Colla Parte

Versioni per Violoncello Solo

 
 

Colla Parte is Ernst Reijseger’s first internationally distributed solo album. It carries its very own signature.

 
“His work moves fluidly across the boundaries between jazz, classical music and free improvisation, as if they didn’t exist, which, for him, they surely do not.” (Irish Times 1999)
 
 
“It was probably only a matter of time before someone recorded the equivalent of Bach’s unaccompanied cello concerti – and it turns out to have been the Netherlands virtuoso Ernst Reijseger’” John F. Swed)
 
 
The cello vocabulary on Colla Parte extends far beyond the regular cello techniques from the traditional classical world of cello playing.
 
 
Reijseger: “I am a non-repertoire cellist, following a non-traditional path.
From when I was very young, music from all over the world inspired me. I intuitively played in a way that I later found out is called improvisation. Although I was always interested in the traditional cello technique and aware of the cello repertoire, I became more and more self-taught in playing and composing. My pizzicato techniques are inspired by plucking and fingerpicking of (bass) guitar players. Drummers from all over inspired my rhythmical approach. Pianists, guitarists and saxophonists influenced my phrasing. I have always worked with musicians deriving from different traditions.”
 
 
Reijseger’s compositions are inspired by years of playing with the Dutch improvised music scene (Han Bennink, Michael Moore, Clusone Trio, Mischa Mengelberg’s ICP, Sean Bergin, Franky Douglas, Alan ‘Gunga’ Purves) and jazz musicians from Europe and the USA (Arcado String Trio, Gerry Hemingway, Louis Sclavis), as well as by playing with ethnic musicians that he encountered in the melting pot of Amsterdam in the ’70 and ’80.
 
Another influence on Reijseger’s way of playing were his tours with theatre groups and modern dance companies, which taught him how to find musical solutions in various situations.
 
 
Ernst Reijseger is a genre bender with a distinctive style. This album is a statement of a musician who accepts his self-doubt, in order to do his own thing. The album title Colla Parte means just that: to follow the expression of the soloist – in this case himself.  All titles on this album are based on traditional Italian musical terms, inspired by the recording location.
 
 
Colla Parte was recorded in the magnificent aristocratic summer house Villa Medici – Giuliani, in the heart of Brianza, Italy. A villa in which the walls have no windows other than those high up just beneath the roof, resulting in great acoustics and reflections. Reijseger projected the sound of his cello over the diagonal of the room for optimal reverb.