Preston Frazier discusses the new album ‘Precarious Towers’ with Johannes Wallmann, who we last spoke with about 2018’s terrific ‘Love Wins’:
PRESTON FRAZIER: I love the title, because it seems so relevant to the present day. When did you start writing the album?
JOHANNES WALLMANN: In 2019. I had the idea of this band, it’s sort of an all-star band of players from Chicago and Milwaukee. These are all people I’ve worked with to some extent. John Christensen on bass and Devin Drobka on drums have been playing together since I moved to Madison over 10 years ago. Then, a couple of years ago, I discovered the fantastic drummer Mitch Shiner, who is also a great vibraphonist. I also have a chance to play with Sharel [Cassity on saxophone], but never before in this configuration. I thought it would be great to have this group of people together on stage. In 2019, I pitched the band’s idea and new music for the band to perform at an event for local composers for Madison and central Wisconsin. They accepted the idea, and I started writing. Then the pandemic hit, and the event’s future became unclear. I kept writing, so most of the music for the album was written during the pandemic, but the band’s concept started before it.
PRESTON FRAZIER: Where was the album recorded?
JOHANNES WALLMANN: It was recorded in Madison, Wis., in February 2021. That was pre-vaccine, but we had protocols in place to make music. The premiere concert of the compositions took place in October 2021. We performed on a concert stage in a hall that could accommodate a symphony. It was just the five of us onstage and 11,000 empty seats. I’d gained some knowledge on how to record with the band from my experience with my students. We were able to isolate air and sound to make it safe for us. Of course, the saxophone required extra care. The album was recorded live in the studio, yet we were isolated from each other. We had two full days of recording. It almost seems rather luxurious compared to some old jazz albums. In the Blue Note days, they took two days to record. On Precarious Towers, almost everything was recorded on the first day. On the second day, we revisited a few things that we thought might need a second shot, yet almost everything we used came from the first day.
PRESTON FRAZIER: When did you flesh out the arrangements?
JOHANNES WALLMANN: The October concert allowed us to rehearse, plus we had a brief rehearsal before the actual recording dates. There was some preproduction. It wasn’t the ideal situation, because the preference was to take the band on the road and road test the songs. Of course, in jazz, you usually tour to promote an album. The music develops the more you play on stage. We have a few dates scheduled this summer in the area to play live. I’m very excited.
PRESTON FRAZIER: Let’s discuss a few of the songs on the album. “Angel Eyes” is the only non-original composition.
JOHANNES WALLMANN: I’ve been playing that since I was 15 years old. The song keeps evolving. I came up with an arrangement that put a personal, unique stamp that connected with me. I brought it into rehearsal and test drove it. We started to play it, and it wasn’t the key I thought Sharel connected to. Every piece lives in a particular range. The key I had was a better fit for a tenor sax, so I tried a different key and found one that worked, then discovered that it didn’t work in other sections of the song. Finally, I decided to play it with both keys! It’s usually done in C minor. We started in A minor and end in C minor. It touched on influences from Billy Strayhorn and [John] Coltrane harmonically and melodically, as well. Hopefully, with something like a key, it’s something people won’t notice. If they do, then maybe it’s not really working.
PRESTON FRAZIER: Tell me about the song “December.”
JOHANNES WALLMANN: The title reflects when I wrote it, in December. It was intended to be just a working title. I wanted to write just a pretty song. With this band, I wanted the chemistry to speak and have people connect to the songs. It’s almost a pop song, in some ways. I’ve never been one to play Radiohead covers, but I wanted a piece to stand next to that sort of thing.
PRESTON FRAZIER: How about “Never Pet a Burning Dog”?
JOHANNES WALLMANN: That’s the oldest of the bunch. I wrote it about five years ago, then I got stuck with it. Many compositions feature elements when you write one part; then, you write a contrasting section to it. There’s an A section, then it’s repeated with new lyrics, then a harmonically contrasting bridge section before returning to the A section. It’s a classic formula. With this song, I wrote the first part and tried to write a contrasting section. It took five years; then I thought, “Screw it. I’m not going to write a contrasting section.” For five years, it sat on my piano, and then I realized it didn’t need it. Great players like this band can make magic out of pieces like this.
PRESTON FRAZIER: Tell me about the “Saturday Night Meat Raffle.”
JOHANNES WALLMANN: This is one of the first songs I wrote during the pandemic. I teach jazz ensemble at the University Of Wisconsin. We shut down and had to teach remotely. That’s a unique challenge for a jazz ensemble! We tried small groups with multiple panels online playing. It was a challenge for the students too, but we wanted to make it a special experience for the students. I wrote pieces for small-group pairings, three or four, to give them an experience. One group was the rhythm section, piano, bass, drums, and vibes. As I was writing that, it inspired me for this project. The drummer on the project, who was my freshman college roommate, was a big Frank Zappa fan, and one thing I recall was how Zappa wrote for percussion and drummers. He wrote super complex parts, which on paper were intimidating but, when performed, seemed totally appropriate.
I was trying to write vibraphone parts in a similar vein. When my students started playing, it turned out to be very complicated. Mitch Shiner, in my band, started shedding the song and he said, “This is some hard stuff,” but he said he could do it. I then tried to learn it on the piano for the melody, and Sharel tried it on saxophone. It turns out it’s hard on sax too! Hopefully, it doesn’t sound difficult, just quirky. The intent was to create opportunities for social interaction and allow people to make music together. It also refers to the Wisconsin tradition of a meat raffle, where you go to a bar and there’s a pile of frozen steak and meat. You buy a ticket to win meat! The title also has other connotations.
PRESTON FRAZIER: Is there anything else you’d like to add?
JOHANNES WALLMANN: “McCoy” is a tribute to the great McCoy Tyner, who is one of my biggest inspirations. Now that I’m middle age, I’m comfortable acknowledging influences, and this is my tribute to McCoy, a man who’s playing I love. The first song on the album, the title track “Precarious Towers,” is a playful title, not ominous as it may seem. It relates to playing with my daughter when she was three, and as the blocks grew taller, they became unstable. She loves language and would say, “Papa, let’s build precarious towers.” She would take great joy in watching them collapse! It’s a joyful song reflecting the inspiration. So, I’ve named the band Johannes Wallman and the Precarious Towers.
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