One of the main inspirations for the varied types of music cultivated, valued, and cherished in the diverse cultures and corners of our Earth has been the sounds of Nature, be it the dulcet calls of birds or the trumpeting of elephants or the bleating of sheep or the rustling of leaves or the fury of storms or the gentle lullabies of flowing streams. And this has amply been represented in the music, be it in the lyrics of the songs or the themes and melodies and harmonies of instrumental music. And in Hindustani Classical Music we even have ragas for particular seasons or for different times of the day and the lyrics of the compositions set to these ragas celebrate these seasonal and temporal aspects of nature. And so we have in Western Classical too the Four Seasons of Antonio Vivaldi being one of the most popular examples besides the Water Music of Handel and then Haydn with his Le Matin, Le Midi, and Le Soir - and then some more. But this missive is not about all that, rather it is about a different kind of music presented and packaged differently.  

It’s about ‘The Thompson Fields’ by Maria Schneider and her Modern Jazz Orchestra (winner of 58th Grammy in the category of Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album). In my limited exposure to music and my limited modest collection of music spanning diverse genres, I have not had the pleasure of having seen or heard anything like it.  I have been a big fan of Big Band Jazz of the likes of Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Gerald Wilson, et al, but this is something completely different, way different even beyond my wildest imagination. 

The CD begins with a short composition Walking by Flashlight an instrumental version of a short poem by Ted Kooser, which incidentally also featured in her earlier ‘Winter Morning Walks’ - a vocal-classical album (with all songs sung by Dawn Upshaw) - and the album also bagged 3 Grammy Awards at the 56th.  It is a shorter composition, barely 5 minutes and begins with the mellow notes of a Clarinet which also happens to be the solo instrument on this track which meanders along unusual melodic structures, reflecting the words of the poem - an exposition that comes close to the "Gayaki" style or Ang of presentation of Hindustani Classical Instrumental music. 

This is followed by The Monarch and the Milkweed which tells the story of the relationship between Monarch butterflies and the Milkweed plant which plays a crucial role in their lives.  Yes, subjects and topics like these eternal mysteries of nature can be represented in wordless music a million melodic and harmonious ways, each no less than the other, and each as beautiful as other.  And one such is the one here.  

And then, my favourite, The Arbiters of Evolution, which extolls the beauteous displays during the mating rituals of the Birds of Paradise in a way that instantly brings to the mind the exemplary film footages of Sir David Attenborough and his erudite commentaries on these matters. 

The next is the eponymous The Thompson Fields, reminiscing the nostalgia of the composer on life and nature in and around the neighbourhood "Thompson Fields" of her childhood life in Windom, Minnesota followed by Home.  

Then we have Nimbus a dizzying story of the rise and flow of Cumulonimbus in the formation of Tornadoes that so frequent the midwest.  This is followed by A Potter's song in remembrance of a deep personal friendship with a trumpeter in the band, Laurie Frink, who was also a very skillful potter.  

The CD closes out on yet another wandering into memories, but this time, deep South in Brazil - memories of a musical time spent in the Carnival season in Brazil, titled Lembranca (Remembrance, in Portuguese). 

The CD is elegantly packaged into a beautiful booklet that spans 25 pages, each page either elegantly illustrated by the illustrious bird paintings of John James Audubon et al, or simple poems exulting Nature, or the idyllic thoughts of the composer on the music and how it connects her with the Nature around her all through her experiences from childhood to adulthood, or quotes and photographs and paintings expressing the infinite beauty and splendours of nature. 

The music is exemplary. Each track is essentially based on one or two solo parts - with the rest of the band complimenting and enriching the unusual melodies with unusually rich and complex harmonies - which are very much different from the ones (bebop or swing or blues) that I have come to associate with traditional big band Jazz.  In fact, I consider them as mini concertos - based around the solo instruments represented by clarinet, saxophone, piano, guitar, fluegelhorn, trombone, acoustic Bass, and even an Accordion (yes, an Accordion) which has been rather neglected in the Western Jazz arena - and then sprinkled with subtle garnishings of rock, jazz, and samba.

It is a celebration of the Beauty and Symmetry of Nature and a plea for us to play our part. To quote Maria Schneider -"Humans have come to recognize that our own health depends on living harmoniously with nature. I believe that part of that health benefit comes from simply taking it in all the sights, sounds, and smells of nature's bounty, purely for the love of beauty."  

I am deeply enriched by the music, and more so by the expressed warmth of desire to conveying the divine beauty of nature in its own multifaceted ways of each theme. And of course, the gorgeous booklet which puts everything in its proper context and perspectives and points to precious references for those wishing to delve deeper into the lives of birds.

That this album has won the Grammy has had absolutely no bearing on my impressions and review. I do not think the Grammy is in any way an arbiter of excellence of any kind in any music.  This time, I think, it is the privilege of the Grammy to have been so honoured by Maria Schneider, her beautiful compositions, played by her pitch-perfect ensemble of exemplary musicians, recorded to perfection.   

If you like Music and Nature - or one of it but want to connect with the other, then this is worth a listen. Or even if it be for the sake of just Music.

And I end with a quote in the accompanying booklet:

"Our ability to perceive quality in nature begins, as in art, with the pretty. It expands through successive stages of the beautiful, to values as yet uncaptured by language." Aldo Leopold.

Rating:       *****    

Label:          Artistshare

Format:        Audio CD

Duration:     77 Minutes

Rajendra (Raj) Chittar is based in Bengaluru. He is a retired theoretical Computer Scientist/Software professional. He now luxuriates in his modest but slowly growing collection of Hindustani & Western Classical, Jazz, Classic Rock, Bollywood (pre-1980) music and his books on Mathematics and Physics.

He can be contacted via email rajendra.chittar@gmail.com or on cell +91-8105977500.