La selva de los relojes – Pau Sola Quintet

“Around there is nothing, not even Time or Space…” This is how this journey starts. A journey through time about time.

The texts

When Albert Einstein presented his theories of special relativity and general relativity between 1905 and 1915, he completely changed the idea of time that we had until then. Some years after, in 1921, a young Federico García Lorca wrote the series of unpublished poems La selva de los relojes, the jungle of clocks, a collection of poems that express, in my opinion, a poetic feedback to the theory of relativity.

Using texts by both Einstein and Lorca, a thread is knitted slowly to take us from the Big Bang to the end of times.

El Tiempo
tiene color de noche.
De una noche quieta.
Sobre lunas enormes,
la Eternidad
está fija en las doce.
Y el Tiempo se ha dormido 
para siempre en su torre.
Nos engañan
todos los relojes.
El tiempo tiene ya
horizontes.

Time
is in night’s colors.
Quiet night.
Over enormous moons,
Eternity
is set at twelve.
Time’s gone to sleep
forever in his tower.
All clocks
deceive us.
Time at last has
horizons. 

The music

This project is highly based on free improvisation. The scores vary from simple explanations, texts, graphic scores, or traditionally written music. It gives a lot of freedom and autonomy to all the musicians with the responsibility that entails. I look for a balance between reacting to the moment, instant composition, and keeping a coherent concept through the whole performance.

Another big source of inspiration is the way the rhythm is used in the south of India. A way of playing with rhythmic complexity in a very natural way. Even though the composition techniques come from Carnatic music, the style of the music defers completely from Indian music. 

Taking inspiration from many worlds, from classical music to metal, going through jazz, a new universe of poetic textures, beautiful melodies, and crazy grooves is created.

The Band

I can’t be happier to work with such an amazing group of musicians and friends. Being all of them on the edge of many different styles, they all share in common a great experience in improvised music, putting together the perfect ingredients for this project.

Björk Níelsdóttir on voice. A versatile singer, composer and trumpet player based in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. She graduated from The Conservatory of Amsterdam in 2015 with excellence and distinction of artistry. She was recently awarded the brightest hope of classical and contemporary music by the Icelandic Music Awards. A multifaceted artist, she is active in the fields of music theater (with a.o experimental opera company Silbersee), jazz & improvised music (with Kaja Draksler Octet), pop music (with Björk and Florence and the Machine), chamber music (as a co-founder of Stirni Ensemble and DÚPLUM), as well as performing regularly as a soloist with renowned ensembles (New European Ensemble, Doelen Ensemble a.o) in The Netherlands and abroad. 

George Dumitriu on viola — Active as a performer and composer in the field of jazz/improvised music and music-theatre, the Romanian-born musician George Dumitriu plays viola, violin and electric guitar with an insight into laptop electronics. Coming from a classical music background, he studied in Bucharest, Groningen, Amsterdam and New York. He collaborated with artists such as Ambrose Akinmusire, Theo Loevendie, Michel Godard, Ack van Rooyen, Michael Moore, Peter Herbolzheimer, Benny Golson, Dick Oatts, Kaja Draksler. Guest guitar teacher at the Conservatorium of Amsterdam and viola teacher at Prins Claus Conservatorium Groningen, he performs internationally with a variety of projects (Sanem Kalfa, Kaja Draksler Octet, Alex Simu Quintet, I/O, Re-fuse, Steven Kamperman Trio, Nationale Opera & Ballet Amsterdam). As leader of DUMItRIO he released the albums Proverbe (2017) and Future Nostalgia (2014). He is a founding member of Romanian Jazz International.

Marta Warelis on Piano. She has a strong preference for improvisation and experiment in all kinds of styles. She continuously aims for instant composing on the basis of new sounds and influences. She was born and raised in Poland, followed the conservatory in Groningen and has found her place in Amsterdam in 2014. You can find her on groups like Hupata!, Warelis/Govaert/De Joode, Dirty Laundry, Bazooka, Polyband, Strings5 or Xavier Pamplona.

George Hadow on Drums. Primarily working in the fields of improvisation and jazz and rock. Since he made the move to Amsterdam from the county of Devon in June 2012 he has immersed himself in the improvised scene and more recently the avant-jazz/rock scene playing in bands such as: KUHN FU, INKT, Blue Lines Trio & Sextet. George has also collaborated with Mars Williams, Roy Paci, Dirk Serries, Han Bennink, Andy Moor, Terrie Ex, The Ex and Cactus Truck to name a few as well as countless ad hoc combinations. George performs often in the Netherlands and has also performed extensively in Europe.

Pau Sola – Cello and Compositions. You can find more about me here.