Roots and Wings:
Jazz-Dialoge mit Bach im Jahr 2000
The German quartet Wolf Mayer Dialects – Wolf Mayer (p), Stephan Schmolck (b), Dirik Schilgen (dr), Hugo Read (as/ss) – published a live concert recording from the year 2000 on CD titled Roots and Wings. The ten pieces of this publication, which is a discussion about the music of J. S. Bach, supplies the material for a study about Bach-work-ups in the history of jazz. Up to the “Bach year 2000” more than eighty ensembles and soloists can be registered with such discussions. Three mainstreams can be seen: jazz-genuine implementing of an original composition written by Bach; an argument with a composition by Bach using jazz improvisation; a jazz-selfcreation associated by Bach. Wolf Mayer Dialects developed a further procedure of musical-creative work-ups. They circle “Bach” more subtle and at the same time more jazz-specifically than was common so far. The radius of their music reaches from designatable Bach-specifics over general sound structures of the Baroque up to reflections and meditations.