Violinist Tolling, special guests to perform Sunday at Piedmont arts center
In an interview before his appearance this Sunday at the Piedmont Center for the Arts, award-winning Danish-American violinist/composer Mads Tolling proclaims the pleasures of performing in intimate venues.
“Any performance is valuable because there’s a live audience paying attention and listening to you. I know people aren’t on their phones, distracted. It’s a listening room, and you can feel the people with you. I’ve played at the PCA (Piedmont Center for the Arts) before, and the audience is there entirely to hear good music. I even like smaller venues — house concerts with only 20 people,” he says.
Tolling is classically trained. Upon graduating from Boston’s Berklee College of Music in 2003, he joined jazz bassist Stanley Clarke’s band and later the Bay Area-based Turtle Island Quartet. He is a two-time Grammy Award winner and nominee and has appeared with solo artists such as Chick Corea, Leo Kottke and many others (see madstolling.com/mads-tolling-bio online for full details).
He is a current member with Bob Weir’s Wolf Bros & Wolf Pack Band and leads his own ensembles, among them the Mads Tolling Quartet and Mads Tolling & The Mads Men. With repertoire, recordings and commissions covering the musical gamut from classical violin concertos to jazz standards to reimagined classic songs from 1960s film, TV and radio, he has toured worldwide in major concert halls and is a sought-after educator and masterclass instructor.
In Piedmont (piedmontcenterforthearts.org), Tolling will lead an eclectic program with special guest artists: vocalist Kenny Washington and pianist John R. Burr. The setlist includes all three musicians presenting well-known songs such as “Ain’t Got Nothing but the Blues,” “My Girl,” “I Got Rhythm” and Thelonious Monk’s “Straight no Chaser.” Tolling’s long association and recordings with Burr will highlight the fusion of classical, jazz and folk styles unique to their work together, including “Blackbird” (The Beatles), “Ramblin’ ” (Ornette Coleman) and “Armando’s Rumba” (Chick Corea).
All of the musicians have particular expertise not only in their chosen genre and instruments — Washington’s human “instrument” is the vocal equivalent of Tolling’s finest violin — and are well-versed in the art of improvisation. Tolling says each performance with Washington or Burr has atmospheric suspense and requires acute responsiveness due to “composing in real time.”
“Kenny was given his fortunate voice from nature,” Tolling says. “It’s silky smooth and he can scat at the highest level. But he’s also a true musician. He’s not just singing a piece and understanding it’s harmony. He knows my instrument’s battle with form, like dealing with the length of the bridge; and my not being the center of attention when he’s singing.
“With sonata forms, what’s on the page is set. With jazz improvisation, we’re not just counting but intuitively feeling where we are in a piece. We might cut from section A to B at any time. We might play within a blues scale, or Kenny will take it beyond. It’s exciting.”
Tolling says the experience is fun, while admitting he occasionally experiences preshow jitters despite decades performing live shows.
“I’m not sure how things will pan out. But I do have a better sense of what I want to say than 10 years ago. I can play less notes and make it mean more. I’m more aware. When I was younger, I went with the energy and sometimes, when I listened to a recorded show, I could hear I overdid it. Now, I know if I’ve played too loud for too long. I stay alive to the moments, and I’m in tune with the vibe in the room.”
Tolling says the attributes he appreciates most about Burr mirror his thoughts about his own playing as a mature artist.
“After being put together by a friend, what I first loved about John was a tune called ‘For the Asking.’ He had recorded it for Windham Hill (Records). The song is simple, lyrical, pretty. I was attracted to his aesthetic: new age, artistic, with sophisticated harmony and classical dynamics. He played it with me — something he’d never done. That cemented and was foundational to our work together.”
Tolling says divergences in their individual musical backgrounds create moments on stage that he finds in some ways mysterious and magical. Washington’s deep investigation of R&B along with Burr’s skill as a songwriter and knowledge of folk music and its traditions contrast but do not clash with Tolling’s experience writing music for everything from small jazz bands to classical music string trios and quartets to large symphonies. Jazz could be considered the thread weaving their work into a musical quilt, with various genres providing stimulating variety in color, texture, patterns and tone.
Tolling manages to keep a busy tour schedule. He balances being on the road with teaching gigs and offers programs featuring themed shows and his recordings (the most recent, “Cool Yule,” a blend of old and new world music showcasing Scandinavian holiday tunes cherished during his childhood years in Denmark).
“Today, I’m in Iowa, doing a run-out appearance,” he said recently. “Remember what I said about live performances in small venues like PCA? Well, today I played for students in a big room that was slap-back-y in the sound.
“Even though the acoustics were a challenge, it was key for me that I played for young people. I can still remember how impressionable I was when musicians came to my school. It changed my outlook on music forever. When I see young audiences engaging, when social media is always competing for their attention, it’s meaningful. It’s great.”
Tolling says he’s neither Neanderthal nor ninja when it comes to new technologies but finds social media a positive tool. In the self-promotional math of the contemporary music industry, he shares a newsletter with the latest news and updates and is not hesitant to promote tours and engagements on social media platforms, podcasts and in radio, television and print media.
“Each musicians finds what works. My ability to reach the audience and get my material out — it’s enough for now.”
If the Piedmont show is sold out, Tolling says Bay Area audiences can catch him at Oakland’s Sound Room (Feb. 21), SF Conservatory (March 2,) Black Cat in San Francisco (March 5) and other tour stops found online at madstolling.com/tour.
Lou Fancher is a freelance writer. Reach her at lou@johnsonandfancher.com.