The title of the album and suite come from Friedrich Nietzsche’s Three Metamorphoses. You should know up front, this is not an in-depth analysis of one of the greatest minds in Philosophy – I came on Thus Spoke Zarathustra by way of the film A Fish Called Wanda. Kevin Kline’s character is reading Nietzsche in an attempt to impress Jamie Lee Curtis (unsuccessfully), but was “reading” it upside down. Admittedly, the first time I read Nietzche I may as well have been reading upside down too.
Metamorphoses is concerned with what propels each new phase of human growth, so it seemed fitting to frame this as a suite – each track individual unto itself, yet when listened to as a whole representing the arc of the personal struggle to know more and be more. I can relate to that as a musician trying to achieve new levels of understanding that always seem to elude.
The Suite: Lion, Camel and Child
When I started composing, I wanted something more than philosophy to tie the movements of the suite together. I decided simple is the best and came up with a three-note phrase (based on intervals of a tone and a third) which is present either melodically or harmonically in all three of the movements. I played around with the phrase as much as I could, inverting intervals, sometimes using major or minor 2nds and 3rds, elongating the phrase or compressing it, and eventually, I had enough variations to begin writing the suite.
The Camel – bears the burdens expected of it with courage and gains strength from confronting its suffering, but yearns for more than the life it has. It maintains course out of a sense of duty and becomes Emperor of its own jail.
The Camel has a pensive and heavy Middle Eastern vibe and features the gifted improvising of pianist Adrean Farrugia. This movement is the first movement I composed, it is also the movement in which the three note phrase/cell I used as the basis for the entire suite is most easily identified (the ostinato figure played by bass and piano but those with keen ears will also recognize it as the basis for the melody) In this movement, the cell is comprised of a minor 2nd and a major 3rd, like the top tetrachord of harmonic minor.
The Lion – is a symbol of tenacity and virtue. It breaks free of its self-imposed cage realizing the moral codes they’ve always lived by were merely constructs imagined by others. The Lion is free, but doesn’t know how to live without the cage and defines itself only in relation to it. To be completely free is to remember what freedom is for.
The Lion’s freedom is frenetic and this track is a nod to the up-tempo music of the Bebop Lions – when jazz broke free of popular form and prided itself on being inventive, dynamic and appealing to the intellectual.
The Child – sees life as a joyful game and thrives in the flux of this complicated existence. From the emptiness experienced by the Lion rejecting the world the Child creates new meaning. Not concerned with external approval and always moving forward in true freedom, the Child is in a perpetual state of letting go.
This is the most playful track of the three. The Child is an up-tempo tune with a quirky rhythmic intervallic melody, which jumps around and moves between horns and bass/piano in parts. I intended for it to sound like kids playing, falling down, jumping up and having a ball.
Narcomedusae – being a huge fan of both Star Wars and scuba diving, this is named for the Darth Vader jellyfish. Here the melody has a floating quality and undulates like waves over the pulsating feel of the rhythm section. For me this song has a feel like the serenity of jellyfish suspended and bobbing in ocean tides.
Strawberry Qwik – named for the beverage I buy every time I see it and every time I do, I swear it’s the last time! This tune was originally meant as an exercise to work on metric modulation (multiple time signatures in a tune). Whenever I play it I have the same feeling at the end of each chorus – maybe I should take another… it might be better this time.
Amarone – On my last album I had a song called Syrah and thought I keep up the tradition here. In the world of wine Amarone is King – rich, full bodied and complex, it stays with you long after you’ve tasted it – like a great piece of music.
For a Derailed Painter – a contrafact is a musical composition consisting of a new melody overlaid on a familiar harmonic structure. Here I’ve referenced Joni Mitchell’s “Help Me”. The idea to trade choruses happened by happy accident at a gig the night before we recorded. Jeremy thought I said to take one chorus before we played so he jumped in on the solo break after the first chorus. I wasn’t finished so I jumped in after him and we kept going like that. We had so much fun with it that it became the arrangement for the album.
Deliciously Ambiguous – leaves the listener feeling slightly unbalanced. With dominant chords and no strong resolution point it keeps you wondering where does the phrase end? It gives the musician endless options when it comes to improvising and eventually brings satisfaction from the ambiguousness.
Corridor – There is a long corridor at my old school lined with doors on either side. In my mind, that corridor became a symbol for my growth as a musician. I imagine that behind each door there is a technique or skill that I must learn in order to become a great musician. The idea was, that once I had opened each door and learned every skill and reached the end of the corridor that I would then be a master musician. The problem I have found is that the last door at the end of every corridor leads to another corridor filled with even more doors. It’s an exciting but humbling thought – on one hand I realize I will never run out of things to learn and practice, there will always be something new and exciting behind the next door. On the other hand, I realize that I will never finish…I will never reach the end of the corridor.
The main form of the tune is based on the second mode of melodic minor….a rarely used sound that is very dissonant but somehow, also bright. The affects are overwhelmingly tense relating to the helpless feelings of depression. It is the realization that there’s still further to go. The intro/interlude section has a strong rhythmic forward momentum, a confidence relating to the excitement of something new.
The Last Say – This tune had no name going into the session. I had a bass groove in 13/4 and a simple call and answer melody. I wasn’t going to record it, I didn’t think it was ready, but we finished the session with time to spare so decided to give it a go and record it. The version on the album was the first and only take of the tune and was the last song recorded for the session. Turns out it is my favorite song on the record.
