Over the last months, I have engaged in a frantic file-exchange activity with Swedish bass player Anders Berg. The result has been 3 Bandcamp albums titled November, December and January. This process itself has given me food for some thought about the nature of improvised music: What is it? How free is it, really? Does it have a role to play in the music(s) of our time? What happened to melody? Can it be groovy? Do you need to be in the same room? How long should an improvised concert or album be? Will classically trained improvisors take over improvised music from jazz musicians? What will then become of free jazz?
These are not new thoughts. And they are relevant for many sorts of musicing outside the realm of free impro. Actually, that could be one answer to the question if impro should be banned. Its non-compromising nature can be a catalyst for questions about music itself, be it machined dance music or a gavotte.
Our duo's overall plan is to have no plan. One of us starts the recorder, plays a stretch over a number of minutes, and sends it over the border to the other player. Anders seldom listens to what he has recorded before he sends his stuff over to me. I usually play it back and sometimes replace it. That might be heresy, but it is what it is. In another group I play in our practise before performances ends up in a plan for a 3 or 4 sequence show where each segment has a signature sound or atmosphere. Still it is free music. But to call it completely free from idioms or each musician's background (or bag) would be false.
My collaboration with Anders Berg has so far resulted in 3 releases in 3 months
Go to:
simlas.bandcamp.com/album/november
simlas.bandcamp.com/album/december
simlas.bandcamp.com/album/january-2
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