''Map of Moods'' is a live album by cellist

Tristan Honsinger Tristan Honsinger (born October 23, 1949) is an American cello player active in free jazz and free improvisation. He is perhaps best known for his long-running collaboration with free jazz pianist Cecil Taylor and guitarist Derek Bailey. Born ...

. It was recorded in April 1994 at the Workshop Freie Musik at the Straßenbahndepot in Berlin, and was released by FMP in 1996. On the album, Honsinger is joined by violinists

Aleksander Kolkowski Aleksander Kolkowski (born 1959 in London) is a British musician and composer whose work combines instruments and machines from the pioneering era of sound recording and reproduction (Stroh violins, wind-up Gramophones, shellac discs and wax-ph ...

and Stephano Lunardi, bassist Ernst Glerum, and drummer

Louis Moholo Louis Tebogo Moholo (born 10 March 1940), is a South African jazz drummer. He has been a member of several notable bands, including The Blue Notes, the Brotherhood of Breath and Assagai. Biography Born in Cape Town, Moholo formed The Blue ...

. According to Honsinger, ''Map of Moods'' had its origins in a theater music work that resulted in "a constructed chaos that inspired a heightened sense of communication between the participants," in which the musicians "tried to make a cut-up narrative using a cueing system to break up the story line so that we could stop the linearity of the narrative at any point with a cue that would lead it to another point in the story before or after." The music heard on the album consists of four movements called "Areas," which, in turn, are divided into smaller units. These sections are characterized by schematic and thematic identities which "allow the composition to function as a cartographer, with improvisation filling in local color and scenery." The players are required to stick to the composer's conception of the work unless they feel they can improve upon it. Moholo acts as a director, providing guidance and trigger points for the other musicians.

Reception

In a review for

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

, Thom Jurek wrote: "this is a playful and profound piece of compositional genius by Honsinger, and should be sought out by anyone who has an interest in improvisational or modern European classical music." The authors of ''

The Penguin Guide to Jazz ''The Penguin Guide to Jazz'' is a reference work containing an encyclopedic directory of jazz recordings on CD which were (at the time of publication) currently available in Europe or the United States. The first nine editions were compiled by ...

'' stated: "Honsinger's love of string instruments is well evidenced and the sound of the group is lusciously 'classical', even when the attacks are quite extreme."

Track listing

All compositions by Tristan Honsinger. # "Area 1–Themes: Berlin / Grandfather / Jimmy the Knife / Alza Gli Occhi / Spade in Cerchio" – 20:39 # "Area 2–Themes: Table Talk / Charles Town 1 / Charles Town 2 / Really / Arabia / Over the Top / The Man Next Door / Tango / Charles Town 3 / New 2 / Kafka 1 / Kafka 2 / Over the Top / New 1" – 39:27 # "Area 3–Themes: The Man Next Door / Table Talk" – 8:11 # "Area 4–Themes: Charles Town 2 / Kafka 1 / Kafka 2" – 8:51

Personnel

– cello *

– violin * Stephano Lunardi – violin * Ernst Glerum – double bass *

– drums

References

{{Reflist Tristan Honsinger albums 1996 live albums Live free jazz albums FMP Records live albums