Michael Mantler (born August 10, 1943)
is an Austrian
avant-garde jazz trumpeter and composer of contemporary music.
Career: United States
Mantler was born in
Vienna
Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...
, Austria.
In the early 1960s, he was a student at the Academy of Music and Vienna University, concentrating on trumpet and
musicology
Musicology is the academic, research-based study of music, as opposed to musical composition or performance. Musicology research combines and intersects with many fields, including psychology, sociology, acoustics, neurology, natural sciences, ...
. He continued his studies at the
Berklee College of Music
Berklee College of Music () is a Private university, private music college in Boston, Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern Music of the United ...
in
Boston
Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
, Massachusetts, United States.
In 1964, he moved to New York City and joined the Jazz Composers Guild with
Roswell Rudd,
Archie Shepp, and
Cecil Taylor.
He founded the Jazz Realities quintet with
Carla Bley and toured in Europe with
Steve Lacy.
After the Guild broke up, he established the
Jazz Composer's Orchestra Association (JCOA).
Its purpose was to provide an outlet for new orchestral jazz compositions.
For its first record release he produced a double album of his music during 1968, entitled ''The Jazz Composer's Orchestra,'' with soloists Cecil Taylor, Don Cherry, Roswell Rudd, Pharoah Sanders, Larry Coryell, and Gato Barbieri. Some of this music was also performed during the "Long Concerts" at the Electric Circus in New York in 1969.
The problems of independently distributing the orchestra's record label, led him to form the New Music Distribution Service (as a division of JCOA) in 1972, an organization which was to serve many independent labels for almost twenty years. Mantler and Bley started their own company,
WATT Records, which was a record label, recording studio, and music publisher.
By the mid 1970s, both orchestra and distributor discontinued their activities.
Mantler recorded many solo albums with varying instrumentation and personnel, emphasizing his work as a composer rather than as a band leader. Appearing live infrequently, he concentrated on composing and recording. He recorded ''Something There'' with the string section of the
London Symphony Orchestra and several albums using the words of writers
Samuel Beckett
Samuel Barclay Beckett (; 13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was an Irish writer of novels, plays, short stories, and poems. Writing in both English and French, his literary and theatrical work features bleak, impersonal, and Tragicomedy, tra ...
(''No Answer''),
Harold Pinter
Harold Pinter (; 10 October 1930 – 24 December 2008) was a British playwright, screenwriter, director and actor. A List of Nobel laureates in Literature, Nobel Prize winner, Pinter was one of the most influential modern British dramat ...
(''Silence''), and
Edward Gorey (''The Hapless Child'').
Reviewing Mantler's 1978 ''Movies'' LP in ''
Christgau's Record Guide'',
Robert Christgau
Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and later became a ...
wrote, "Great title for the ultimate soundtrack demo, utilizing the chops and sound of
Larry Coryell,
Tony Williams,
Steve Swallow, and
Carla Bley on bracing (if rather detached) compositions that unite the conventions of
jazz group writing with those of
twentieth-century European music. Sticks to the ribs."
Commissions and performances with European orchestras followed, at the Danish Radio, the Swedish Radio, the North and West German Radio, and the Lille Opera. His 1987 album ''Many Have No Speech'' contained songs in English, German, and French that were based on the poetry of
Samuel Beckett
Samuel Barclay Beckett (; 13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was an Irish writer of novels, plays, short stories, and poems. Writing in both English and French, his literary and theatrical work features bleak, impersonal, and Tragicomedy, tra ...
,
Ernst Meister, and
Philippe Soupault, with vocals by rock musicians
Jack Bruce,
Marianne Faithfull, and
Robert Wyatt.
From 1977 until 1985, he was also a member of the Carla Bley Band, touring extensively throughout Europe, the US, and Japan, as well as appearing on all of the Band's recordings. Mantler and Bley were married from 1965 –1991 and had one daughter,
Karen Mantler, who became a musician.
Career: Europe
In 1991, he left the United States and moved to Europe, dividing his time between
Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...
, Denmark and the South of France.
A new orchestral piece was commissioned by the Austrian Donau Festival, and was premièred near Vienna in June 1991 by the Nö.Tonkünstlerorchester, conducted by
Michael Gibbs, with
Andy Sheppard as soloist. New compositions were also commissioned by the
Danish Radio Big Band and the North German Radio Big Band in
Hamburg
Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...
.
During 1992, Mantler recorded a new album, titled ''Folly Seeing All This'', released by
ECM Records in March 1993, which features the
Balanescu Quartet plus other instrumentalists. The album includes instrumental compositions and one song, music set to Samuel Beckett's last work written shortly before his death in 1989, the poem "What Is the Word" featuring the voice of Jack Bruce.
In 1993, he formed the Chamber Music and Songs ensemble, featuring his trumpet plus Mona Larsen (voice), Bjarne Roupé (guitar), Kim Kristensen (keyboards), and a string quartet consisting of Marianne Sørensen (violin), Mette Winther (viola), Gunnar Lychou (viola), and Helle Sørensen (cello). Its premiere took place at the Copenhagen Jazzhouse in September, followed by a studio production at Denmark Radio.
''Cerco un Paese Innocente'', a "Suite of Songs and Interludes for Voice, Untypical Big Band, and Chamber Ensemble", with words by the Italian poet
Giuseppe Ungaretti, had its premiere in concert at Denmark Radio in January 1994. Featured were the voice of Mona Larsen, Mantler's ensemble, and the Danish Radio Big Band, conducted by Ole Kock Hansen. The work was subsequently recorded in the studio and released by ECM Records in 1995.
''The School of Understanding'' ("sort-of-an-opera") had its première in August 1996 at Arken, the new Museum of Modern Art in Copenhagen. Participants included singers Jack Bruce, Mona Larsen,
Susi Hyldgaard,
John Greaves,
Don Preston,
Karen Mantler,
Per Jørgensen, and
Robert Wyatt. The recording was released as a double-CD by ECM in November 1997, followed by a new live production at the
Hebbel Theater in Berlin.
His ''One Symphony'', commissioned by the broadcaster
Hessischer Rundfunk, was premiered in November 1998 by the
Radio Symphony Orchestra Frankfurt, conducted by
Peter Rundel. The recording of the work was released in February 2000, together with previously recorded material featuring Mona Larsen and the ''Chamber Music and Songs'' ensemble interpreting songs set to texts by Ernst Meister.
''Hide and Seek'', an album of songs with words by
Paul Auster
Paul Benjamin Auster (February 3, 1947 – April 30, 2024) was an American writer, novelist, memoirist, poet, and filmmaker. His notable works include '' The New York Trilogy'' (1987), '' Moon Palace'' (1989), '' The Music of Chance'' (1990), ' ...
(from his play by the same name) for chamber orchestra and the voices of Robert Wyatt and Susi Hyldgaard, was released in March 2001. Theatrical productions of the work, conceived by Rolf Heim (who has previously worked with Mantler on the ''School of Understanding'' performances), were produced in the Spring of 2002 in Copenhagen (Kanonhallen, February) and Berlin (Hebbel Theater, March).
His ''Concerto for Marimba and Vibraphone'' (commissioned by Portuguese percussionist
Pedro Carneiro in 2001) premiered at the
Hessischer Rundfunk in March 2005 with the
Radio Symphony Orchestra Frankfurt conducted by
Pascal Rophé.
During September 2006, Porgy & Bess in Vienna presented a series of retrospective portrait concerts with his Chamber Music and Songs ensemble
In recognition of his life's work he received several Austrian awards: the State Prize for Improvised Music, the Prandtauer Prize of the City of St. Pölten, where he spent his early youth, and the Music Prize of the City of Vienna.
The anthology ''Review'' (recordings 1968 – 2000), released by ECM in 2006, traced his musical path during more than 30 years of recordings for JCOA, WATT, and ECM.
He appeared at the JazzFest Berlin in November 2007 with his ''Concertos'' project, featuring the
Kammerensemble Neue Musik Berlin under the direction of Roland Kluttig. A studio recording of the concertos with soloists Bjarne Roupé (guitar), Bob Rockwell (tenor saxophone), Roswell Rudd (trombone), Pedro Carneiro (marimba and vibraphone), Majella Stockhausen (piano), Nick Mason (percussion), and Mantler on trumpet, was released by ECM during November 2008.
His next CD (''For Two''), a series of duets for guitar (Bjarne Roupé) and piano (Per Salo), was released by ECM during June 2011.
New works were commissioned and performed by the Max Brand Ensemble, conducted by Christoph Cech (Chamber Music Eight, Tage der Neuen Musik, Krems, Austria, 2012) and by the Chaos Orchestra, conducted by Arnaud Petit (Oiseaux de Guerre, featuring singer Himiko Paganotti, Forum Blanc-Mesnil, France, 2014).
During September 2013, Porgy & Bess in Vienna presented his Jazz Composer's Orchestra Update project, featuring the Nouvelle Cuisine Big Band, conducted by Christoph Cech, with soloists Michael Mantler (trumpet), Harry Sokal and Wolfgang Puschnig (saxophones), Bjarne Roupé (guitar),
David Helbock (piano) and the radio.string.quartet.vienna. The program included a complete re-working of all the pieces from the original 1968 ''
The Jazz Composer's Orchestra'' album, as well as of older material from as early as 1963, never before performed or recorded. A selection of recordings from these performances was released by ECM Records during November 2014. The complete project was performed live several times during 2015/16: at the Moers Festival and at the North Sea Jazz Festival in Rotterdam (with the Nouvelle Cuisine Big Band) and at the German Jazzfestival Frankfurt (with the
hr-Bigband), as well as in Portugal at the Lisbon Jazz em Agosto Festival (with the Orquestra Jazz de Matosinhos)
''Comment c'est'' (''How It Is''), a song cycle for voice (Himiko Paganotti) and chamber orchestra (the Max Brand Ensemble) was premiered with two concerts at Porgy & Bess in Vienna during September 2016. A studio recording of the work was released by ECM Records during November 2017.
With the subsequent project, the ''Orchestra Suites'', he continued working on further orchestral reinterpretations of older works, very selectively choosing material for more "updates" of different musics that were particularly dear to him. The result was a series of suites (''HideSeek, Alien, Cerco, Folly, TwoThirteen'') for a larger orchestra, conducted by Christoph Cech, presented and recorded at three concerts during September 2019, again at Vienna's Porgy & Bess. The resulting album, ''CODA - Orchestra Suites'', as well as a series of print editions (including engraved and facsimile scores of selected recorded work from a 50-year period), were released in July 2021 by ECM Records.
The compositions from his ''Concertos'' album were performed September 2021 in Vienna and again in Graz at the Big Band Bang Festival in 2022, with the Janus Ensemble and soloists, conducted by Christoph Cech.
''Songs'' for bass clarinet (Gareth Davis) and trumpet soloists, vocal and brass ensembles and percussion, with texts by Samuel Beckett, Ernst Meister, Giuseppe Ungaretti and Michael Mantler, were premiered October 2022 at the Jazz Goes to Town festival at Hradec Králové in the Czech Republic, followed by a repeat performance at Porgy & Bess in Vienna.
The New Songs Ensemble featuring John Greaves (voice), Annie Barbazza (voice), Michael Mantler (trumpet), Gareth Davis (bass clarinet), Bjarne Roupé (guitar), David Helbock (piano) and the radio.string.quartet - Bernie Mallinger (violin), Igmar Jenner (violin), Cynthia Liao (viola), Sophie Abraham (cello) - performed new versions of the same songs at Porgy & Bess in Vienna during September 2023. At that occasion Mantler was awarded the Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art, First Class.
Discography
As composer or leader
* 1966: ''
Communication
Communication is commonly defined as the transmission of information. Its precise definition is disputed and there are disagreements about whether Intention, unintentional or failed transmissions are included and whether communication not onl ...
'' (
Fontana) Jazz Composer's Orchestra
* 1966: ''
Jazz Realities'' (Fontana) with
Steve Lacy and
Carla Bley
* 1968: ''
The Jazz Composer's Orchestra'' (JCOA/
ECM) with
Cecil Taylor,
Don Cherry,
Pharoah Sanders,
Larry Coryell,
Roswell Rudd, and
Gato Barbieri
* 1974: ''No Answer'' (Watt/ECM) with Don Cherry,
Jack Bruce, Carla Bley; words by Samuel Beckett
* 1975: ''13'' (Watt/ECM) for two orchestras and piano
* 1976: ''The Hapless Child'' (Watt/ECM) with
Robert Wyatt,
Terje Rypdal,
Carla Bley,
Jack DeJohnette,
Steve Swallow; settings of written works by
Edward Gorey
* 1977: ''Silence'' (Watt/ECM) with Robert Wyatt,
Kevin Coyne,
Chris Spedding; words by Harold Pinter
* 1978: ''Movies'' (Watt/ECM) with Larry Coryell,
Steve Swallow, and
Tony Williams
* 1980: ''More Movies'' (Watt/ECM) with
Philip Catherine
Philip Catherine (born 27 October 1942) is a Belgian jazz rock guitarist.
Biography
Philip Catherine was born in London, England, to an English mother and Belgian father, and was raised in Brussels, Belgium. His grandfather was a violinist i ...
, Steve Swallow, and
Gary Windo
* 1983: ''Something There'' (Watt/ECM) with
Nick Mason,
Mike Stern,
Michael Gibbs, and the London Symphony Orchestra strings
* 1985: ''Alien'' (Watt/ECM) with Don Preston
* 1987: ''Live '' (Watt/ECM) with Jack Bruce, Rick Fenn, Don Preston, John Greaves, and Nick Mason
* 1988: ''Many Have No Speech'' (Watt/ECM) with Jack Bruce,
Marianne Faithfull, Robert Wyatt, Rick Fenn, the Danish Radio Concert Orchestra; words by Samuel Beckett, Ernst Meister, and Philippe Soupault
* 1990: ''The Watt Works Family Album'' (WATT/ECM) sampler
* 1993: ''
Folly Seeing All This'' (ECM) with the
Balanescu Quartet, Rick Fenn, and Jack Bruce; words by Samuel Beckett
* 1995: ''Cerco Un Paese Innocente'' (ECM) with Mona Larsen, Chamber Ensemble, and the
Danish Radio Big Band; words by Giuseppe Ungaretti
* 1997: ''The School of Understanding'' (opera) (ECM) with Jack Bruce, Mona Larsen, Susi Hyldgaard,
John Greaves, Don Preston,
Karen Mantler,
Per Jørgensen,
Robert Wyatt, chamber ensemble, strings of the Danish Radio Concert Orchestra, conducted by Giordano Bellincampi; words by Michael Mantler
* 2000: ''Songs and One Symphony'' (ECM) with Mona Larsen plus Chamber Ensemble and the Radio Symphony Orchestra Frankfurt, conducted by Peter Rundel; words by Ernst Meister
* 2001: ''Hide and Seek'' (ECM) with Robert Wyatt, Susi Hyldgaard, and chamber ensemble; words by
Paul Auster
Paul Benjamin Auster (February 3, 1947 – April 30, 2024) was an American writer, novelist, memoirist, poet, and filmmaker. His notable works include '' The New York Trilogy'' (1987), '' Moon Palace'' (1989), '' The Music of Chance'' (1990), ' ...
* 2006: ''Review'' (ECM) 22 track compilation of recordings 1968 - 2000
* 2008: ''Concertos'' (ECM) with Michael Mantler, Bjarne Roupé, Bob Rockwell, Roswell Rudd, Pedro Carneiro, Majella Stockhausen, Nick Mason, Kammerensemble Neue Musik Berlin, conducted by Roland Kluttig
* 2011: ''For Two'' (ECM) with Bjarne Roupé and Per Salo
* 2014: ''Jazz Composer's Orchestra Update'' (ECM) with Michael Mantler, Bjarne Roupé, Harry Sokal, Wolfgang Puschnig,
radio.string.quartet.vienna,
David Helbock, Nouvelle Cuisine Big Band, conducted by Christoph Cech
*2017: ''Comment c'est'' (ECM) with Michael Mantler, Himiko Paganotti, Max Brand Ensemble, conducted by Christoph Cech; words by Michael Mantler
*2021: ''Coda - Orchestra Suites'' (ECM) with Michael Mantler, Bjarne Roupé, David Helbock, orchestra conducted by Christoph Cech
*2024: ''Sempre Notte'' (
Dark Companion Records) — con Michael Mantler,
John Greaves,
Annie Barbazza, Bjarne Roupé, Gareth Davis etc.
With Carla Bley
* 1971: ''
Escalator over the Hill''
* 1974: ''
Tropic Appetites''
* 1977: ''
Dinner Music''
* 1978: ''
European Tour 1977''
* 1979: ''
Musique Mecanique''
* 1981: ''
Social Studies''
* 1982: ''
Live!''
* 1983: ''
Mortelle Randonnée'' (
PolyGram)
* 1984: ''
I Hate to Sing''
* 1984: ''
Heavy Heart''
''Contributions to Tribute Albums''
*1981: ''Amarcord Nino Rota'' (Hannibal)
*1984: ''That's the Way I Feel Now'' (A&M)
With others
* 1969: ''
A Genuine Tong Funeral'',
Gary Burton (
RCA)
* 1970: ''
Liberation Music Orchestra'',
Charlie Haden and the Liberation Music Orchestra (
Impulse!)
* 1976: ''
Kew. Rhone.'',
John Greaves and
Peter Blegvad (
Virgin
Virginity is a social construct that denotes the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. As it is not an objective term with an operational definition, social definitions of what constitutes virginity, or the lack thereof ...
)
* 1981: ''
Nick Mason's Fictitious Sports'',
Nick Mason (
Harvest
Harvesting is the process of collecting plants, animals, or fish (as well as fungi) as food, especially the process of gathering mature crops, and "the harvest" also refers to the collected crops. Reaping is the cutting of grain or pulses fo ...
)
* 1983: ''
The Ballad of the Fallen'' Charlie Haden and the Liberation Music Orchestra (ECM)
References
External links
Official Michael Mantler website*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mantler, Michael
1943 births
Living people
Austrian male composers
Austrian composers
Austrian jazz trumpeters
Male trumpeters
American jazz composers
American jazz trumpeters
American male trumpeters
Musicians from Vienna
21st-century trumpeters
American male jazz composers
21st-century American male musicians
Jazz Composer's Orchestra members