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Au Privave

from Aventurine by Linda May Han Oh

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about

AU PRIVAVE is an experiment on the Charlie Parker classic blues, one of the first bebop melodies I had ever learned and obsessed about. I began with giving myself certain guidelines or themes to start writing, as I sometimes do. These guidelines serve as a way to hear something I wouldn’t necessarily have heard instinctively, whilst not over-riding the bigger picture and aesthetic I wish to convey.
My challenge was to give the strings (including the bass) the melody of Au Privave in any rhythm. Octave displacement and repetition of melody notes were allowed, but the key had to remain consistent - which didn’t have to be the original key of F.
Violin II and Cello are in the key of C. Violin I is in the key of Aband the Viola is in the key of Eb. Only the bass is in F. These keys were chosen somewhat randomly, but all the “home” chords of
bb
these keys (F7, C7, A 7, E 7) have at least one common tone with all others.
The piano plays a composite melody using fragments of the string melodies, while the alto sax plays the bass rhythm, with notes which help to outline the resulting harmony. The improvisation between the piano and the alto saxophone begins over the end portion of this, which is looped several times.
These limitations were meant to challenge myself to find a way to unite the five of these melodies, which are standalone interpretations of the Au Privave melody, in four di erent keys. After working with the string parts until I achieved some sort of unity and vertical harmony, I added the saxophone and piano to further solidify the resulting harmony and bridge the melodies. I tried to balance dissonance with resolution, stepping back often to see if I was satisfied with the overall e ect. I feel it is easy to let the concept over-ride what naturally feels good or genuine to me, often having to ask myself if am I content with the overall feeling when I listen back. My intention was not to compose a piece that was purely a combination of notes generated by governing rules.
This process I used is reminiscent of two measures in Johanne Sebastian Bach’s Duetto II from Clavier-Übung III. Both parts are the exact same melody but in di erent keys (the right hand beginning in D minor, the left in A minor – an octave and a fourth down).

credits

from Aventurine, released May 17, 2019
Linda May Han Oh – bass
Greg Ward – alto/soprano saxophone
Matt Mitchell - piano
Chess Smith - drums/vibraphone
Fung Chern Hwei - violin
Sarah Caswell - violin
Bennie Von Gutzeit - viola
Jeremy Harman - cello

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Linda May Han Oh New York, New York

Born in Malaysia and raised in Perth, Western Australia, Linda May Han Oh is an active bassist and composer who has performed with the likes of Pat Metheny, Dave Douglas, Joe Lovano, Kenny Barron, Steve Wilson, Geri Allen, Fabian Almazan and Terri Lyne Carrington. Linda has written for large ensembles as well as for film, participating in the Sundance Labs at Skywalker Ranch" ... more

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