Thoughts Arising From May’s Gigs in Birmingham and Cheltenham

Forj

The approach taken by Forj and the Improvising String Quartet to last night’s amazing gig in the Hexagon Theatre at mac has got me thinking, particularly about the different ways bands and individuals approach free improvisation. For the first set the two quartets had worked out in advance an approach that involved the use of a number of composed themes which would form the basis of the improvisation. Certain themes were tackled by the string quartet, others were developed by the Forj group (two tenor saxophones, double bass and drums) while yet others involved all eight players. Each theme was developed with no time restriction, and the decision to move onto the next theme was taken spontaneously and in the moment. It was fascinating to watch the players as they anticipated the right moment to move on to the next theme.

The second shorter set involved totally free unplanned improvisation with each individual deciding when to come in and when to step back. Again, it was fascinating to see how the whole set evolved, how the members of the two groups made their decisions about entering or leaving the collective improvisation. It is also always fascinating to observe how the improvisations develop their own logic and coherence.

The approach of the first set to collective improvisation that involves a certain amount of structure is now an important part of free jazz and improvised music. Soultime Again (Stoney Lane Records) features the Paul Dunmall Quintet playing with the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire Big Band conducted by Ed Puddick, who had arranged a number of Dunmall’s compositions to be played at certain points during the free improvisation of the Dunmall Quintet. The key point here is that Puddick as conductor would bring in the band to play the arrangements at unspecified points which he would decide upon in the moment based on what was happening in the improvisations of the Dunmall Quintet. The Let Spin quartet follow a similar pattern of moving in and out their compositions at any given point decided on by the band members spontaeously. Likewise, at this year’s Cheltenham Festival Sam Eastmond, in conducting the four of John Zorn’s Bagatelles he has arranged (there are 300 of them and Eastmond has arranged most, if not all of them), allowed each improvisation to reach its natural end before cueing in the next theme.

At the Fizzle session at Centrala on Sunday 26th May the first set with Bruce Coates, Barry Edwards, Trevor Lines and Jim Bashford followed what might be thought of as the traditional approach to free improvisation; the set was totally improvised with excellent interaction betwen the four players. They listened intently to each other and reacted to what they were hearing. In second set, however, the Friends trio led by Alicia Gardener-Trejo and featuring Andy Woodhead on piano and John Pope on double bass adopted a different approach. The overall theme of the set was Horror Films of which all three members of the group are great enthusiasts. Alicia had devised a series of suggestions for the improvisation based on the narrative of an imaginary or real film; these were given to the trio and they were free to interpret them as they wished. It was a fascinating experiment that generated some very good music.

At the wonderful Bill Frisell Trio gig in the Bradshaw Hall at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire there was no question of free improvisation, but the way the trio moved seamlessly from one tune to the next without a break, but based on the musicians familiarity with the material and with each other’s playing had a strong improvisatory feel to it.

The next TDE Promotions gig will probably see yet another approach. It features Mike Fletcher’s Silent Form project (see details here) which has Mike and Petter Fadnes Frost on saxophones, Olie Brice on bass and Dag Magnus Narvesen on drums. Mike Fletcher has been carrying out extensive into the music of free jazz pioneer Ornette Coleman, and has come up with a number of ideas which he wishes to put into practice at the June 13th gig. I don’t know yet what exactly they are, but we will find out on the 13th.

Classifications in Jazz+ Album Reviews

The classification of the various styles of jazz is always a thorny topic; it tends to be scorned by musicians who are unhappy at being categorised as belonging to a particular style, but it is important for jazz critics and historians. Categories such as New Orleans jazz, bebop, hard bop, modal jazz, free jazz, swing jazz do capture the different trends in the music, and are very useful in describing the music.

Ezra Collective

I have, however, noticed a tendency to simplify recent developments in British jazz by talking of the ‘new wave’ of young musicians and bands, such as Ezra Collective, Nubya Garcia, Binker & Moses, and contrasting those bands with a so-called ‘traditional’ jazz scene, referring, I assume, to more established bands, and in a sense to jazz as you always thought it was. This use of the word (term?) traditional concerns me, firstly because the word traditional has for me always related to the classic jazz of the early New Orleans period and the various movements to revive that tradition from the late 1940s onwards. 

My other concern is that the implication from this simple classification is that so-called traditional jazz is not as creative as the jazz of the new young wave of British jazz. I should be clear that I have a great admiration for and liking of this new wave (Ezra Collective etc.) which is creating a very British style incorporating aspects of other current styles of music such as Afrobeat, hiphop or drum’n bass, and generating a whole new audience for the music. Ezra Collective winning the Mercury Music Prize was fantastic news. But the implication that comes from the use of the word traditional that the rest of the jazz scene is not creative is surely wrong.  Bands such as those led by Laura Jurd, Kit Downes, Tom Challenger, Ruth Goller, to name just a few of my favourites, are creating fresh vibrant creative music that is expanding the range and variety of the music while remaining recognisably part of jazz.

There are of course bands and players that play a repertoire based on standards, either songs that were originally show tunes, e.g. All The Things You Are, or jazz standards, well established compositions such as those by Monk or Wayne Shorter.  To describe even this music as traditional seems wrong as it is possible to be extremely creative drawing on the repertoire of standards.

All this came to mind in listening to two recent albums, a duo album, Space Cube Jazz, with trombonist Steve Swell and pianist Matthew Shipp (RogueArt Records) and a trio album In The Gloaming with Lothar Ohlmeier, bass clarinet, Isambard Khroustaliov, electronics, and Rudi Fischerlehner, drums (Not-Applicable Records, release date Fridway 16th February 2024). 

Space Cube Jazz has 12 relatively short tracks the length of which ranges from 2.02 to 6.49 mins. The music builds on the thoughtful interaction between the two players to provide an absorbing example of free jazz. The mood varies from track to track, so, for example, Electric Tip features a rapid fire conversation between the two players, while the final track, Space Hammer, is a very powerful track with crashing chords from Shipp on the piano and fiery declamations from Swell on the trombone. By contrast, Dark Matter has the feel of the blues, and String Theory has an air of mystery in the interaction between the two players. With its short tracks and the variety of moods, the album provides a very listenable approach to free jazz.

Ohlmeier/Fischerlehner/Khroustaliov

The trio album In The Gloaming is part of a series on the Not-Applicable label focussing on improvised music and electronics. The music is again based on thoughtful interaction between the members of the trio with most tracks building on short gestures from one player to which the others react. The music veers between the electronic sounds emanating from the interaction between Khroustaliov and Fischerlehner and the free-er interventions from Ohlmeier on bass clarinet whose sound and lines are often reminiscent of the playing of Eric Dolphy on that instrument. The Out Of Dry track stands out; it is a more atmospheric track with the bass clarinet playing a lyrical melody over a gentle drone from the electronics and soft brush stokes from the drums; more electronic sounds take over at the end of track. End Zone and Pixel Head use a ticking clock motif; in the latter track this leads into a slightly sinister backing sound over which the bass clarinet plays a gentle line. The music is throughout intriguing and full of interest.

Going back to the issue of classification; in the discussion of these two albums I have made a distinction between free jazz and improvised music. While accepting that there is considerable overlap between the two categories, I believe that there are important differences which come out in these two contrasting albums. The music on Space Cube Jazz I see as free jazz given that it is played on acoustic instruments and draws in its free expression on the language of jazz. In The Gloaming, by contrast, draws on other musical language and influences, and I would classify it as improvised music. The album notes refer to influences from the contemporary classical music of Ligeti, also from the music of Pauline Oliveros which seems to lie between contemporary classical music and improvised music , and from that of Oren Ambarchi, an Australian musician based in Berlin whose music moves between many contemporary styles, e.g. noise music, avant metal and creative rock.