Everyone knows it's not kewl to look directly at the camera.
We're getting down to the last couple of rehearsals and it feels good to have the tunes decided and at a point to where can actually play all the way through them.
Last Sunday a few of the current, (Russell, Peter, and myself) and past (Sam Wisman) BHIC residents participated in a performance of John Zorn's gamepiece "Cobra" at the RecordBar as part of Jeff Harshbarger's ongoing alternative jazz series. The majority of the show was a terrific performance by Snuff Jazz with Brian Haas. The sympathy between the musicians was truly inspring. Many points during their set I was seriously questioning whether or not the music had been written and rehearsed beforehand. The closing performance of "Cobra" was my favorite that I've ever participated in. Partly because I feel like I'm getting more comfortable with the computer and partly because it was hilariously fun. If you're never heard Russell yell things during a musical performance, your letting the best in life pass you by.
I have to admit that I still have conflicting feelings about freely improvised music and so called "game pieces" even though I've been actively involved with them for several years now.
1. They're risky and can be as cliche ridden as be bop when done badly.
2. They tend to go on way too long.
3. I worry that they're way more fun to play than to listen to.
On the other hand:
1. They can be really exciting.
2. They can go unexpected places.
3. You can get to hear players take real chances and play outside their schtick.
I suppose what I enjoy most about the freely improvised music is the impetus for the players to make something happen. As Bobby Watson says: "It sucks because you make it suck" and really I have those same concerns for all jazz in general.
One thing continues to be abundantly clear: that you don't just create music like what happened during Snuff Jazz's set without an extremely strong personal athestic, a vast understanding of past music, technical control, and passion.
Despite the name, the focus of BHIC is on composition but I'll leave you with a couple freely improvised moments from last rehearsal:
yeah! Those are some choice clips!
Posted by: Peter Lawless | 11/18/2010 at 11:00 PM