American Cinematographer - March 1985 - 44

self-styled "contemporary

arts

troubleshooter", whose previous
work includes The Way of How
with George Coates and projects
with Conlan Nancarrow.
As a first step,

Soltes
official invitation from
the Soviet government. After
much persistence, she was granted
an interview at the Soviet embassy
in Washington. Although officials
there were initially unreceptive,
they eventually proposed that if
sought

Matingly
George

Bob Shumaker with

half-inch four-track in post-pro¬

his

duction, using the Nagra's crystal

Nagra.

reference

to ensure speed
SMPTE time code

curacy.

ac¬

of the

recorded
451

CK8

program was
using an AKG

by Mayer
EB condenser mike with

a

hyper-cardioid capsule, and

Tram lavaliers.
For post-production

work on the documentary, KQED
donated 50 hours of studio time
for on-line computer editing, in re¬
turn for local broadcast. Says

Mayer, "KQED really made the
project possible. No one knew
what the final product would be,
so

it took

to

make it

a

lot of faith all around

happen. They also

December

ROVA member

ceived

a

1981,

Larry Ochs

re¬

letter from Alexander

Kan, president of the Contempo¬
rary

Music Club of Leningrad. In

the letter, Kan congratulated
ROVA on being "very influential
in the development of a new wave
of Soviet jazz" and went on to
make a most intriguing proposal.
"Thousands of your fans," he

"would be happy to see
and hear you perform live in our
country." Unfortunately, the real¬
ization of this dream seemed, at
first, to be beyond the realm of
possibility, for Kan pointed out
wrote,

that "our club is a non-profit orga¬
nization and therefore unfortu¬

gave

nately has

tour

return

Boston.

opportunity to
and pay your
fees for coming and playing here."
Although the prospect of
paying their own way to travel to
do a free concert is not usually at¬
tractive to any musical group,
Ochs felt that the opportunity to
play a part in bridging the gap be¬
tween East and West during a time

ROVA's music has been
described as "ideal brain food for
intellectual jazz listeners who love

of extreme world tension made
this project a special case. A con¬
versation with BBC jazz DJ, Leo

grant up front before
for stock purchase."
us a

the

Saxophone Diplomacy
has been submitted

to

PBS for

possible national broadcast, and
agreement for international dis¬
tribution has been signed with

an

Producers Services

Group in

puzzle over microstructures and
counterpointed fields of im¬
provised sound." But the seem¬
ingly cacaphonous array of honks
and squeals is generated from a
reservoir of intense energy and
often employs delightful melodic
phrases which can move the lis¬
tener physically as well as intellec¬
tually. The music is challenging
stuff and is possibly intimidating
to

42

In

was

added and the audio was then
matched to the guide tracks re¬
corded on the videotape.
Sound for the documen¬
tary segments

the

conventionally attuned ear;
a paradoxical tapestry of tangled
and yet precisely woven threads.
to

American

Cinematographer

no

your expenses

Feigen, confirmed that ROVA's
was well known and highly
respected among the avant garde
in the USSR. He felt that a tour by
ROVA would, in fact, be an
important event for Russian au¬
diences and a rewarding exerience

music

for the American musicians.
To

help finding
this
tour, Ochs turned to Eva Soltes, a
Bay Area freelance producer and a

sources

March 1985

get

of money to support

an

ROVA traveled to the USSR as
musicians on tourist visas
the Soviet youth oriented travel
service Sputnik would arrange in¬
formal concerts in which ROVA
would share the program with lo¬
cal jazz musicians.
ROVA has toured exten¬

amateur

sively outside the U.S., including a
tour of Hungary. Nevertheless,
they approached the Russian tour
with some trepidation. As Larry
Ochs says, "We really had no idea
before we got there what the cir¬
would be what kind
of places we'd perform in, or who
we'd be playing to. We looked
forward to appreciative audiences,
but we certainly didn't expect the
kind of reception we actually
received."
Of all the scenes recorded
in the documentary, it is undoubt¬
cumstances

-

edly those surrounding ROVA's
concert in Leningrad which most
fully capture the intensity of this
reception. ROVA's originally
scheduled performance was inex¬
plicably cancelled at the last min¬
ute; an action which Rogers later
attributed, for lack of any clearer
explanation, to a growing unease
on the part of the authorities with
the burgeoning local arts scene
and a desire to discourage large,
visible gatherings.
Within hours the concert
moved to another, smaller
venue in the Dostoevsky Museum.
was

However, the growing feelings of
mystification and paranoia were
increased when shortly before the
band left their hotel, Eva Soltes re¬
ceived a telephone call from a rep¬
resentative of Friendship Ambas¬
sadors. She was warned that under
no circumstances should the video
American Cinematographer - March 1985

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