We hold a passionate belief that improvised music, sometimes called free music or free improvisation offers many exciting opportunities both to players and listeners alike.
I have not had much experience of improvised music. When researching I came across several videos on Youtube and thought that it looked interesting but beyond that I hadn't much knowledge of it as an art form. When I managed to make contact with John I found him to be very helpful and he invited me down to his night at The Vortex. I took Tom along with me and once we had managed to find our way in we were introduced to John who in turn introduced us to a plethora of extremely creative and open minded people.
I had some idea of what to expect from watching the Youtube videos, most of which were filmed by Helen Petts, but nothing really prepares you for the dramatic ambience that accompanies this kind of performance.
The first set came from Josef Klammer and Seppo Grundler. They used a variety of instruments and electronics during their set. There was a touch of the theatre about the way that they interacted with one another, sometimes resembling mime artists in their expressions, especially Klammer. I tried hard to ignore the fact that Grundler bares a striking resemblance to my dentist.
Josef Klammer & Seppo Grundler, Mopomoso July 18th 2010
The next set was performed by The Fantastique Quintette comprising of Dave Tucker (guitar), Dave Solomon (drums), Sonia Paco Rocchia (bassoon), Ricardo Tejero (reeds) and Pat Thomas (piano). Dave Tucker is also a member of the London Improvisers Orchestra (LIO) and someone else that I have been in contact with in relation to this project. Again, one of the most interesting things from my perspective was to watch how the musicians reacted and interacted with each other. What makes this kind of music so special is that there are moments of pure genius amongst the relative chaos of 5 people playing instruments at the same time.
The Fantastique Quintette, Mopomoso July 18th 2010
Earlier I had been discussing with John how the sound (for my triptych) might have to be recorded. He had said that it's quite important for the improvisers to be able to see each other so that they would react in their usual way, but as my track needs to be split into 3 parts it would be impossible for the parts that are to be separate to be recorded in the same room as the mics would invariably pick up the other instruments as well as the instrument it is assigned to. Having watched a couple of performances I can see that at times during the set it is important for the performers to be able to interact visually. However, in places it seems that the musicians are only concentrating on their own instruments and barely cast a glance elsewhere. I started to ponder this and wondered exactly what it would mean for the musicians if they were only looking at the animation, would it change the performance in a negative way?
I also spoke to Will Connor who was sound man for the evening. We have been exchanging e-mails and hopefully he will be able to pull some sound together before the deadline. His booking agent is another useful contact as I will be looking to exhibit after the MA show at NUCA. As Will has worked on film sound as well as improvised music it stands to reason that he would be an ideal person to have on board.
All of these people (As well as just being damn nice people to talk to) are useful to know given my current interest in abstract animation. As my image-making becomes more inclined towards abstraction I feel that the accompanying sound-world should reflect that. I have never been a big fan of just sticking a 'song' over the top of my animations. The world of the music video is quite far removed from the techniques that I am employing at the moment so I knew that if I were to use music it would have to veer strongly towards the avant garde. What strikes me is the parallel between artists and musicians and the way that improvised music relates to fine art. Many artists who end up working non-figuratively, conceptually or in a visually abstract way have first proven that they are accomplished artists in their own right. Likewise the majority of improvising musicians are skilled professionals in their musical field who wish to get more out of their art. Improvising is a good test of musical ability as the musician has to think on their feet and react instantly, sometimes dealing with constantly changing variables in the form of other musicians.
For the final act John was performing with violinist Satoko Fukuda. I think that their set was probably my favourite as it had a more delicate feel than the previous performances. This performance was still very intense in it own way as the pair played beautifully together but it was less chaotic than the previous set. In places it sounded mournful, possibly because of the violin. I really enjoyed the moments of disharmony as I always feel that slightly discordant music gives that uncomfortable but at the same time wonderful feeling of unease.
John Russell & Satoko Fukuda, Mopomoso July 18th 2010
Having had a wonderful night and with my current project looking all the more promising for making contact with some good musicians, I made it to Liverpool St with about 30 seconds to spare before my train departed. It seemed somehow perverse after an evening of so much art and culture that I should have to sit on a train that smelled like Stella and Big Macs.
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