Month of May , 2007

My cup runneth over

Apologies to those Soundslope readers who don't live in Chicago and don't derive a voyeuristic, vicarious pleasure of knowing what's going on musically here in the Windy City.

There are some great gigs going on this month that I thought folks should know about.

First off, the Velvet Lounge will be a veritable beehive of activity in June.

This weekend, Friday and Saturday, the Rob Brown Trio, with William Parker and Gerald Cleaver will be gracing the stage of the Velvet. I'll be there for at least one night and will definitely report back.

On Friday and Saturday of next week, Nicole Mitchell's Black Earth Ensemble will be at the Velvet doing a two night stand that will also be recorded by Delmark for future CD and DVD release.

Wednesday, June 13th, the Velvet will be hosting a record release party for Fred Anderson and Hamid Drake's new disc, From the River to the Ocean, featuring album-mates Harrison Bankhead, Josh Abrams, and Jeff Parker. They're also playing a 7-9 PM special show at Stop Smiling, 1371 N Milwaukee the night before, June 12th.

On June 15th, Dee Alexander will do a tribute to Light Henry Huff, a free show at the Columbus Park Refectory, 5701 W Jackson, at 7:30 PM. For those who aren't familiar, Light was an AACM reedist and spiritual healer who touched a lot of lives in Chicago but left us far too soon. He's featured on the early Ethnic Heritage Ensemble album on the Moers label.

On June 22nd and 23rd, the Ari Brown Quartet will be at the Green Mill, and will also be recording a live CD and DVD for Delmark. On the second night they will be joined by Mr. Pete Cosey on guitar, a performance I am anxiously anticipating.

Which brings me to the Great Black Music Ensemble. They'll be playing three shows in June and two of them are particularly noteworthy.

They're playing two Sunday hits at the Velvet, on the 3rd and 10th. On the 10th they'll be joined by special guest Fred Anderson, who will be making a return to performing after an extended hiatus.

Then, on June 30th, they'll play a Saturday night at the Velvet, and they will be conducted by none other than Mr. Roscoe Mitchell.

They will be playing Roscoe's charts, and he will conduct - I don't think he's going to play, but you can't be sure. They're going to do two sets and turn the room over in between, so everyone who wants to see this once in a lifetime show will be able to get into the Velvet. Roscoe Mitchell conducting a premiere avant-big band, playing Roscoe's charts. If nothing else, it should be interesting.

And then there's everything else. The free, outdoor MCA Tuesdays on the Terrace begin and The Hideout continues it's great Wednesday night series, to name just a couple others.

This list is far from comprehensive, and it displays my biases for all to see (which are not only musical, but also geographical in terms of where I live, which happens to be a stone's throw from the Velvet). These are all shows I'm planning on attending, if all goes well.

More on the '90s soon....

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Craig Taborn Trio, Live at the Velvet Lounge, 5/26/2007

Last night I had the pleasure of seeing the Craig Taborn Trio at the Velvet Lounge. This was the second night of a two night run at the venue, and only the third performance by this particular lineup as far as I know, the first one occurring as part of the first annual Umbrella Music festival that happened last fall.

The lineup consisted of Craig Taborn on piano (a beautiful baby grand, a rare sight at the Velvet - I'm told Mike Reed was responsible for this - nice touch, Mike), Josh Abrams on bass, Mike Reed on drums, and for the second set only last night, a special and unexpected treat of Nicole Mitchell on flute.

As far as I could tell, insofar as there was no sheet music on stage or tunes called, the music was entirely improvised. If they were playing Mr. Taborn's music, I wouldn't have known anyway since I am unfortunately unfamiliar with his own work as a leader. I only know of his playing through his work with Roscoe Mitchell. Maybe someone could help me remedy that situation by recommending a recording of his.

When three patently patient musicians such as these three convene, the music can sometimes take a while to pick up, and I would say that was the case last night. The first set came to a nice simmer about halfway through, and I was consistently impressed by the sensitive use of dynamics by the group. They had no problem improvising at the level of a whisper or a roar, and their interplay displayed an ethic of close listening. Particularly, I found it compelling the extent to which each of the individual members felt comfortable leading, following, reacting, or acting entirely individually, which led to a wide array of improvisations.

Craig Taborn is a fantastic pianist who covers a lot of ground in the course of one concert. His technique is obviously superb and he references myriad genres and stylistic flourishes with a sense of nonchalance. He found two great partners in his musical endeavor in Josh Abrams, one of my favorite, dare I say up and coming, bassists in Chicago. I don't know if he should be up and coming because in my mind he's already arrived, performing with the likes of Fred Anderson , Nicole Mitchell, Jeff Parker, and many others, in addition to his diverse musical practices with Prefuse 73 and Town & Country. Mike Reed is a member of the aforementioned Umbrella Music group, a tireless advocate and organizer in addition to his excellent drumming and musicianship.

The second set saw the band expand to a quartet with the addition of the definitely-arrived Nicole Mitchell. It was great to see Nicole thrown into the mix here. Her rapport with Craig Taborn was instant, and I would love to see them perform as a duo. Their ideas seemed to meld and compliment immediately, as they took turns leading, following, and generally participating in the music being made.

Nicole's integration of her voice into her flute playing is unparalleled in my listening experiences in this music. She will be singing at one moment and then bring her flute to her mouth and pick up right where the flute playing led off. Sometimes the singing comes almost to a yell (with an excellent sense of pitch, might I add) that brings a sense of catharsis to the proceedings. Who here hasn't wanted to scream out on occasion when listening to some stirring improvisations?

This quartet created some downright otherworldly sounds, and utilized a sense of juxtaposition and contrast throughout the set. At one point, Josh Abrams and Mike Reed held down a minimal groove while Ms. Mitchell and Mr. Taborn spiraled over the top. It was truly sublime music. If the first set simmered, the second set certainly boiled over.

The proceedings were being recorded, I assume for commercial release. I hope that does indeed happen so I can hear what else this group did the night before, and relive some of the thrilling music made last night.

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Strictly links

Tatsu Aoki's upcoming performance in Chicago is previewed.

Muhal Richard Abrams is profiled. He will be performing with Roscoe Mitchell and George Lewis, the Streaming Trio, as part of this year's Edgefest in Ann Arbor, MI, which also includes shows by Vijay Iyer and Rudresh Mahanthappa, as well as BassDrumBone with Gerry Hemingway, Mark Helias and Ray Anderson. I might have to make the drive for that one.

Roscoe recently played a show at UMass and it was reviewed.

Henry Grimes was interviewed after his show with Cecil Taylor and Andy Bey.

"Jazzmen" want to save internet radio.

Others want to save jazz.

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Links

Two more from Chicago

Continuing on through my '90s list, I'm going to talk about the other two albums that hail from Chicago, 8 Bold Souls - Sideshow, and Douglas Ewart and Inventions Clarinet Choir - Angles of Entrance.

The 8 Bold Souls is:

Ed Wilkerson Jr - tenor, alto and bass saxophones, clarinet and alto clarinet
Mwata Bowden - clarinet, baritone, and tenor
Robert Griffin - trumpet and flugelhorn
Isaiah Jackson - trombone
Aaron Dodd - tuba
Naomi Millender - Cello
Harrison Bankhead - bass
Dushun Mosley - drums and percussion

Let's talk about timbre for a second. Baritone and bass saxophone, trombone, tuba, cello, bass....yep, this is definitely a low-end heavy lineup. Mingus had a penchant for the lower end of the register. When I think of groups that dealt with the deep sounds, the rock band Morphine always comes to mind, with the slide bass, baritone sax, and rumbling vocals. I've heard it described as low rock. This is low jazz.

This is my favorite recording from this group. It opens with the 17 minute Black Herman, named after the most prominent early African American magician in the United States. It starts off quiet and meditative, with a steady pulse and fascinating writing, highlighting Mr. Wilkerson's impeccable taste in orchestration and composition. Like other tracks on the album, in turns into a deep swinging piece with great solos and fantastic backgrounds that really frame the whole affair in a meaningful manner. The songs that Ed Wilkerson writes have topography, taking advantage of the full range of tones, dynamics and sound combinations.

This album also has my favorite cover of Ornette Coleman's Lonely Woman, arranged for the octet, and turning into a 17 minute jam session. It opens with a statement of the main theme on the cello, solo, a beautiful interpretation that is soon joined by the bass, leading to some fantastic arco interplay. The arrangement of the melody for the whole band is absolutely stunning, and spirals upwards both density and dynamics before leading seamlessly into the solos.

As a whole, Sideshow features some absolutely fantastic writing from Mr. Wilkerson and equally as inspired playing from the band. I love the possibilities with the octet and the 8 Bold Souls take advantage of the full range.

The second album hailing from the windy city I'm going to discuss is Douglas Ewart and Inventions Clarinet Choir - Angles of Entrance. I always thought of the title as conceptually akin to Point of Departure. We all have to start somewhere. I must admit, this was one of two albums I suspected might not show up on any other lists, because it was released on Mr. Ewart's own small label Arawak and didn't enjoy wide distribution. I was pleasantly surprised to see Peter Breslin included it on his list.

Lester Bowie had his Brass Fantasy. Anthony Braxton had his tuba orchestra. Douglas Ewart has his clarinet choir. Maybe it's something in the water here in Chicago.

The incredible lineup is:

Douglas Ewart, Mwata Bowden, Anthony Braxton, J.D. Parran, Roscoe Mitchell, Henry Threadgill, Ed Wilkerson Jr., and Don Byron (only on the last track) on every clarinet under the sun, joined by Malachi Favors on bass.

When I say every clarinet under the sun, that includes: Bb bass, Bb contra bass, Eb contra alto, Bb soprano, Eb alto, and also the B natural Ewartophone.

The first 4 tracks were recorded live in Atlanta. The final two tracks feature a solo clarinet piece from Mr. Ewart and a track from Merkin Hall in New York.

I wonder if there is a fascination with both the character of instruments and with timbre that leads to creating a band of clarinets. It certainly creates an otherworldly sound. The album features some great compositions and improvisations, the former of which are all attributed to Mr. Ewart, and the latter of which is to be expected with a lineup like this.

Track four, Red Hills, has become somewhat of an AACM anthem, often played when the AACM Great Black Music Ensemble convenes. The title of track three, One Love, is most likely a reference to Mr. Ewart's land of birth, Jamaica, which he still carries with him in both his accent and persona. He also has a nyabinghi drum choir that performs on occasion in Chicago.

I don't have much to say about this album, since there aren't many words that come to mind. It's absolutely singular listening experience and I enjoy it thoroughly every time I put it on. Maybe Mr. Breslin can chime in with his thoughts on the album at some point.

I haven't decided which albums to tackle next. I'm going to try and determine another thread of commonality so I can write about a few at once, but if not, I'll just lump them together.

More later....

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Chicago is Now!

My list has been posted over at D:O, but to reiterate:

1 8 Bold Souls, Sideshow (Arabesque, 1992)
2 William Parker/In Order To Survive, The Peach Orchard (Aum Fidelity, 1998)
3 Greg Osby, Banned in New York (Blue Note, 1998)
4 Myra Melford Extended Ensemble, Even the Sounds Shine (hatHUT, 1995)
5 Douglas Ewart and Inventions Clarinet Choir, Angles of Entrance (Aarawak, 1990/1998)
6 Anderson/Crispell/Drake, Destiny (OkkaDisk, 1994)
7 Jon Jang, Two Flowers on a Stem (Soul Note, 1995)
8 Horace Tapscott, Thoughts of Dar Es Salaam (Arabesque, 1997)
9 Charles Gayle, Touchin’ on Trane (FMP, 1993)
10 Anderson/Kowald/Drake, Live at the Velvet Lounge (OkkaDisk, 1999)

FYI, these were not listed in any kind of order relating to quality. It was just how I happened to write them down.

Today I'm planning to write about two of the four of these discs that hail from the great windy city of Chicago. Namely the two Fred Anderson discs, Anderson/Kowald/Drake, Live at the Velvet Lounge, and Anderson/Crispell/Drake, Destiny.

Yes, I gave 4 out of my top 10 albums to discs made in Chicago. I told you I was biased. However, it really does reflect my listening from the decade, because when I delved into the wealth of music coming out of this great city, I did so in depth, and as such my collection has a decidedly Midwestern slant.

The first record I want to touch on is the Fred Anderson, Marylin Crispell, Hamid Drake disc Destiny. This recording was initiated by Ms. Crispell, as she was scheduled to play a Women In Jazz festival here in Chicago and was asked who she might like to play with. She chose Fred Anderson, and Hamid Drake was the other logical co-conspirator given his long association with Mr. Anderson.

Fred Anderson is one of my favorite artists. To my ears, he is singular in the so-called avant-garde for his lack of extended technique. If you ask him about it, he'll tell you it's because he's actually a bit older than a lot of the other players associated with the genre, and he was really deep into Charlie Parker. So that's where he's coming from: he plays lines, melodies, wrapping them around and around, but never getting into the realm of squonks and squeals.

Fred has a huge sound. Enormous even. He's said that's due to his early practice regimen of playing outside in the parks, and learning to really project. It's a wonder he projects as well as he does, given his hunched over posture that would seem to constrict his diaphragm. Anyone who's felt the physicality of his sound in person can tell you that it doesn't seem to hamper him one bit.

I've listened to Fred mostly in settings without a guitar or piano to frame his improvisations harmonically, allowing for my imagination to fill in the blanks. Fred paints pictures with his lines and I would fill in some of the colors. I remember the first time I heard this recording, it was revelatory to hear a piano framing his improvisations. I got this feeling in the pit of my stomach, and I liked it. Crispell obviously had enormous ears, figuratively of course, and was an empathetic improvisational partner to Fred. I've seen Fred perform with people for the first time before, and when he stops playing and allows Crispell and Drake to do their thing, I can see him standing off to the side of the stage, pensive, reflective, and with a grin on his face listening to her go.

This isn't the only recording of Fred Anderson with a harmonic instrument: Birdhouse features Jim Baker on piano, Chicago Chamber Music features Bradley Parker-Sparrow on a few tracks on piano, several recordings, including the recent From the River to the Ocean feature Jeff Parker on guitar, and with Irene Shweizer on one track on Portrait, as well as this year's trio recording, which I have yet to hear.

This CD has it all for my ears: energetic swirling improvisations, sensitive avant balladry, great solo, duo, and trio interactions, and a vitality that translates from the live performance to the disc.

The second of the two Fred Anderson discs that made their way onto my list is the 1998 Live At The Velvet Lounge, showcasing Fred in my favorite setting for his music: the trio. Here he's joined by Peter Kowald and Hamid Drake; elsewhere, he's had Tatsu Aoki, Harrison Bankhead, and William Parker as the link between him and Drake in the trio setting.

Fred, in a trio, at the Velvet Lounge is the first thing that comes to mind when I think of him. The two nights of music that became his recent Delmark disc Timeless were both incredible, and I count several of his performances in this format, at that venue, as my top listening concert experiences of my life.

This one consists of two long, 30 minute-ish improvisations that bookend a more restrained second track. Fred Anderson always manages to make music that captures my imagination, first and foremost. When I listen, I am transported, and he always brings me back down for a safe landing. His musical relationship with Hamid Drake can't be emphasized enough: they have an incredible level of comfort, while retaining the ability to challenge each other through their interplay.

I think both Destiny and the Live at the Velvet Lounge disc are out of print unfortunately. If you come across a used copy, grab it up.

More on the other two Chicago discs soon....

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More on the 90s

As a follow up to my last post, here's some more on the Destination: Out lists:

Pat Donaher delves in depth into some of his picks with detailed and insightful analysis.

Carl Wilson over at Zoilus asks some probing questions about these list making exercises and how we define vibrancy. I think I'll go into the question more in depth in the future, but to briefly address the issue, while I share many of his concerns, I see the venture mainly as fun and exploratory rather than revelatory.

Dig this incredible 1960 interview with John Coltrane. It's audio only so the video element is only a series of pictures and album covers, but the interview is incredible.

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Destination: 1990s

As I'm sure you're already aware, Destination: Out is posting a 5 part series of best of lists from the 1990s. By process of elimination, my list should be posted in the next couple of days, after which I am going to dedicate a several posts to reviewing and talking about the albums on my list and what makes them distinct and part of my musical pantheon from that decade.

But before I get into the nitty gritty, I wanted to explain my own methodology and background so you can better contextualize my list.

First, the disclaimers: I am not a critic. I do not have an unlimited budget CDs, and I do not receive promo copies of CDs to review. I do not claim to be evaluating the music of the 1990s on any kind of objective level relating to quality or value. My list is wrought with favoritism, bias, and even some nostalgia.

With that said, I think my list offers a unique perspective on the music of the 1990s. I'm going to venture a guess that I'm probably around the lower end of the age bracket of people submitting lists, so my musical awareness wasn't as broad as it might have been otherwise in the 90s. As such, I spent more time during that decade digging through the past than I did paying attention to the present. Only as I started following the threads back to the current time did I wind my way through that decade.

As such, I had nowhere near a comprehensive collection of seminal recordings from the decade. I've already pinpointed some future purchases perusing the lists of others, and I'm sure more will come to light in the next few days. Needless to say, there are some major blind spots in my perspective on the 90s.

It's a fantastic resource put together by the D:O guys and they deserve a lot of credit for organizing and executing the project. Highlighting the continued vitality of the music can only be a good thing.

More soon...

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1990s

Listening, pt. 4

Welcome to Part Four of an ongoing series of posts on the topic of listening. You can find past posts on the subject here:

Part One
Part Two
Part Three

In the last installment in this series I talked about the ways we could understand acts of listening and improvisation as two parts of a co-creative or mutually causative process. Specifically, I wrote about the ways we could analyze this phenomenon in the light of general systems theory. In this post, I'd like to tie the same angle into the Buddhist concept of pattica samuppada or pratitya samutpada. Pattica samuppada is a Pali phrase, and is equivalent to pratitya samutpada in Sanskrit, roughly translated as mutually arising or co-arising phenomena. This concept offers an understanding that is remarkably similar to the mutually causative relationship expressed in general systems theory, and I believe it can act as a paradigm for approaching the act of intuitive improvisation.

The concept, or doctrine depending on whom you ask, of pattica samuppada is a central aspect of understanding the Buddhist worldview. In this doctrine, the Buddha “…presented causality not as a function of power inherent in an agent, but as a function of relationship – of the interaction of multiple factors where cause and effect cannot be categorically isolated or traced unidirectionally” (Macy, 19).

In other words, “…no effect arises without cause, yet no effect is predetermined, for its causes are multiple and mutually arising. Hence there can be novelty as well as order” (Ibid). Novelty as well as order....hmmmmmm. That sounds like an excellent way to describe the practice of improvised music, which is structured by the improvisers but continually creates novel output based upon the changing of the music.

In this sense we can view improvisational music as a teleological entity that exhibits design and purpose in its intuitive unfolding. “Paticca samuppada is not a theory to which one assents, so much as a truth one is invited to experience” (Ibid).

In the study of a system such as improvisation, especially as performed in a group context, linear causation is inadequate for understanding what is going on. Pattica samuppada at least offers us a conceptual tool for understanding the phenomenology of the improvisational unit. Pattica samuppada is “…the pattern of change itself. As such, it represents a dual assertion – of change and order, or order within change. In the linear view of causality, order requires permanence, a static basis impermeable to change. But here order and impermanence go hand in hand” (Ibid, 35).

In jazz improvisation, musicians give order to music, going in and out of pre-composed sections, and spontaneously creating compositions in the midst of improvisation, and the audience mentally constructs order as part of listening and understanding what is going on in the music. “To understand this we must consider everything, not as statically existing, but as 'happening' or 'event'” (Ibid, 52).

The event of music only occurs at the time it is played; a recording is one level removed in the direction of static-ness, and the written element is yet another level away from the experience itself as it must be interpreted to enter the sonic realm.

Listening as a co-creative process can be visualized and understood as a nested series of listenings at which the musician who is participating in the physical aspect of the music is at the center. The musicians’ playing can be seen as the stone hitting the water and their listening as the first ripple, and the audience aspect represents the next ripple in the expanding circles that dissipate into stillness in the same way sound merges into silence. This image works as well in visualizing the approach of musicians to understand their place in the ensemble, as individual voices with autonomy as well as musical repercussions. Indeed, improvisational music “…insists on both freedom for its individual voices and the reality of their interdependence…all players are simultaneously independent and connected, free and responsible, expressing their self awareness and their relationship to the ensemble/family/community” (Lock, 144).

At any given time, musicians hone in on their musical voice in a way that goes inside to focus on their own musical process without regard for external factors, or they might hear themselves in a completely detached manner as a member of the group or ensemble sound. In between these two extremes of listening focus are infinite shades of gray that fill out the spectrum of listening position.

Note: when the musical ensemble is discussed, I believe it must refer to any and all sonic surroundings. A solo artist interacts with the ensemble of silence in a concert hall, a street musician interacts with the ensemble of traffic noise, and a musician in a quartet must interact with the other musicians in a way that hears their own voice as a part of their ensemble.

In a group setting such as this, the individual voice is a changing entity that is sometimes receptive and detached, and at other times active and propelling. Just as it is said that you can’t bathe in the same river twice as the water is constantly moving, in the realm of improvisation you can’t bathe in the same song twice – although certain properties remain the same, the current always flows with a different energy and subtly different interactions.

Facility of improvisation for musicians, combined with their physical-technical capacity, is largely the result of their ability to adapt, "...not just to things as they are, but as they are coming to be" (Ibid, 85). While pre-composed music that strictly follows a written score has the range of music already defined and the amount of musical change predetermined, in improvised or spontaneously composed music change is the heart of the musical experience.

Pre-composed music finds value in structuring the musical experience and fine tuning the parameters in order to produce a specific result in the combination, while in improvised music value "...is not found apart from change or in the attempt to avoid change or in the positing of some permanent realm aloof from change. It is found rather in the way one incorporates and learns from change, "riding" it the way a surfer rides the wave" (Ibid, 86).

This might be the last installment in the series for a while. At least I don't have a plan for the next part, as I did for the first four parts which were already mapped out in some previous writing I had done on the subject. I hope you've found them interesting, and I will write more on the subject if and when inspiration strikes.

Comments, rebuttals and disagreements encouraged.

Lock, Graham. Forces in Motion. New York: Da Capo Press, 1988.

Macy, Joanna. Mutual Causality in Buddhism and General Systems Theory: The Dharma of Natural Systems. Albany : State University of New York Press, c1991.

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Listening

Playin' Ketchup

I'm back in town after a week of traveling (I have so much respect for musicians who travel a lot - airports really drain me) and I've got some catching up to do. There are some posts of substance coming this week, but in the mean time here are some links that I missed while I was gone:

The wonderful Nicole Mitchell was interviewed by AAJ.

Guy Hasson wondered why most artists are liberal (and some good discussion followed).

David Ryshpan posted his thoughts on the process of composition.

If you're in Tel Aviv, The Jazz Ear record store is putting together a great show for it's 20th anniversary.

Joe Germuska ponders the meta layer of links.

David Murray's performance in St. Lucia was reviewed.

Do The Math remembered Dewey Redman's birthday (a birthday I happen to share...good company), and also got a snazzy new redesign.

The start of FIMAV got two reviews.

The LA performance of Mingus' Epitaph (I missed the Chicago performance as I was out of town...curses) was reviewed.

Stanley Zappa gave me the dialectic treatment in an ongoing discussion on Theodor Adorno.

Peter Breslin interviewed JA Deane and reviewed the recent Roscoe Mitchell performance in New Mexico.

If you're in Chicago, the (insert multiple superlatives here) Fred Anderson is making a return to performing after a long hiatus. I will definitely be at these shows as I never miss an opportunity to hear Fred do his singular, unique thing that only Fred does.

6 to 8 pm. Sunday, June 10
Velvet Lounge, 67 E. Cermak Road, Chicago, (312) 791-9050
Guest soloist with the AACM Great Black Music Ensemble.
http://www.velvetlounge.net

7 to 9 p.m. Tuesday, June 12
Stop Smiling magazine HQ, 1371 N Milwaukee Ave, Chicago, (773) 342-1124
"From the River to the Ocean" Thrilljockey record release party.
Fred, Hamid Drake, Harrison Bankhead, Jeff Parker and Josh Abrams.

8pm. doors, 9 pm. show, Wednesday June 13
Velvet Lounge, 67 E. Cermak Road, Chicago, (312) 791-9050
"From the River to the Ocean" Thrilljockey record release party II. Fred, Hamid Drake, Harrison Bankhead, Jeff Parker and Josh Abrams.

Thelonious Monk, Henry Grimes, and Roy Haynes:

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Links

Three In Jazz

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YouTube

News and links roundup

I was just thinking about Pete Cosey after reading an article in an old Signal to Noise profile of him. I was marveling at his history and talent, and subsequently the fact that he never plays around town even though he still resides in Chicago. If you want to hear some early deep cuts from Mr. Cosey, seek out the Phil Cohran Artistic Heritage Ensemble discs recently reissued by Katalyst. Just as Mr. Cosey had crossed my mind, I got a press release from Delmark stating that he'd be playing at the Green Mill for a CD/DVD recording session with Ari Brown:

Local unsung heroes of Chicago jazz and blues unite for a special Green Mill engagement for future Delmark DVD/CD!! JUNE 22, 23, 2007 ARI BROWN Quartet with very special guest, PETE COSEY (June 23rd only) Live at the Green Mill, Friday, June 22nd and Saturday, June 23rd (Cosey only on 23rd)

Some exciting news just confirmed, Delmark’s next recording for future DVD/CD will be the Ari Brown Quartet - Kirk Brown (piano), Yosef Ben Israel (Bass), and Avreeyal Ra (drums). with Pete Cosey on guitar at the Green Mill. Special guest Pete Cosey on “electric mud” guitar will be performing with Ari Brown on Saturday the 23rd only.

I hope nothing conflicts with my schedule so I can make it to the show.

Roscoe Mitchell's latest album with what he calls the Transatlantic Art Ensemble is reviewed.

Steve Smith does an excellent write up of the Bad Plus and their new album Prog.

The new issue of Jazz Times has a nice Anthony Braxton write up by David Adler that's worth reading. The new issue of Downbeat has profiles of 25 up and coming trumpet players. Names off the list that I'm familiar that caught my eye: Chicago's own Maurice Brown and Corey Wilkes, Mr. Taylor Ho Bynum representing for the cornet, and Jonathan Finlayson, who I haven't heard other than on record but shows a lot of promise.

If I was in New York, I would be here tonight:

MUHAL RICHARD ABRAMS (Tonight) In addition to being a venerable pianist and composer, Mr. Abrams is one of the original architects of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians. He performs tonight in a duo setting, with the guitarist Brandon Ross, and with a dynamic quartet featuring Aaron Stewart on tenor saxophone, Brad Jones on bass and Tyshawn Sorey on drums. At 8, Community Church of New York, 40 East 35th Street, Manhattan, (212) 683-4988, aacm-newyork.com; $25. (Chinen)

But then again, my AACM bias is already very well documented. I love that Muhal Richard Abrams is still playing with and engaging up and coming young talent, and inviting them into his world of music.

We'll get a solo performance from Mr. Abrams in Chicago this summer which I anxiously anticipate.

Also, you might notice a re-shuffling of the links on the right (RSS readers, you'll have to click through to soundslope to take a peek) into two categories: read and listen. Pretty self explanatory. There are some new additions to the blogroll in the listen category worth exploring.

More later.

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Links

Local Unsung Heroes: Mwata Bowden

In my continuing series on Local Unsung Heroes of the Chicago scene, I'd like to shine the spotlight on Mwata Bowden, the multi-instrumentalist and educator who continues to plant the seeds that ensure the future of great music here in the city.

He was born in Memphis but grew up in Chicago, spending some of his formative years living near the once vibrant stretch along 47th street, where you could hear live jazz at the Regal Theater, the Metropolitan Theater, and at the historic Gerri's Palm Tavern.

He started out on the clarinet, studying under the legendary Captain Walter Dyett. Captain Dyett's band program produced such luminaries as Gene Ammons, Von Freeman, Joseph Jarman, John Gilmore, Clifford Jordan, Wilbur Ware, Richard Davis, Fred Hopkins, Wilbur Campbell, Leroy Jenkins, Dinah Washington and Johnny Hartman, to name only a few. Mwata is a part of the second wave of AACM members that includes George Lewis, Douglas Ewart, Henry Threadgill, Anthony Braxton, and others.

After graduating from college with a degree in music education, he picked up the baritone sax and hit the road with the big R&B acts of the time, playing with the bands Bobby "Blue" Bland and Albert King amongst others. This aspect of his sound is still very much a factor as he can get deep into the blues and R&B bag. He's probably best known for his long association with Ed Wilkerson's 8 Bold Souls, he performs with Tatsu Aoki's Miyumi Project, and he also leads his own groups, Tri-tone and Sound Spectrum.

But when I think of Mwata, I think of a fantastic musician and an incredible human being. He is a consummate educator, leading the jazz big band at the University of Chicago, acting as the conductor of the AACM's Great Black Music Ensemble, and bringing his warm and generous spirit to every situation he is a part of.

I also think of him as a secret weapon in any ensemble he plays in. Most people don't think of him as a dominating voice, but that always puts him in a position to impress and wow people with his playing, which he does for me on a consistent basis.

There's a great interview with Mwata available here, and if you ever get a chance to hear his music or speak with him, I encourage you to do so. He possesses a magnanimous.spirit and a kind heart which he expresses in everything he does.

Thanks for everything, Mwata.

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Listening, pt. 3

This is part three in an ongoing series on the topic of listening. Part One and Part Two are also available for your perusal.

In this installment in the series I'd like to not only talk about listening, but also listening as part and parcel of the act of improvisation, and indeed place the emphasis on the latter half of the equation. I'm going to discuss the acts of listening and improvisation as two parts of a co-creative or mutually causative process. These co-creative processes are the result of numerable complex interactions on the aural processing and active music making levels. In this post I'm going to focus on General Systems Theory as a conceptual framework, and then in Part Four I am going to tie this into the Buddhist concept of pattica sammupada.

Due to the nature of these interactions, a linear approach to understanding them is lacking, and a more dynamic understanding is offered by the study of General Systems Theory. These concepts will offer us the conceptual and analytical tools necessary to frame the discussion in a meaningful manner.

General systems theory states that a system is less a thing than a pattern, “a dynamic flow of interactions…that maintains and organizes itself by exchanging matter, energy, and information with its environment. These flow through the system and are transformed by it” (Macy, 69, 73).

Applying these ideas to improvising musicians is particularly interesting, as musicians are not only passive parts of a system that are being transformed through its processes, but they are also active participants in that system. At times they are passive and at times they are very active in its processes; that is to say, not only do they ride the wave, but they also participate in the creation of the wave they are riding. The ways in which musicians step in and out of these roles in the context of the group determines the way the system functions, and the totality of their actions results in the music made.

The concept of the feedback mechanism in general systems theory is very helpful in examining the improvising musician and ensemble. There are two types of feedback mechanisms, positive and negative.

Negative feedbacks reduce deviation in the system, while positive feedbacks increase deviation, as well as reinforcing and amplifying existing deviations (Ibid, 73). In other words, "...the effects of any action are fed back into the organism, and by virtue of this feedback systems are indeterminative" (Ibid, 54).

Positive feedbacks in a musical context can be understood as playing by a musician that can be described as deviant or disharmonious in terms of the course of the music being made, causing the rest of the musical organism to react to those deviations.

Negative feedbacks can be understood as music making that follows the trajectory of the existing music being made and encouraging it along the same course. So at any given moment in the improvisatory context, musicians can act as negative or positive feedbacks in the group system of improvisation, either reducing or increasing deviation to the existing systematic sound. If a musician took the role of a positive feedback in the ensemble, it would imply a more active role in shaping the course of the music, while negative feedbacks would imply a more passive, receptive mode of music making.

You might also be able to posit that in a positive versus a negative feedback role, various types of listening are occurring. In order to embody the concept of the negative feedback, the focus of the individual's listening might very well be on the other members of the ensemble. In a positive feedback role the musician might be focusing more on their own voice within the ensemble. Both of these examples are oversimplifications of course, but you can see how the location of listening can really alter the way musicians act and interact in the ensemble.

Through explaining these various modes of interaction, a depiction emerges of the improvising ensemble: if causality is mutual, the ensemble is not the musician and the group which we conventionally posit, so much as a series of events, occurrences of playing and creating. Joanna Macy, author of Mutual Causality in Buddhism and General Systems Theory: The Dharma of Natural Systems, notes: "It has been likened, by both systems thinkers and early Buddhists, to a stream and to a flame, constantly flowing and undergoing transformation" (161). More on that later.

The structuring medium of the music, if there is an existing composition from which the music is being made, can be understood as an agreed upon territory to survey, or a starting point where the musicians begin their explorations. That the musical experience of the musicians and the audience relates to the entire piece of music both past and present rather than just the current notes being played can be explained through systems theory and feedbacks: "By virtue of feedback, past experience is accumulated, transformed, and internalized in the system's mental constructs and neural nets. Its structure at any given moment expresses its history" (Ibid, 168). In other words, the musicians' and audience’s cumulative musical experiences, both within the course of a song and their entire life determines and influences their present experience of the music being created.

And of course, no system is closed. All of these "systems" interact in the context of the larger system of life.

Another useful concept from the realm of systems theory in understanding the system of a group of improvising musicians is that of holons. A holon is "…an integral whole and a part within the larger whole. As open systems interact, be they atom or organism, they form larger self sustaining patterns, which in turn relate to build yet more inclusive and more varied forms. Each level is irreducible, and each whole is a holon – comprising subsystems, is itself a subsystem in a larger system, each level revealing greater diversity and improbability" (Ibid, 85). This can be visualized as a nested series of systems, or a nested series of listenings.

This can also be described as a “Self-organizing system” or SOS, which is “...a general term that describes a diverse range of systems that exhibit both complex and adaptive dynamics...They are most often comprised of numerous individual agents that are autonomous but also exhibit a high degree of interconnectivity” (Borgo, 126).

This nonlinear and adaptive aspect is central to the improvisational unit’s ability to change and evolve over time: “Due to their nonlinear dynamics, SOS’ are able to adapt to new stimuli and to internal changes...only nonlinear systems can evolve (in a biological sense) over time” (Ibid).

Okay, that's all I have the stamina for right now.

So this all begs the question: who cares?

I think this is always an important question to ask when getting mired in theory and concepts to discuss an act or phenomenon that exists just fine on its own without these frameworks.

In writing about these subjects, my primary goal is to help create a means of understanding the act of listening and improvisation in the hopes of both elevating their status as an act and an art. The secondary goal is to put down in writing the ideas that otherwise exist only in my head, where they can't be shared with others.

Take away what you find useful and leave the rest behind; thanks for reading.

Borgo, David. Sync or Swarm: Improvising Music in a Complex Age. New York: Continuum International, 2005.

Macy, Joanna. Mutual Causality in Buddhism and General Systems Theory: The Dharma of Natural Systems. Albany : State University of New York Press, c1991.

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Listening

Douglas Ewart and Inventions, Velvet Lounge, 5/5/2007

I had the pleasure of seeing Douglas Ewart and Inventions last night at the Velvet Lounge here in Chicago. I've seen this band many times over the years, almost always at the Velvet, and in various configurations. Last night's band was a Septet, featuring: Douglas Ewart on clarinets, sopranino sax, didgeridoo and flute, Ed Wilkerson on tenor and didgeridoo, Mwata Bowden on baritone sax, clarinet, wood flute, and didgeridoo, Dee Alexander on vocals, Duriel Harris on vocals, Darius Savage on bass, and Dushun Mosley on drums.

I've also seen the band as a quintet, an octet, a nonet, and a tentet, with members such as Jeff Parker, Lester Lashley, Hamid Drake, Avreaayl Ra, and Wallace LaRoy McMillan.

Douglas always titles his concerts; last night and the night before were entitled "Good Friend Better Than Pocket Money." Well said Douglas.

The show started off with a quartet of Mwata Bowden, Darius Savage, Dushun Mosley and Duriel Harris taking the stage for a meditative groove that backed the poetry of the lovely Ms. Harris. Mwata played didgeridoo and also used a stick to strike the instrument for percussion, and the Savage/Mosley rhythm section put a nice steady groove behind them.

That segued into a trio of the other three musicians which ended up being a highlight of the show: Douglas Ewart on bass clarinet, Ed Wilkerson on tenor, and Dee Alexander on vocals.

It's too bad Douglas is hiding behind the music stand because you can't see the incredible shirt he's wearing: all of those colors you see on it are buttons sewed on.

In any case, back to the music: this trio played a truly sublime improvisation. Dee can do incredible things with her voice. With my eyes closed I could have sworn I heard an analog synth of some kind coming from the stage, but indeed it was Ms. Alexander's voice. Ewart and Wilkerson have a deep musical repoire they've cultivated over the years and it showed here as they wove their lines together, creating spontaneous counterpoint with incredible results.

A word about Ed Wilkerson: he's one of my favorite tenor players and hugely underrated for both his own instrumental musical abilities as well as his compositional prowess. His work with his big band, Shadow Vignettes (the subject of a recent documentary, Odd Eye O Mumbo Jumbo) as well as his innovative 8 Bold Souls. He's a fantastic player in the inside/outside tradition, and his tone makes me melt every time. There seems to be no note or phrase that escapes the wrath of his enormous sense of conviction that pervades his stage presence and music. Last night he was on as usual, and he is aging very well musically, fitting into every situation with restraint or boldness depending on the needs of the situation.

Another highlight of the evening was the opener of the second set that had Darius Savage switching to fretless electric bass and turned into a steady rocking, rollicking, marching number with an incredibly catchy melody and fantastic solos by Mwata Bowden on clarinet, Ed Wilkerson on tenor and Mr. Ewart on flute.

The didgeridoo numbers are always a treat for me. All 3 players, Bowden, Wilkerson and Ewart are excellent circular breathers so they can get into some deep trance and grooves which I always enjoy.

The only downside of the evening were the chatty folks behind me who stick out like a sore thumb at the Velvet which is well known amongst regular audience members as a sanctuary for quiet listening.

Douglas Ewart and Inventions will be back at the Velvet in June for two nights to celebrate a CD release of material culled from many appearances at the Velvet, a long overdue document of this band. I have no problem saying that every time I see Inventions I hear something magical happen.

I think I'm going to go back to the Velvet tonight to see the Great Black Music Ensemble big band. Word on the street is that Fred Anderson will make a return to performing after a lengthy hiatus by appearing with the band on June 10th. More details later.

Remainder:

Check out the republished articles from Bells, a '70s music 'zine, being reprinted by the folks at Metropolis [via AMN].

"Part One includes reviews and discussions of the work of Ornette Coleman, Albert Ayler, John Coltrane, Pharoah Sanders, Cecil Taylor, Archie Shepp, Sun Ra, Marion Brown, Roscoe Mitchell, Art Ensemble of Chicago, Don Moye, Anthony Braxton, Leo Smith, Oliver Lake, Julius Hemphill, David Murray, and others."

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More Miscellany

The new NYC issue of All About Jazz has an interview with Jimmy Cobb, a spotlight on the Black Saint and Soul Note labels, a nice Ted Panken feature on Muhal Richard Abrams, a piece by Marc Ribot about the Tonic situation, a feature on Alvin Batiste, as well as the usual assortment of reviews and listings. You can download a PDF of it here.

As an aside, Mr. Abrams will be gracing Chicago's Millennium Park stage this summer to play a solo set of piano music, in a double bill with MacArthur grant winner and ragtime revivalist Reginald Robinson. Should be an interesting juxtaposition.

And speaking of Black Saint and Soul Note, All About Jazz has an article up about the label.

If you subscribe to the American Composers Forum podcasts here, you can listen to a recent interview with Susie Ibarra.

I'm going to see Douglas Ewart and Inventions at the Velvet Lounge tonight, also featuring Ed Wilkerson, Mwata Bowden, Dee Alexander and others. Will report back with details and maybe even some pictures if I remember to bring a camera.

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This is your brain on David Byrne's music

A while back I reviewed Daniel Levitin's This Is Your Brain On Music, a fascinating book about neurology and music.

David Byrne visited Levitin's lab in Montreal (Levitin is a professor at McGill) in fall of 2006, and recently they met in New York to discuss things further.

The book is a fascinating read if you're so inclined, and the discussion doesn't rely too heavily on preexisting knowledge of the book if you want to just read that.

I found it particularly fascinating that David Byrne believes he had Asperger's syndrome (a developmental disorder in the Autistic spectrum) that he essentially healed and outgrew through music. Andrew Hill described himself as semi-autistic, which would probably be Asperger's as well, a high-functioning form of autism.

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New AECO disc

I just received a new release from the Art Ensemble of Chicago entitled "Fundamental Destiny" after the Joseph Jarman composition of the same name that appears on the album.

It's a live recording from Frankfurt, Germany, June 1st 1991, and it features Mr. Don Pullen on piano in addition to the full 5 piece original Art Ensemble lineup. 4 tracks, 52 minutes of continuous music.

I'm told it will soon be available via Dusty Groove, and hopefully from Downtown Music Gallery shortly thereafter.

I'll report back on the music contained on the disc soon.

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Revelation....

....reveals the truth.

As I mentioned earlier, Bill Dixon will make two appearances in Chicago this year, the latter of which it is now prudent to mention since it is public information:

He will appear as part of the Chicago Jazz Festival as a guest artist with Rob Mazurek's Exploding Star Orchestra.

That should be an interesting one, to say the least.

Other artists of interest for the festival: Charlie Haden will be the artist in residence, performing with his Liberation Music Orchestra, with a band of local musicians, and with a band of student musicians. The Mingus Big Band will perform as well. Sadly, Andrew Hill was scheduled to perform. No word as to whether they will try and do a tribute to him or who will fill that cavernous void in the schedule.

There will also be a tribute to Dizzy Gillespie featuring Jon Faddis, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, James Moody, Giovanni Hidalgo and Ignacio Berroa that will most likely produce some smoldering latin jazz.

To follow up on my earlier post about Ornette's Pulitzer, there was some fruitful discussion both in that post and also at Night After Night, including a link to this discussion at the Organissimo forums, and some astute comments from DJA.

More later....

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Listening, pt. 2

Continuing the series that I started with part one on listening, I'd like to continue the discussion. Today I'd like to discuss Samā, which is the Sufi practice of reverent listening to music and poetry. While the focus is on a practice that is undeniably religious, for the purposes of this discussion it will be stripped of any dogmatic imperatives and framework to better understand the ways in which Sufis believe Samā brings them closer to the divine. Feel free to replace divine with whatever word you describe for the state of ecstatic, emotional, or meditative listening that you may have experienced in the past. I note with interest that the Pulse composers have chosen to call their recent project Sihr Halal, a concept that interfaces with Samā.

Samā is the Sufi practice of listening or auditioning music, and offers a paradigmatic example of a spiritual practice that engages music. While there exists a great diversity of religious practices amongst people who define themselves as Sufi, reverence for music as a religious means is a consistent defining feature.

Among Sufis, music is considered a “…spiritual staple, not merely a permissible (halal) but a required religious practice (wajib)” (Lewisohn, 2). Samā literally translates as “…audition, [and] connotes in the Sufi tradition of hearing with the “ear of the heart,” an attitude of reverently listening to music and/or the singing of mystical poetry with the intent of increasing awareness and understanding of the divine object described; it is a type of meditation focusing on musical melody, by use of instruments, mystical songs, or combining both” (Lewisohn, 4).

By the “ear of the heart,” it is meant that the Sufi practitioner of Samā believes they access a state of musical awareness that they believe utilizes God as a proxy, so that they do not hear with their own ears but the ears of God. Samā is “…a musical experience whose aesthetic depth leads to metaphysical penetration; the notes reflect, indeed, become, the divine harmony” (Ibid, 15). Samā may also be used to refer to the dance that sometimes accompanies the music (Shiloah, 143), which parallels the South Asian, Indian understanding that dance is part and parcel of music, the physical expression of sound.

For Sufis, gnosis, or religious knowledge and wisdom gained through direct experience of the divine, is the defining characteristic of their religious life and understanding. As a result, no wholesale injunctions against musical practice will be found in their religious framework because music is seen as a key path to the direct experience of God. For the Sufis, “...what is most essential…cannot be learned, but can only be reached by immediate experience and ecstasy and inward transformation” (quoted in Qureshi, 223). This is not a faith based initiative, so to speak: you are invited to experience it first hand.

One important aspect is the primacy the practice of Samā places upon the experience and spiritual state of the listener. In fact, the extent of the listeners’ Samā is based upon their own spiritual depth and ability to be receptive to the music being played and poetry being recited. “The Samā concept is focused on the listener – in accord with its literal meaning (‘listening’ or ‘auditioning’) – and on his spiritual capacity for receiving what he hears, including all the implications of an ecstatic response” (Qureshi, 223-24). It is dependent upon what Suhrawardi terms the “spiritual attunedness of the soul” (quoted in Lewisohn, 8).

In the practice of Samā, music is used primarily in conjunction with poetry, and the element of the mystical poetry is a key to understanding Samā. “It is the music that turns Sufi poetry into Samā, and therefore the relationship between music and poetry constitutes a crucial element in defining what Samā is” (Qureshi, 221). In many ways, the use of music is viewed as permissible only because it is used as a means to transmit the message of mystical poetry to the listener, as “…music is explicitly credited with spiritual power solely as an adjunct to poetry” (Ibid, 224). This also attests to the power of the music, since, as Leonard Lewisohn poetically explains:

“…music alone is capable of bridging the gap between the literal and anagogic levels of meaning…Music constitutes the poem’s emotional body of water: the poem-fish is born and swims in the ocean of Samā – for without music, the vertical dimension of Samā, the poem expires on the dry land of literal and horizontal meanings” (Lewishon, 15).

The listener is supposed to focus on the spirit of the poetry being recited, and not on the strictly denotative meaning of the words. This is because the truth lies not in the words but behind the words, “…in mystical deliberation over the hidden mysteries [concealed] within the highly refined poetry which are sung by the cantor” (quoted in Lewisohn, 15). Mahmud Shabistari expounds upon the mystery of Samā in his book Garden of Mystery (Gulshan-i rāz) (quoted in Lewisohn, 16):

For all those familiar with mystical states of consciousness and adept in spiritual perfections, the Samā of the soul and spirit does not consist merely of the sounds and words heard from a musician. No, behind every strain and melody, adepts apprehend a fresh mystery and mystical state. But such mysterious virgins do not expose themselves to every stranger; they never unveil their faces except to the most elect of confidants. No, not everyone who busies himself in Samā, claps his hands in passion or whirls in dance is necessarily an initiate in tune with its mysteries.

As the above passage indicates, Sufis believe the experience of ecstasy and the depths of Samā are not open to everyone, and certain conditions must be observed in order for it to be sanctioned by the Sufis as a legitimate practice of Samā. For example, Sufis believe it is impossible to gain the benefits of Samā “…without also observing its proper spiritual conditions incumbent upon both performer and listener” (Lewisohn, 7).

One of the most widely agreed upon and serious of the rules of conduct for the ceremony of Samā is that “…silence and stillness must reign throughout Samā notwithstanding the participant becoming affected by ecstasy and rapture” (Ibid., 8). It is necessary to practice Samā “…without shattering the inward silence, self-control and contemplative sobriety of the Sufi” (Ibid). The Muslim scholar Abu Hamid al-Ghazali, who did some of the most extensive writing on Samā, wrote: “In this fashion, the flames of divine yearning within him will be rekindled every moment and freshly renewed so that God’s grace – the bounty of this world, will bless all of his days, such that in Samā he will be able to control his movements, except when he is unable to keep his peace – like a person who must sneeze, not matter how much he wishes not to” (quoted in Lewisohn, 8).

There are three defining elements of conducting proper Samā that have been identified by Sufis. The first is that it must occur at the right time, which is not time in the temporal sense but rather the time of the heart, the preparedness of the spirit to be receptive to the benefits of Samā. “The proper time [for Samā] is when their [the Sufis] hearts enjoy purity so that they desire to concentrate on their aspiration in seeking their Beloved’s goodwill” (quoted in Lewisohn, 8). In other words, “…time’s metaphysical arrow, one could say, must strike the Sufi’s heart before it hits the body” (Ibid). This is how preparedness for Samā is explained in the positive sense, and in the negative sense, there is an injunction against participating in Samā “…during any times when one’s heart is engaged [with worldly concerns], nor when it is time for ritual prayer (namāz) nor when eating or when one is distracted” (Ibid).

The second parameter for practicing correct Samā is to practice in the right place. Right place is defined as: “zawiyās, khānaqāhs, and mosques, which are preferred over other spots, since the mosque was founded for sake of the bodily devotion and the heart created for the sake of divine gnosis and the theophany therein” (quoted in Lewison, 9). Reading this reminded me of quotes by musicians such as Sonny Rollins who find themselves “…not wanting to play your horn in a night club where they are souping and drinking” (Medioni). Although there are the ideal physical spaces for conducting Samā, once again there is a metaphysical element to this parameter, as “…the “place” of the concert is also paradoxically a “no-place”, a u-topos, a “heart-land”, rather than any specific bodily locus. A “place” is sacred by virtue of the heart’s presence there rather than the heart’s presence physically contingent upon the geographical locus of the body” (Ibid).

The third parameter for practicing Samā is right company, which can be seen as a parallel to the Buddhist concept of the Sangha, the idea of a spiritual community as essential to the furthering of the individual. In the case of the Sufis, Right company also connotes a sense of worthiness, and since Samā “…is an esoteric activity demanding a refined degree of understanding on the listener’s part, it is usually considered a ceremony proper “for members only”, and from which the uninitiated are to be excluded” (Ibid, 10).

First and foremost, we must understand that Samā is an art of awakening, just as meditation on the koan mu is a practice of awakening for Zen Buddhists. The difference is the means, since for the Sufi the experience of Samadhi comes in the midst of musical meditation rather than sitting meditation. Samā is used to provoke “…various types of ineffable visionary experiences, which ‘are the summation of what is sought by the lovers of God Almighty and the ultimate fruit of all pious works’” (Ibid, 17). It is meant to induce a hal, or a “…sudden mind bending glimpse of hidden things” (Khan, P., 55). Samā is an art of self-realization, since when proper Samā is practiced, the mystic “encounters in himself states which he had not encountered before he listened to the music” (Ibid).

“The cause of those states appearing in the heart through the Samā is a divine mystery (sirr Allah) found within the harmonious relationship of measured tones [of music] to the [human] spirits and in the spirits becoming overcome by these melodies and stirred by them…But the knowledge of the cause as to why spirits are affected through sounds is one of the mystical subtleties of the sciences of visionary experience” (quoted in Lewisohn, 17).

The discussion of Samā is useful in understanding an existing framework for the act of listening deeply. I hope any of the religious imagery and language didn't scare anyone away, as I am aware that many people tend to have allergic reactions to dogma.

In the next installment of the series on listening, I am going to explore one way we can examine the act of improvisation, a view in which the listening and creation of music are not two separate entities but parts of a whole that is co-creative.

Avery, Kenneth S. A Psychology of Early Sufi sama’: Listening and Altered States. New York, NY : RoutledgeCurzon. 2004.

Khan, Hazrat Inayat. The Mysticism of Sound and Music. Boston : Shambhala, 1996.

Khan, Pir Zia Inayat. Parabola: The Search For Meaning. Spring 2005.

Lewisohn, Leonard. “The Sacred Music of Islam: Sama’ in the Persian Sufi Tradition". British Journal of Ethnomusicology, Vol. 6 (1997), 1-33.

Medioni, Franck. Sonny Rollins and David S. Ware: Sonny Meets David. All About Jazz, online magazine. Available at http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article_print.php?id=19423

Sarasvati, Swami Pratyagatmananda. Japasutram: The Science of Creative Sound. Madras: Ganesh & Co, 1971.

Shiloah, Amnon. “Music and Religion in Islam”. Acta Musicologica, Vol. 69, Fasc. 2 (Jul.-Dec., 1997), 143-155.

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Pulitzer prizers and improvisers

Steve Smith has a post up linking to some critical discussion of Ornette's Pulitzer by Terry Teachout and Frank J. Oteri. I must admit that my knee-jerk reaction was to believe that they were barking up the wrong tree, criticizing a worthy recipient of the Pulitzer and wider recognition even if it wreaked of making up for lost time and atoning for past oversight.

However, there are some good points made by all, which should be taken into consideration.

First and foremost, I agree with the notion that perhaps the Pulitzer should have created another prize to accommodate jazz rather than expanding the rules for the existing prize. Apparently someone agrees with me:

"Yehudi Wyner, the classical composer and Pulitzer laureate who chaired this year's jury, acknowledged this fact by recommending to the Pulitzer Board that separate prizes be given to classical and nonclassical music, which strikes me as a realistic response to an otherwise insoluble problem." (Teachout)

I don't think jazz should be judged on classical music's terms, because there is so much more going on in jazz apart from composition and the manipulation of sounds in a pre-composed sense. There are musical personalities apart from the composer and conductor at play that require different skill sets than the accuracy and technical demands of classical music. There are improvisers, people who have a skill relating to assessing and reacting to the music being made in the moment, and attempts to understand that on classical music's terms will inevitably fail. A quote from Travis A. Jackson's forthcoming book on the New York jazz scene echo my own thoughts on the matter:

“…meticulous transcriptions and analyses of jazz, focused on the “immanent recurring properties” (Nattiez 1990:10-1) of “music itself”…have made jazz scholarship seem a replication of score-based analysis and sketch studies. In such research, sometimes implicitly oriented toward the elevation of the music, jazz appears as an imperfect version of classical music rather than as the vital examinable in its own right” (Jackson, 2).

Vital examinable in its own right...yes, most certainly. However, asking the Pulitzer people to create a jazz prize would require them to be knowledgeable of these issues already, which apparently is not the case.

I do not agree with Terry Teachout's assertion here however:

"Needless to say, the fact that classical music was shut out of this year's Pulitzers has not gone unnoticed. Nor should it. The Pulitzer Prize for music, after all, is the only award for musical composition that receives any kind of mass-media attention in this country. Because it is reported in most American newspapers, it gives a boost to the careers of the classical composers who receive it, most of whom labor in semiobscurity. On the other hand, it will make no difference to Mr. Coleman, who long ago wrote himself into the history of American music and needs no prize to retrospectively certify his importance."

I know Mr. Teachout is far from ignorant when it comes to the issues surrounding jazz, so it surprises me that he really believes this will make "no difference" to Mr. Coleman. It reminds me of the recent Ben Ratliff article that claimed the avant-garde didn't need Lincoln Center. While I understand that many classical composers are indeed languishing in "semi-obscurity," the larger genre of classical music is still far more visible, better funded, and in the public consciousness than jazz. Even amongst the dead giants, people are more likely to know Mozart and Beehtoven than Davis and Coltrane. Only those of us who exist within the insular world of jazz understand Ornette Coleman's important contributions to American music, and making more people aware of this fact can only be a good thing in my eyes.

I guess my own perspective on the situation is that I've never been a stickler when it comes to rules. I don't mind the occasional bending, and to be honest the music Pulitzer was meaningless to me until Ornette received this year's prize. What good does it do to give an award to a musician or composer if the public cannot readily or easily hear their work since it does not exist on recording? Very little in the way of furthering the audience for the music, be it classical or jazz. As one of the comments on Frank Oteri's blog noted, after Ornette won, you could go to iTunes and immediately buy and hear the winning piece of music.

Welcome to the 21st century, we're glad you could make it.

Jackson, Travis A. Blowin’ the Blues Away: Performance and Meaning on the New York Jazz Scene. California, Forthcoming.

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Month of May , 2007

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