In 2009, Lyle was invited by his longtime friend Nancy Zeltsman to present a headlining concert at her annual Zeltsman Marimba Festival in Appleton, WI.
Forever an expert of utilizing his resources and making the most of any situation, Lyle decided to invite a handful of the exceptional marimba and vibraphone players that would be attending the festival, as well as his niece (me) who would be in the area visiting family for the summer, to perform with him. None of the music Lyle played on the 2-hour concert had previously featured marimba or vibes, but after some careful study of both instruments, he set out to arrange his music to include two of each, as well as drums, percussion, acoustic and electric bass, two singers, and of course his signature grand piano and multiple keyboard/synthesizer setup.
As if arranging his music for this new instrumentation wasn’t enough, Lyle also took it upon himself to write a new piece for the ensemble to premiere at the festival; “Eberhard”. I remember Lyle’s excitement as his composing of “Eberhard” took shape during the months preceding the festival. What was initially intended to be a composition of “normal” length, quickly grew into something much bigger; something that needed time and space to develop and evolve, ultimately over the course of thirteen minutes of mostly composed material. Lyle was known for his intricate, detailed demos; his almost superhuman ability to program drum parts that would put many professional drummers to shame, and to imbue every instrumental and vocal part with dynamic shape and organic inflection.
Because I had never performed with Lyle before, I had never been privy to these demos and to hear one for the first time, complete with a part for me to sing, was thrilling. All of the players diligently prepared their parts, and when we finally rehearsed “Eberhard” for the first time, the result was quite magical. That’s the thing about excellent demos: when you hire the right people, and then show them exactly what you want your music to sound like, it’s going to sound pretty great almost right away.
Of course we spent many hours rehearsing—Lyle is an extremely kind bandleader, but his standards are out of this world, so we put in several eight hour work days prior to the concert. I’ve never enjoyed a rehearsal more in my life! Upon hearing “Eberhard” for the first time, the audience responded with a minutes-long standing ovation, in the middle of the concert, no less. It was an incredible experience to learn first-hand the kind of time and care that goes into creating something of that quality, and of course very moving to perform with my uncle for the first time.
The 2009 and 2019 versions of “Eberhard” are not terribly disparate; for one they are both exactly the same length and both based on the same original demo. The main difference would be that Lyle added parts for a cello quartet, bass clarinet, clarinet, flute, alto flute, an extra female singer, organ, rhodes, and percussion, which really fill out the ensemble for the 2019 version. New layers of Lyle’s signature synth were added as well. 2009’s performance featured Lyle in the solo section, whereas 2019’s features Bob Sheppard’s tenor sax. Finally, there are many differences in articulation, likely a result of different players playing many of the parts, and of the piece being lived in a lot more.
ABOUT THE VOCAL PARTS (and recording) …
The process of working out the vocal parts for “Eberhard” began before Lyle’s concert at the Zeltsman Marimba Festival. The only other singer on the gig, Brian Calhoon, was a former marimba/vibraphone student of Nancy’s and hadn’t done a lot of “wordless vocal” style singing, so Lyle put me in charge of figuring out what syllables to use and of rehearsing with Brian. Because I have listened to the PMG since birth, Lyle didn’t really need to give any instruction as to what he wanted the vocal part to sound like—I just did what I felt was right, and he was happy.
For the recording session, we kind of did it the same way with me choosing syllables and defining the sound to a degree, though Rosana Eckert and Gary Eckert are seasoned studio singers and have sung on jazz projects which require a similar kind of sound (Rosana was the featured singer on a concert Lyle did at the University of North Texas, where she teaches, back in 2010). We (Rosana, Gary, and I) did have one rehearsal with Lyle a day or two before the session during which he gave us input on sound, blend, dynamics, feel, and articulation.
The recording session itself was very rewarding and intense, but also brought some fun surprises—in addition to our wordless singing, Lyle had us whispering, breathing into the microphone, doing light vocal percussion, and even recorded several takes of us performing a variety of “jungle animal” noises, most of which I didn’t think would make it into the final cut, but actually did!
Lyle knew exactly how to bring out the best in people, how to write and produce to their strengths, and how to push them to be their highest creative selves. The several days I spent rehearsing, performing, and recording with Lyle were unforgettable experiences that I will treasure always. I’ve never been held to a higher standard in my life, and that was the best gift he could have given me.
- AUBREY JOHNSON (AUGUST 2021)
Photo credit: Claudia Hansen