A journey through music and visual art – this is what Crossing, the new album by Simon Sammut offers the listener. Actually, rather than just an album, Crossing is more of a project, one that seeks to blend space, form, beauty and colour into one multi-dimensional artistic creation that explores the different types of ‘crossings’ that exist around us – physical, psychological and beyond. Michael Bugeja speaks to Simon Sammut ahead of the official album launch concert that will be held on Friday.

First, a word about your 2011 album Bassic Attitude and what you’ve been up to since?

The objective of Bassic Attitude was to create a chill-out vibe with the album’s smooth jazz style, using the bass guitar as the lead instrument. It showcased elements of technique while retaining melodic development. In the past six years I have been involved in several projects and productions, while on a personal level I’ve been busy trying new techniques and composing new material.

Crossing comes from an altogether different place than Bassic Attitude, as reflected in its fluid texture and inspiration. When did the idea for this project first come to you?

Yes, Crossing is totally different, probably a result of the different approach I’ve been adopting in recent years. Rather than composing new material with a particular style in mind I have been allowing ideas to flourish, building on them along the way. I tend to believe that the basis of articulating musical ideas is mostly instinctive. At times it feels like an active interplay between a conscious and subconscious experience. It was through this process that the tracks for Crossing were conceived.

The new album seeks to bring together music and visual art. What inspired this bridging of artistic forms and how did Anthony Catania become involved?

Anthony is a second cousin of mine I hadn’t seen since we were kids. We met again at my daughter’s wedding last year and I mentioned the idea of a new album. The week after, we met again to discuss the possibility of using one of his paintings for the front cover of the album.

We started discussing some ideas and I was fascinated by his approach towards creating paintings, his unique style and mostly the way he can very intelligently include characters from fairy tales and other stories in his paintings to convey his message. Rather to limiting ourselves to the front cover only, we decided to work on a broader project and merge the music and the paintings together.

What was the process you adopted in the making of Crossing?

After my meetings with Anthony, I started to get the ideas for the concept of the project. In reality, the painting on the front cover of the album formed the basis for its title. If you look closely at the painting you’ll notice the characters on the gondola are Red Riding Hood and the Wolf.

Music and the paintings to­gether add further dimensions to the story being told, enhancing the listener’s experience

There are other references to characters from fairly tales throughout the project. Once we established the main theme and the sub-themes for the 12 tracks on the album, we worked separately in our respective areas, obviously keeping each other informed so as not to lose track of the ultimate goal.

How much more challenging was it writing the music for this album compared to your previous compositions?

In terms of challenge I’d rate them at par, because they had different requirements, but as I said, the writing for Crossing was more instinctive. Originally this was meant to be a solo bass project, but at an early stage I asked my friend Kevin Abela for his comments on a demo I’d been working on. He liked it but recommended I should consider adding other instruments.

At first I was hesitant because at that stage, my mind was set on a solo bass album. However, I couldn’t ignore his suggestion and I kept imagining how the tracks would sound with other instruments. I decided to take it on and face the challenge of reworking the tracks, keeping only one – Daruma Doll – in its original solo bass format. I’m grateful for Kevin’s recommendation as it really opened up possibilities for the album and for me personally as a composer.

Can you elaborate on the concept behind this album, its interpretation and how it impacted the tracks and visual art that Crossing offers?

The musical score and complimentary paintings are based on a common theme of ‘crossing’. Essentially it is about crossing barriers or boundaries whether they are physical or geographical, intellectual or psychological with reference to particular moments in history, a story or cognitive state.

The project touches upon a number of topical subjects, such as migration, mental health, technology, environment and diversity. I believe that the music and the paintings to­gether add further dimensions to the story being told, enhancing the listener’s experience.

What attracted you to the idea of involving several musicians this time, rather than working with just one, as you had done on Bassic Attitude?

On Bassic Attitude I had the pleasure of working with Alexander Kuzmin, a brilliant multi-instrumentalist and fellow bass player, so we could communicate very easily. However, nothing beats the pleasure of working with a band. Obviously the band setup presents its challenges, but the end result outweighs any difficulty.

Each musician on this album brings on board their own flavour, enhancing its eclectic nature. During the recording stage, working with Lito Galea and Melchior Busuttil, I was lucky enough to experience the transformation of the tracks as the different musicians recorded their parts in the respective tracks.

Later this week, you’ll be performing the album live. What can one expect from that concert?

The event will feature a live rendition of the entire album by the band, made up of 12 outstanding musicians. The performance will be accompanied by a display of digi­tal images of at least 36 original paintings made by Anthony Catania specifically for the project, together with other visuals illustrating the themes.

The album has been produced as a digipack that also features a cata­logue of the paintings so that when listening to the CD one can continue to enjoy the Crossing experience as a whole.

The Crossing launch concert will take place on Friday at Robert Samut Hall, Floriana. The CD will be available on the night and from D’Amato records (Valletta), CD Baby or from www.simonsammut.com.

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