Tahsili Consort
The Consort Members
Bruce Heldt Piano, Percussion Bruce studied piano in Chicago with Adaska, who taught him an appreciation for the Great American Songbook and the art of arranging. After taking a few years off to focus on the distractions of high school and winning a math and science award from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Bruce was lured back to the piano by jazz improvisation. His early influences were Keith Jarrett, Chick Corea, Thelonius Monk , and Paul Bley. He began by performing on college campuses from Illinois, where he grew up, to Oregon, where he currently resides. In the 1980’s he briefly turned to composing chamber music, most notably a fanfare that was performed by the Oregon Mozart Players during their tenth anniversary celebration. His most recent solo performances were at the Hult Center lobby during the 2006 Oregon Bach Festival and at The Shedd Recital Hall to help kick off a capital campaign and to raise funds to pay for their Steinways. In 2009 he returned to composing with a series of brief Sketches for piano.
E.B. “Red” Lucht Vibes, Percussion Red went to the University of Chicago to study physics, but ended up discovering John Coltrane, The Art Ensemble of Chicago, and improvisation instead. In 1980 he was accepted into the U of O School of Music, but dropped out before taking his first class to spend a year apprenticing in an Oregon vineyard to investigate the potential for getting in on the ground floor of the Pinot Noir boom in Oregon. Related by marriage to Chicago violinist “Wild Bill” Lucht, Red’s influences include Bobby Hutcherson and Gary Burton. Red’s nickname is due to his weakness for Oregon Pinot Noir, in support of which he performed at Sokol Blosser Vineyards, long before their outdoor concerts became the in-thing to do. More recently, he was the initial performer in a short lived concert series at Cherry Hill Winery. Red’s most recent tour abroad ended with a performance at the Café Ile de France before a more than capacity crowd that overflowed onto Carnival Boulevard as far as the ear could hear.
Butch Elder Guitar Butch’s early influences were Jimi Jendrix and Eric Clapton. Later Ralph Towner, Joe Pass, and eventually Abercrombie and Bill Frisell, were added. He honed his chops at the Pearl Street Station in Eugene, where live jazz was presented seven days a week and the likes of Dizzy Gillespie, Dave Brubeck and Charles Mingus played. He also apprenticed for a year at an Oregon vineyard and even today enjoys a glass of Oregon Pinot Noir now and then. Butch has a law degree, but never practiced law. He doesn’t have a music degree, but that doesn’t stop him from practicing his music whenever he can.
L.C. Threebud Bass, Cello L.C. started out playing, both solo and in a duo with Sufi guitarist Baruch L'Chaim, at some of Eugene’s funkiest venues: Momma’s Homefried Truckstop, the WOW Hall, and an ice cream parlor that featured live jazz and folk music. He then spent some time touring Canada and Alaska, highlighted by regular gigs at the Stratosphere Lounge and the Celebrity Theatre in B.C. There is a rumor that his introspective style of playing owes more than a little bit to his degree in psychology, but he claims it’s just the influence of Charlie Hayden and Dave Holland.
Delbert Chu Drums Del discovered his love for the drums by sitting in for the drummer in his fraternity rock band. He played electric organ at the time, but sometimes after practice band members would switch instruments and jam. His influences include Jack DeJohnette, Tony Williams and Ginger Baker, but it’s probably Paul Motian who is most apparent in his playing with the Tahsili Consort. Del once played a solo gig at Biederbecke’s Jazz Club in Eugene. Del studied English in college and still occasionally writes short stories and bad poetry. Someday he hopes to pen some clever, witty, irreverent and highly intelligent lyrics that Bruce can write the music for.
Some say that Tahsili Consort was able to play so freely together because its members had known each other for so long. Others suggest our common fondness for the music of Anna Graham. My theory is that it was a result of the highly unlikely coincidence that we all shared in: the letters in our names are identical except for their order. --- Bruce Heldt
Tahsili Consort in Quotes
I like the Tahsili Consort songs that I can hum along with, as well as the ones that have a good beat. --- D. Clark
Their musical telepathy and uninhibited polyphony remind me of the joy of improvising with my least musical son, C.P.A. Bach. --- J.S. Bach
I loved the times they used my rhymes for playful inspiration. They played with a wit appropriate to a child’s imagination. --- M. Goose
Journals & Journeys is a hip On the Road musical trip. --- J. Kerouac
Tahsili Consort plays free verse tone poems. --- R. Strauss
They aren’t Mozart . . . but then who is? --- A. Salieri
Amerei comporre un concerto grosso particolarmente peri musicisti del Tahsili Consort. --- A. Vivaldi
Less is more . . . that may be what I like best about Tahsili Consort's music. --- M. van der Rohe
The Music of Tahsili Consort
Tahsili Consort acknowledges several key influences on the development of their music. One was the melodic rhythmic free jazz improvisation of the Ornette Coleman group, as documented on The Shape of Jazz to Come and Change of the Century in 1959. Another was the entire body of work by Keith Jarrett’s American quartet from the seventies, featuring two Coleman alumni. The influence of these groups was mostly in the spirit of their improvisations.
Equal in importance to these influences were the many different Miles Davis groups, but especially those with John Coltrane, his classic sixties quintet, and the early seventies groups. But it was probably Miles' continual exploration of different ways to present his always uniquely identifiable sound that was the biggest influence.
The group Oregon inspired many of the world music sounds and rhythms that can be heard from time to time in Tahsili Consort’s music. More recently, the wide range of musical projects attempted by Dave Douglas encouraged Tahsili Consort’s willingness to experiment simultaneously in a variety of configurations with a variety of styles.
Interestingly, the solo piano concerts of Keith Jarrett are also a major influence on the group. His practice of starting with a completely blank slate and creating an extended musical experience out of nothing opened up the group to their own methods of improvising.
None of the music performed by Tahsili Consort was written down, either before or after being performed. Instead, a member of the group would suggest a motif, a rhythmic pattern, or some abstract musical concept to explore, usually by playing it on his instrument. If it was interesting to the others, they would join in. If it wasn’t, it became a solo piece.