integrating by turns the sound worlds of jazz, classical, and rock through his own personal synthesis. Nash’s musical path began in the late 60’s when his Bronx teenage rock band opened for the Blues Project and followed a then unknown Jimi Hendrix at the Cafe Wha? in Greenwich Village. This was followed by years of music study—earning respectively B.M. and M.A. degrees in music composition from the Berklee College of Music in Boston in 1972 and Mills College in Oakland (CA) in 1976.
San Francisco provided a fruitful outlet for his passion for larger jazz aggregations. In 1977, the ten-piece Paul Nash Ensemble, which featured saxophonist Noel Jewkes, drummer Eddie Marshall and trumpeter Mark Isham, began performances around the Bay Area and in Los Angeles. Later, Nash became instrumental in the creation of the Bay Area Jazz Composers Orchestra (BAJCO), a new type of jazz orchestra that included a string quartet founded in 1987. Upon his return to New York City, Mr. Nash expanded on that same instrumental model by establishing the Manhattan New Music Project in 1990.
Nash’s interest in classical forms has evolved alongside his work in jazz. Among the music groups that have performed Nash’s chamber and orchestral pieces have been the St. Luke’s Chamber Ensemble, the Aspen Music Festival, the Chamber Symphony of San Francisco, the San Francisco Symphony, the Reading Symphony Orchestra (PA) and Ridgefield (CT) Symphonies is scheduled in 2002. Musical Elements, and Composers Concordance and Eclectix.
As a leader, Nash has produced five impressive recordings—including three for Soul Note Records (Italy), which have featured jazz artists such as Tom Harrell, Jack Walrath, Tom Varner, David Samuels, Mark Isham, and Art Lande. Paul Nash: A Jazz Composers Ensemble (1979), Second Impression (1985), Night Language (1987), Mood Swing (1993) and Soul of Grace (2000). His jazz writing suggests somewhat contradictory influences, most notably the cool orchestration of Gil Evans and the fiery proclamations of Charles Mingus. Projects slated for publication in print include Fingerstyle Jazz Workbook (Mel Bay Music) and Jazz Duos for alto sax and piano (Advance Music).
An accomplished guitarist, Mr. Nash's musical thinking is also distinguished by his adoption of system of a symmetrical tuning in fourths as well as his use of custom designed acoustic and electric seven string guitars.
In 1997 Nash began a new musical direction with the creation of site-specific musical work, culminating in a series of nine special performances in New York City parks. His Still Sounds Run Deep deploys musicians around public spaces and provides for interactivity with ambient sounds and the rhythms of passersby. Another long standing goal was realized in the his hour long theater creation, Intimate Structures, fashioning a dialogue adapted from Lovers’ Discourse by the late French philosopher Roland Barthes, and supporting it with an hour of continuous music blending baroque, modern jazz and ambient sounds.
Grants and fellowships have served as a vital support for Nash’s work, coming from sources such as the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, the Jerome Foundation, the Banff Center for the Arts, Yaddo, Meet the Composer, the National Endowment for the Arts, the University of California at Berkeley, the MacDowell Colony, and the Djerassi Foundation. Finally, Nash has been an arts advocate as well, serving as a nationally elected Board Member of the American Composers Alliance.
PERSONNEL
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Jack Walrath - trumpet
David Taylor - bass trombone
Tom Varner - french horn
Bruce Williamson - alto sax, bass clarinet, flute
Avram Feffer - soprano sax, tenor sax
Neal Kirkwood - piano
Paul Nash - electric & acoustic guitars
Andy McKee - acoustic bass
Jeff Carney - electric bass
Grisha Alexiev - drums
ARTIST STATEMENT (BY PAUL NASH)
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"While I was at the Berklee College of Music in 1971, I remember a question trombonist Phil Wilson put to students at the start of his arranging course: "Who is your favorite jazz performer and jazz composer?" While most others answered with the likes of Charlie Parker and Thad Jones, I offered "Ravi Shankar and Frank Zappa", which brought some smirks. My kinship with music extends many directions, not only my debt to Gil Evans and Mingus, but also having been deeply touched by many other innovators - Igor Stravinsky, Carla Bley, John McLaughlin just to name a very few - especially those who have a reverence for complexity and/or collage. Over time, I have tried to synthesize these disparate influences, both in jazz and classical settings, in order to create more unity in my work. Increasing the scale and scope of a piece, provides an avenue that allows for greater changes in tempo, mood and style.
This latest recorded effort offers new directions in my thinking, such as Phoenix and Restless is the Soul of Grace. Yet, earlier pieces never recorded before, such as The Wheel, Cathexis, Recurivephonic are finally presented here. Passacaglia in fact waited twenty years before I could finally imagine what else would accompany its repeating bass line. Finally, I have sought to feature my guitar playing - one important reason why Marigail-Marigold which appeared on my first album, has been re-recorded."
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