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Re: George Lewis Pdf



Yeah, it's a really hip selection. One section that I didn't have time to "transcribe" from the book (heh heh) is where one of the members of  Joseph Hollbrooke (Bailey's improv ensemble)...I think the bass player? describes why he fell out of love with free improvisation. It is very interesting. He makes some great points, though not enough to compel me to action.
 
Kris
 
----- Original Message -----
 
The long passage from Steve Lacie is my favorite.  "Jazz got to so that it wasn't improvised anymore. A lot of music that was going on was really not improvised. It got so that everybody knew what was going to happen and, sure enough, that's what happened. Maybe the order of the phrases and tunes would be a little different every night, but for me that wasn't enough. It reached a point where I, and many other people, got sick and tired of the 'beat' and the '4 bars' - everybody got tired of the systematic playing, and we just said 'Fuck it'."...some people are interested in carrying on an old tradition and they can find their kicks in shifting round patterns and they are not in any rush to find new stuff. They can rummage around the old stuff their whole lives. People become obsessed with not just maintaining a tradition but with perfecting it...[cut] "And you have to keep it going otherwise you lose that freedom. And then the music is finished. It's a matter of life and death. The only criterion is - 'Is this stuff alive or dead?'".

I really like that quote--it sounds like a good read!

Charlie