Talking with Charlie

A piece that bridges the gap between composed contemporary music and improvised jazz


Composition/Trombone – Roland Dahinden
Bass clarinet – Gareth Davis
Double bass – Dario Calderone

Concerts:

MIMIK in Deventer (5/11/2021)

Het Glazen Huis in Amstelpark, Amsterdam (19/09/2021)

Architecture Studio Kooreman in Delft (14/09/2021)

Talking with Charlie is a response to bass clarinetist Gareth Davis’ request for an ensemble piece that could be played by a changing combination of musicians from different backgrounds and styles.

This  “imaginary talk” with Charlie Parker, one of Dahinden’s musical heroes, is captured in a score involving graphic as well as more conventional elements. The choice of working with graphic material was a conscious way to undermine the distinction between interpretation of a composed work, and improvisation. This hybrid mixture of conventional and graphic notation – bebop-sounding phrases inspired by Parker are notated, pushes the performers to reimagine their way of playing and invites ways for players of vastly different backgrounds to find common ground. 

Talking with Charlie (2017), R. Dahinden – excerpt from the score

The performances of Talking with Charlie have been also supported by The Swiss Art Council Pro Helvetia and The Fondspodiumkunsten – Balkonscènes.