Pianist-Composer Josh Nelson Explores the Mysterious Red Planet
On Exploring Mars


As a follow-up to 2011’s Discoveries, which was inspired by the science fiction writings of Jules Verne and H.G. Welles and combined 'steampunk imagery' with new original music, pianist-composer Josh Nelson returns with another strong concept album in Exploring Mars, his musical meditation on the mysterious red planet and sixth recording as a leader. Inspired jointly by the four robotic rovers exploring the surface of Mars and Ray Bradbury’s visionary science fiction short story collection from 1950, “The Martian Chronicles,” Nelson’s latest seamlessly blends a sense of whimsy and wonder about what’s ‘out there’ with pieces ranging from thoughtful introspection to surging fusion bristling with frantic unisons to a faithful solo piano reading of the classical piece “Mars, The Bringer of War” from Gustav Holst’s The Planets. Returning from Discoveries to accompany Nelson on his musical journey to Mars are guitarist Larry Koonse, bassist Dave Robaire and drummer Dan Schnelle. On this adventurous outing they are joined by trumpeter John Daversa, trombonist Alan Ferber, bass clarinetist Brian Walsh, and vocalist Kathleen Grace.

“People have been thinking about Mars for quite a while now,” says composer Nelson of his latest project. “Discoveries was an opportunity for me to take some thematic, literary, science ideas and run with them. Exploring Mars continues in that vein.”

The seed for this thoughtful project began with the landing of the Curiosity rover on the surface of Mars in August of 2012. “I knew then that I wanted to write something about it and eventually I decided that I wanted to write pieces for each of the four rovers,” Nelson explains. “So I studied each rover and its life span and its tools on board, and tried to reflect that musically as best I could, with kind of a different instrumentation featuring John Daversa playing on EVI on a lot of it. Kathleen Grace and I co-wrote a song together and it just kept growing.”

The collection opens with the buoyant waltz-time ditty tune “Spirit,” which features Nelson reading from the pages of Bradbury’s “The Martian Chronicles” (specifically a section of one of the short stories depicting a Martian jam session). Guitarist Koonse plays contrapuntally against the flow of Nelson’s piano comping and Robaire’s bass groove on the first rover piece, “Sojourner,” which contains some rhapsodic piano work by the composer and also includes some lyrical guitar work by Koonse. The stirring ballad “How You Loved Me on Mars’ features Grace on a dreamy and romantic ode to love on the Red Planet. She sings: "How you wrapped your arms around me, in the red light of day". The always-creative Larry Goldings provides lush and evocative organ accompaniment.

The rhythmically-charged “Opportunity,” paced by the impossible unisons between Koonse and Nelson, is an edgy Latin-fusion offering that showcases Nelson wailing with abandon on both piano and the otherwordly Nord electric keyboard in a kind of Martian son montuno. “I played Rhodes and Nord on other people’s records,” Nelson said, “but always in a supportive role, just as a backdrop to a melody or thickening up a texture, where you feel it more than hear it. So it was different for me to unleash the Nord a little bit on my own album.”

Nelson’s interpretation of “Mars, The Bringer of War” is an excursion into overdubbing that involved several piano voices layered into one imposing refrain. “I took the score of that original movement and condensed it into a piano arrangement, sort of like a Bill Evans Conversations with Myself approach to overdubbing,” he explains. Regarding his own personal history with Holst’s most famous classical piece, Nelson says, “My grandfather and dad were both huge classical fans and took me to a lot of L.A. Philharmonic shows in Los Angeles at the Hollywood Bowl. So I have a distinct memory of seeing The Planets performed when I was five years old. As an adult I’ve collected many recordings of The Planets, which is an extremely popular piece even among non-classical people. And I still love it. I think it’s a brilliant piece of work. And of course, the Mars movement is such a huge statement as a first movement. So it seemed obvious to record it and put something on the album that wasn’t mine, but have my own spin on it.”

Adventurous EVI (Electronic Valve Instrument) playing by trumpeter Daversa is a highlight of “Curiosity,” an ode to the Martian rover that inspired this whole project album. The collection Exploring Mars closes on a buoyant note with Nelson’s reprise (sans spoken word text) of “Spirit.” As the composer notes, “I checked out the history and specs of Spirit and learned that it was one of the rovers that was operational for 6 long years, and succumbed to the harsh Martian conditions in 2010. So In writing this piece, I had had a mental image of this lumbering rover slowly running out of power on the planet. But it trudged on even though it's rear right wheel was inoperable for the last portion of its mission. So that’s why I wrote it in 5/4 time, thought it feels more like a 3/4 waltz when you listen to it. Its spirit is still going, but there’s something a little off about it. Also, the word ‘spirit’ spoke to me in the way of Ray Bradbury’s spirit -- as an author, as a literary force, as a visionary. So this title carries a double meaning.”

Nelson is currently developing a visual component for this music, which he plans to play in upcoming concerts. “A lot of it uses NASA footage, which includes some amazing color and composite images that the rovers have sent back to Earth. The visuals work really well with the visuals.”

Prepare to be transported to the fourth stone from the sun when you investigate Nelson’s Exploring Mars.