Improvisation on BWV 153-5 (J.S. Bach) | Vibraphone & Marimba
(headphones recommended)
On August 12, 2022, I was invited to perform a solo concert as part of a Bach Festival in Mondsee, Austria.
The performance took place in the historic church in the center of town - this is where the wedding scene from the movie "The Sound Of Music" was filmed!
Obviously, I'm not a Bach specialist, and the organizers of the concert knew this - but they had the idea for me to play a jazz concert, using Bach's music as a basis. I love Bach, so I accepted the challenge. Then I realized just what I had done ;).
Bach is considered by many to be one of the greatest improvisors of all time - and all of the evidence we have certainly points to this fact. So, to try to improvise on Bach - it's ridiculous to think that anyone could replicate his genius. So I realized I needed to find a way to adapt the music into a style that was really in my comfort zone. I focused on melodies, bass lines, and grooves.
The piece I'm performing in this clip is the 5th movement from Bach's Cantata BWV 153 "Und ob gleich alle Teufel", written in 1724. In my mind I called it "The Dark Chorale" because, well, it's just dark and beautiful.
I hope you enjoy this recording - I have a full recording of the concert which I will probably put online at some point. Thank you for listening!
Thank you to Georg, Gottfried and Christiane for organizing the concert, and thank you to Robert Friedl for lending me his marimba!
-Tim
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