WEST STOCKBRIDGE — It’s a long way from Calcutta to West Stockbridge. But on Saturday, Sept. 25, you can hear multi-instrumentalist Ned Rothenberg play a set with Samir Chatterjee, a tabla player recently from Calcutta, joined by guitarist Jerome Harris, at the Old Town Hall in West Stockbridge. They call themselves Sync, and all of their repertoire comes from within the group. Rothenberg performs mainly on alto saxophone, clarinet, bass clarinet, and shakuhachi. He releases records on John Zorn’s Tzadik label, as well as his own label, Animul, and his discography goes back to 1981.
Considering the musical territory Rothenberg has covered over the last four decades (across five continents), the only question now is, where will he take his audience on September 25? It could be almost anywhere, as his musical horizons are uncommonly broad.
Rothenberg, could, of course, play jazz standards all night long, and everyone would be knocked out. But these musicians have more to offer than that. All the music they play on the 25th will be original to the group, most of it from Rothenberg’s hand.
If you are the least bit curious about Rothenberg (and you should be), you owe it to yourself to view the Zoom recording of West Stockbridge Jazz Series committee member Lori Rose’s interview with Ned last April. We owe Lori our thanks for asking Rothenberg the right kinds of questions, questions we, as audience members, would ask. For example, here’s a question that is pretty fundamental to any piece of concert music unknown to the audience at the time of performance: Do we have to understand it?
Rothenberg is good in an interview. He explains things so patiently that you figure he must be a dad or a professional educator. He is both. And his (edited) answer to this question is satisfying:
“I think you just have to give it your attention … I don’t think you have to understand some arcane, underlying conceptual idea. I think you just have to have open ears and an open mind, and I’m sure some pieces you will like more than others — that’s what makes life interesting.”
During the interview, Rothenberg picks up a shakuhachi, a type of Japanese bamboo flute, and plays several notes. Epic movie scenes of samurai immediately flash through your mind. Vibrato completes the picture. It may sound a lot like traditional Japanese music, but that is not what Sync will be playing at the Old Town Hall
To get an idea of what to expect from Ned Rothenberg’s trio on Saturday, visit his website and listen to a few audio clips. Highlights: “March Hair,” “Fond Illusion,” “Overstepper.”
