David Jackman – Herbstsonne

“It is very easy to misunderstand David Jackman. Well, also to understand him, really. I don’t ‘get’ pretty much anything of his work, and yet I love it very much. Ever since picking up the first Organum record (‘In Extremis’) I liked his music and later on, I found there is sometimes a release by Organum and sometimes as David Jackman. The latter seemed to be reserved for more conceptual leanings, such as records filled with machine gun fire. It was all about war, it seemed. As Organum he played some beautiful drone music, made with string instruments, electronics, piano and such like. The confusion comes in with a release like ‘Herbstsonne’ (‘Autumn Sun’), which sound very much like the work of Organum. Perhaps the whole difference between Organum and David Jackman boils down to the fact that the first may be a band and the second is really a solo work? I have no idea, really. ‘Herbstsonne’ is one long piece and sounds very spooky. The tanpura drones are in the background, along with, I assume, the organ, and on top, there is the regular bang on the piano and bells. Five times these bangs are louder, like a small cluster of bells and piano tones; the drones continue throughout. It sounds like a funeral march, slow and solemn, a slow march towards the grave, and as such it fits the requiem themed releases of the last years (‘Amen’, ‘Sorow’, ‘Omega’, ‘Sanctus’ and ‘Raven’; all actually under the banner of Organum) and ‘Herbstsonne’ is no different. Before I already talked about Jackman’s advancing age and all of this is perhaps to be seen as a very long farewell soundtrack. That is also one of the big mysteries in the work of David Jackman. I can imagine people going ‘oh it’s the bloody same thing over and over again’, but I like the sheer consistency of it all. It is the same and yet it is also very much different. This is another piece of very sad music and I love it.” (Frans de Waard)