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Mann Gulch Suite (1999)
"With noted historian STEPHEN E. AMBROSE reading an epilogue about the 1949 Mann Gulch fire tragedy."
Artists' Statement
-Wilbur Rehmann and Ken Nelson
During the summer of 1998, as a participant in the Artist, Forest, Community program, Wilbur Rehmann researched the events surrounding the Mann Gulch Fire of August 5, 1949 which tragically took the lives of 13 young Forest Service firefighters. Wilbur hiked up and down the gulch with his saxophone, trying to understand the physical terrain, temperature and weather and the various routes the firefighters followed.
While in Mann Gulch he played the beginnings of a melody that eventually became the song "Ridge Top"' and led to the collaboration with Ken Nelson and the creation of the original music in the Mann Gulch Suite. In the spring of 1999, Ken Nelson, Wilbur Rehmann, Kurt Keller and Linda Montgomery hiked from the Missouri River up Mann Gulch to the white cross markers where the firefighters bodies were found. The trip was exhilarating and moving--to once again be in this hallowed place .
The challenge for Wilbur and Ken was to create music that reflected their impressions of the impact of the tragedy without simply being funereal. In fact, the music is in turn lyrical. Sweet, angry, melancholy and wistful. It runs up and down scales, jumps across chord changes and ultimately reflects their emotions and reactions to the tragedy--50 years after the fire blew up and overcame the young firefighters. The process involved Wilbur writing out melody lines and Ken adding chord changes and harmony parts. Together, they created four songs, "Ridgetop," "Going Down the Gulch, " Lester and the Young Men" and "Speak Softly" for this album, all but: Cabin in the sky."
We hope you enjoy the music and find something in it that will help understand the tragic fire and loss of young lives in Mann Gulch, August 5, 1949.
We live in Montana--this immense and beautiful land--and we hope that our awareness of the natural world and its' "wild places" will lead more people to take the time to get out and hike, camp or simply stop and quietly contemplate and enjoy the wilderness. In addition, we hope this music moves you to help protect and preserve our last wild places. If it does, we have succeeded as artists.
--Wilbur Rehmann & Ken Nelson
This recording has been a collaborative effort.
Special thanks to:
School, X-CEL Class of 1998-99
Rick Bourie
Kurt Keller
Mike Conner
The Helena National Forest
The Holter Museum of Art
Artist, Forest, community Program Artists: Kurt Keller, Deborah Mitchel, and members of the Wilbur Rehmann Quartet
Lois Jansson and family
This recording would not have been possible without the generous support of the following organizations and individuals:
Liz Claiborne Art Ortenberg Foundation
Montana State Parks and Wildlife Interpretive Association
Alan and Nancy Nicholson
The Artist, Forest, Community Program
Artist, Forest, Community is a program connecting natural resources, cultural resources and communities. Established in 1996 and administered through a partnership between the Helena National Forest and the Holter Museum of Art, the program fosters connections between people of different backgrounds and the program fosters connections between people of different backgrounds and the program fosters connections between people of different backgrounds and interests. Artists in the program spend a week in a rustic remote forest cabin, offering opportunity for solitude, reflection and work, as well as experiencing the subtle grandeur and delicate beauty of the forest itself. A public extension each residency - workshops, performances, exhibits and other experiences help artists communicate the values, processes, features and resources encountered in the program.

Back Home Jazz (1996)
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Wilbur Rehmann Quartet
2018
Feb. 9 - Butte Big Band at Anaconda Elks Club7-11p
Feb. 16 - Benny’s Bistro, Helena Duo with Fred Cobb, piano 6:30-8:30p
March 9 - Staggering Ox, Helena. Quartet
March 24 - Carroll College Sr. Banquet Quartet, 5:30-7:30p
April 3 - Fairgrounds, Empty Bowls for Friendship Center, Quartet, 5:00-8:00p
April 26 - Colonial Inn, Headstart Fundraiser, Trio 5:00-7:00p
July 10 - Great Falls Library Concert, Quartet, 6:00-8:00p
Aug. 2 - Backpackers Ball, Glacier Park Conservancy, Quartet, 6:00-10:00p
August 12. - St Timothy’s Chapel, Georgetown Lake, Quartet
August 5 - Moose Creek Cabin, Discovry Foundation, 6:00-8:00p, Quartet
August 25 - Auberge de Perchades, Pyrenees, France, Quartet
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For Booking Information e-mail: wilbur@montanajazz.com
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