Seven Storey Mountain VI
(2020, Pyroclastic Records)
Nate Wooley – trumpet, amplifier; C. Spencer Yeh – violin; Samara Lubelski – violin; Chris Corsano – drums; Ben Hall – drums; Ryan Sawyer – drums; Susan Alcorn – pedal steel guitar; Ava Mendoza – guitar; Julien Desprez – guitar; Isabelle O’Connell – keyboards; Emily Manzo – keyboards; Yoon Sun Choi – voice; Melissa Hughes – voice; Megan Schubert – voice
The arc of each performance is familiar, but each is also unique. Veiled in mystery, the music begins quietly. Prior iterations started with a shimmering cloud of sound from the ringing of a vibraphone, or crisp rattle of brushes on a snare. This time, the proceedings begin with a haunting wordless vocal, and then settle into the quiet hum of tape loops and a halo of dissonance. Suddenly, just like before, a repeated bell rings out an invocation for the music to morph and grow. Building in intensity, the players use their instruments to add ear-grabbing texture. Under layers of sound, we hear muffled voices, distorted and shaped to the point that they have shed their identify; another mystery in the mix. Yes, this is music, but it’s also more – it’s an enveloping environmental experience, a journey with a gripping and memorable arc, it’s wonder cast in sound.
Nate Wooley has taken us on this journey through his piece Seven Storey Mountain again and again, and has released the most potent update of his vision with last year’s Seven Storey Mountain VI (SSM from hereon). There is so much to say about this music, and we can only scratch the surface here. The best place to start is to look at Wooley’s inspiration and process, which he explains in a spring 2009 interview done for Paris Transatlantic magazine:
“The genesis of SSM was a longstanding interest in mystical religion, . . . as I grew older I became fascinated with the ecstatic experience, the painful ‘dark night of the soul’ stuff. Especially interesting were those that admitted to being worldly beings, like St. Augustine and Thomas Merton. Merton’s Seven Storey Mountain is basically his “confessions”. It’s an autobiography of his early life, leading up to his acceptance into the Lady of Gethsemani in Kentucky and including some of his spiritual life there. There’s no real flowery language in the book, just a lot of writing about indecision, confusion, a little bit of pain, super-self-consciousness. In 2007 I was commissioned to write a piece for Dave Douglas’ FONT festival in New York and as I was mostly consumed with the idea of recreating this kind of ecstatic state with music, using a language that was specific to me at the time and not a traditional drone/repetition scenario, I started working with a long-form piece that would hopefully be a start in the right direction. The musical idea was to create a tape score (all from my air-conditioning unit at home with the exception of one singing portion and piano) that would take the place of the traditional drone, then write very loose music over the top that would give different players some kind of musical idea of how to proceed as the piece went on. Initially the idea was to keep the tape portion and use different players for each iteration, recording as I went. The next grouping, which I’m working on scheduling right now, is with C. Spencer Yeh and Chris Corsano. I’ll make a completely new tape score, as they work in a much more sustained and harsh sound world, so I have to rethink the technical aspects a little (my amp playing has become more refined as well), but the main idea is the same, to attempt to achieve a certain feeling of ecstatic release in an abstract setting. I’m not sure how successful it is, but I end up liking the music, so I keep trying anyway.”
In the 11 years since this interview Wooley has continued developing this idea and realizing new editions of SSM, each time increasing the size of the forces used and complexity of the work. SSM 3 and SSM 4 were both performed and recorded live at Brooklyn’s Issue Project Room. SSM 3 features the hypnotic drone of twin vibraphones; SSM 4 emphasizes a dynamic build to a crescendo of amplified trumpet and a brass choir. SSM 5 (2016) was performed live at Abrams Art Center and again increases the size of the players, now to 18 musicians, and ups the complexity and nuance of the pre prepared tapes and the interactions of the players with the piece.
This brings us to the current version, SSM 6. On top of the other methods Wooley has employed, he has now added an overt message. Words have always been as part of SSM, both as part of the prepared tapes and also intoned by Wooley through his trumpet, but before they were processed and buried in the layers of sound, becoming part of the sonic tapestry. As Wooley says in the liner notes to SSM 6:
“For the first time, I was angry. I was truly angry as I watched what people do to each other: how some make decisions about peoples’ lives as if they were objects . . . This anger manifested as the desire to sing loud, but not just with my voice. I didn’t trust my strength alone. Instead, I put my trust in the voices of the women around me. . . The composition of SSM 6 came into focus when I first heard Peggy Seeger’s recording of “Reclaim the Night” from her album Different Therefore Equal. I listened to it over and over again, concentrating on the power of her words and the clarity of her voice. SSM 6 uses the first few lines of “Reclaim the Night” as a kind of mantra. The hope was that those leaving the performance—or coming to the end of this recording—would not just remember the melody but also, through its repetition, be able to retain some of Peggy’s words.”
The message is made clear by printing Peggy Seeger’s words on the album cover, which is posted above. The cumulative results of this potent message, the canny planning of the album and the musicianship of the players, is exemplary. SSM 6 is the first of this series to be recorded in the studio, and it benefits from detail and fidelity it’s predecessors did not have, while pulling off the trick of retaining the spontaneity and impact of live performance. The music leaves an indelible impression, which Wooley makes explicit as his goal in the liner notes:
“Seven Storey Mountain is meant to make you feel something. The live performances of these pieces make people react. They smile, shiver, cry, run for the door to compose their angry emails. The ensemble is there, playing this music, for people to remember that feeling and to take it home with them. We seek to imprint a moment on you.”
This album and it’s music is an event. Above all, the force of the music does speak for itself – the power of it’s concept is clear from beginning to end yet the complex music is full of mystery that will keep drawing me back. Also, Wooley has said he plans seven records of this project – if that comes to pass – I can hardly wait for the next one!
Where to go next:
If you’re fascinated by SSM 6, please purchase a copy! Artists like Wooley need support for this music to survive. Going back and listening to the prior iterations is time well spent. SSM 5 is available here, and SSM 3 and SSM 4 here.
Outside of writing and performing music, Wooley oversees the Database of Recorded American Music—an incredible streaming-service specializing in American 20th century contemporary classical music, and he created and is the editor of a Sound American, a magazine that does a deep dive on experimental music. Those are worth checking out for people interested in progressive music.
Nate Wooley has been one of the top trumpet players and musicians playing new music for New York, and his discography is extensive. Some places to start are his terrific and more “inside” Nate Wooley Quintet albums, (Dance To) The early Music and (Put Your) Hands Together. Also check out his fantastic album showcasing a “double trio” led by himself and cornet player Ron Miles, and the striking mediation on awe of nature, Columbia Icefield. Keep and eye on Wooley’s website, for updates on what’s he’s doing. Above all, when this Pandemic is over go out and see him and other musicians playing vital new music – this music does not exist without you!
