Forces Set in Motion

George Lewis & Alexander von Schlippenbach @ Mandel Hall, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL
Friday, November 12, 2010

Interactive Trio (2007)
George Lewis: trombone
Alexander von Schlippenbach: piano
Lewis interactive music system: piano

Improvisation as a Way of Life: A Conversation with Arnold I. Davidson, George Lewis, and Alexander von Schlippenbach

The AACM Great Black Music Ensemble with George Lewis and Alexander von Schlippenbach
George Lewis: conductor
Alexander von Schlippenbach: piano
Mwata Bowden: director, conductor, baritone saxophone
Nicole Mitchell: flutes, voice, conductor
Douglas Ewart: sopranino saxophone, flute
Ernest Khabeer Dawkins: alto saxophone
Edwin Daugherty: alto saxophone
Fred Jackson: alto saxophone
Ari Brown: tenor saxophone
Edward House: tenor saxophone
Leon Q. Allen: trumpet
Jerome Croswell: trumpet
Ben Lamar Gay: trumpet
Shaun Johnson: trumpet
Dee Alexander: voice
Aisha Scott: voice
Saalik Ziyad: voice
Ann E. Ward: voice, piano
Khari B.: spoken word
Harrison Bankhead: bass
Dawi Williams: bass
Art "Turk" Burton: percussion
Coco Elysses: percussion
Vincent Davis: drums
Mike Reed: drums

Composer, improviser and scholar George Lewis has a preference for stepping back once he has set things in motion. His interactive music system, a manifestation of his decades of work with electronics and computer programming, represents his personal approach toward improvisation realized in algorithmic form. He has developed a methodology that allows the computer to "hear" and respond in much the same way an improvising musician does. With a bit of the real-time maintenance to insure that his device was operating properly, Lewis would wander off the stage to indulge in a bit of the audience perspective as Alexander von Schlippenbach explored a piano duo environment with the machine. George Lewis then returned to the stage to contribute his own "input" to the environment with his trombone. All with the calm, professorial demeanor of the Edwin H. Case professor of American Music at Columbia University.

Likewise, after setting the AACM Great Black Music Ensemble in motion with his own conduction, George Lewis again wandered off stage for an audience perspective. A large ensemble of talented improvisers capable of lurching in multiple directions both with or without a designated "leader" operating from the podium. Over the course of this performance the conduction duties were assumed by Nicole Mitchell and later by Mwata Bowden before Lewis returned to the stage for the final applause of the evening. The Association for the Advancement of Creative Music - an organization now 45 years strong fantastically documented by George Lewis in A Power Stronger Than Itself - is itself an organization that Lewis has helped shaped as a member that continues as another force set in motion.

This performance and panel discussion in Chicago's south side is another impressive example of the way the AACM has developed and grown a sympathetic audience for free improvisation. A daunting task that feels impossible in many other urban centers. Each part of the evening was presented with an honest transparency that never tripped over academic posturing or egocentric excess. An example of hospitable and challenging music.

A Power Stronger Than Itself

George E. Lewis: A Power Stronger Than Itself: The AACM and American Experimental Music. 2008. Chicago University Press.

By a strange twist of life's unknowable destinations this book I pre-ordered in Baltimore, finally got around to starting while living in California became my constant companion as I relocated to the roots of this book's story in Chicago. Providing a deeper understanding to a musical scene that has always held strong gravity for these ears accompanied by the palpable thrill of experiencing this living, local history as part of exploring the sonic terrain of the Windy City.

It would be hard to imagine a better writer to document the story of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Music. The impressive academic credentials of Professor Lewis balances well against his considerable clout as a member and practitioner of creative music of the highest order. This labor of profound love and discipline never loses sight of the rich story and the many personalities involved. The affection for the individuals comes through as several biographies and episodic chapters unfold a history of collectivism and sound that paints a vivid image of an organization that has survived and thrived well within and beyond the vision of its original founders. The honest assessment of the collective's successes and short comings providing an insight to the evolution of a musical movement that has infused and continues to contribute significant vibrations in American music.

George E. Lewis confronts the role, and controversies, of race and gender in avant jazz and new musics with devastating honesty. Confronting the sharp contrast in critical reception that awaited (and to an embarrassing extent still awaits) musicians who cross or blur musical genres. From speaking candidly about the indifference and disdain toward jazz held by white American composers of the early twentieth century seeking to define a cultural identity with more Eurocentric roots, to observing the lack of panelists of color at New Music Chicago's "New Music and Our Changing Culture" session in Chicago in 1982 to the long struggle toward institutional support for African-American musicians and composers. Culminating in an observation of how Anthony Braxton's music is frequently regarded as a betrayal of his ethnic roots while John Zorn is embraced for plunging musical style into the same omnivorous appetite pioneered by Braxton without being subjected to such accusations. The AACM's own evolution as an organization that admitted few women (who were often not treated as equals) to its current form with Nicole Mitchell at its helm portrays a membership willing to reflect upon their own sensibilities as it strives to correct injustices from within.

The communal impact of the long running presence of an AACM in Chicago is noticeable. I am struck by the difference in the quality of audience at new music and jazz concerts in Chicago compared to other cities. The community outreach has developed an audience that understands and respects this music in ways that are profoundly different from audience reception in Seattle, San Francisco or Baltimore. The level of diversity and engagement is striking and a testament to the positive impact this association has built up over many years. The quality of the music and the improvisers also reflects the level of development that is possible with this kind of open support structure that is in place.

Ultimately, A Power Stronger Than Itself is a much needed voice on behalf of a substantial part of the American musical landscape. George Lewis has added a new permanence to this incredible tradition by telling its story and offering an insider’s view that further realizes the high ideals that its founding members set in motion in 1965.

A Meme Stronger Than Itself

When Brian Sacawa isn't making a cinematic noise or putting a Mobtown Modern concert together he's been known to toss a hot meme over to a fellow Charm City blogger.

1. Pick up the nearest book.
2. Open to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people, and acknowledge who tagged you.

I am thrilled to have George E. Lewis's recently completed A Power Stronger Than Itself: The AACM and American Experimental Music at hand:

"We are playing to the public, you dig, and it's time for some new music. You say that the Japanese know more about our music than we do? That's cool -- but we made it."

The meme shrapnel from this one now gets spread to The Well Tempered Blog, the fretted free thinking of The Improvising Guitarist, the percussive insights of Stochasticactus, that stellar member of the Meredith Monk M6 Ensemble at The Standing Room and the good Doctor Detecto over at the fine Mariner's blog Detect-o-vision. This one is courtesy of Sounds Like Now from the meme streets of Baltimore.