Part 1 - A Compilation of Writings About the Music of Bob Graettinger
© -Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.
“Bob Graettinger's radical polystylistic soundworld, with its polyphonic density and bracing atonality, while drawing on ideas previously explored by the likes of Ives, Stravinsky, Copland and Schoenberg, still remains truly distinctive. It also anticipates the radical polyphonic density of jazz influenced big bands like Globe Unity Orchestra, London Jazz Composers Orchestra, and the various eclectic ensembles of Simon H Fell, though Graettinger's music favours notation over improvisation. He died aged only 34, a brilliant young composer tragically robbed of revealing his full potential, but who left some exhilarating compositions.”
Chris Blackford
This feature takes as its theme from the following statement about Bob Graettinger by Chris Blackford:
“Given the striking originality of Bob Graettinger's work, one would expect him to be a much celebrated figure in the annals of jazz. Sadly, not so. In fact, I've yet to find a jazz encyclopedia that even allocates him an entry.”
While gathering its many essays and narratives, I looked at the preparation of this piece as a kind of rescue mission; a way of doing its part to reclaim Bob Graettinger from total obscurity while, at the same time, acknowledging the work of others who have contributed greatly to our knowledge of Graettinger and his work.
The various Graettinger pieces have been cobbled together with an eye toward further editing, but until that is accomplished, the reader will likely find some repetition between these pieces,
But at least they are all in one place.
Of course, as is often the case, the starting point for anything to do with Stan Kenton is Terry Vosbein’s site - All Things Kenton - which offers this audio file with Kenton sharing his recollections of Graettinger’s time on the Kenton Band which you can sample via this link.
While you are on Terry’s site, you will also see a reference to Robert Morgan’s doctoral dissertation entitled The Music and Life of Robert Graettinger which was submitted in 1974 to the Department of Music at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign campus. You can click on each of the chapters in Professor Morgan’s dissertation and read about Graettinger in greater detail.
For the purposes of this compilation, let’s begin with this overview of Graettinger and his music by Chris Blackford.
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