Some is more music than other, some is freer than other.

To say to a musician that what he or she plays is only almost music, can be perceived as an animosity. When I suggest that some free improvised music is more music than other, it is however not an attempt to alienate anyone, not least since some of the music i play and release myself can be said to fall into the "almost music" category.

To say that some improv is freer than other improv is also problematic, but maybe not so controversial, so let me start there.

This post is yet another of an endless row of attempts to find out what is what. Please bare with me.

I recently went to a concert here in Oslo with a British group (Watts / Weston / Lash / Day). It was great. If I was tell the musicians what I thought; that is sounded great, but that I did not find the set in any way provokingly rebellious they would probably find it ok and give me the only good answer to such a stupid remark. We play what we are and what we hear.

Never the less: This group is a part of a tradition in jazz music where every stretch (or tune) can be said to be a mimicking of when (if) the same group plays a composed tune with improvised parts (choruses). It did not sound as if they only played free versions of the chorus parts of those imagined tunes. It sounded, from the start to the finish of each stretch that they played tunes with heads, choruses and codas. It was great, but a comparative study of this group and Brötzmanns At Fresnes (with Kondo / Pupillo / Nilssen-Love) from 2009 would be interesting. Where At Fresnes is much more aggressive, sometimes almost one-dimensional, Watts / Weston / Lash / Day is sober and lyrical. In my ears and head the latter can be said to be less free than Fresnes is. Not that there is anything wrong with that.

Watts / Weston / Lash / Day is music. Even a person who only listenes to classical music from before 1910 will hear the almost romantic approach the group takes. This is not only because the "mimic" the playing of jazz tunes, but also because their approach is so lyrical and "romantic" sonically and energetically.

At Fresnes is also (and only) music in my ears. Fewer people will however find it pleasant. Those of us who woke up musically to rock music will not have any problems relating to the long set (no tunes here, only a log stretch).

But there are other groups that fall into the improv field that explore the bordes of the term music with their playing. Two words here: noise and sound art.

Noise music has been around for decades. Even if the term itself places it inside the music idiom, it is undoubtably a revolt against music that still provokes many music lovers.  ( In our time it is a blessing to be able to appreciate Marhaug and Mahler equally well.)

Another interesting attempt to enlarge the field of music is the mixture of free improvisation and sound art. One example is the band Lab Field that elevates soundscapes to an "instrument". The effect is striking. It does good to listen to it without thinking much. But since all music is in a certain sense problematic, it can also give food for thought (and endless attempts to find out what is what).