Racer Session #063 | Kellan Smith | April 10, 2011

This Sunday, people wanting to play free music will write their name on a piece of paper (those of you that I do not know will put your instrument next to your name) and I will sort them into groups. I will announce the order of the groups and their members, and we will have a brief conversation (if you need to leave earlier than ten give me a heads up).

My friend Graeme and I have been working on a duo project named Salty Sea-Bear, and we will be presenting two pieces before the above happens. 

“Brother Benjamin”- A piece that has taken shape over a very long period of time written by me. Andrew D’Angelo asked me to write a ten-minute piece for a lesson, and I wrote a short melody that had improvisation before it and after it for approximately four minutes each. I have used this piece as a starting place for free improv by myself so many times that what was spontaneous has taken shape into a composition.

The other piece of music was written by Graeme, and it has taken shape through group improvisation over the course of a quarter or so.

Listening to music as you are part of it, while it is happening spontaneously, takes an extremely close listening/focus. The compositions that we are performing are essentially free pieces that have taken shape over a long period of time (especially the first). During the jams, people performing will be making a composition with each element crucial to its structure on the spot, so in order to have a point of reference there will be a broad concept discussed before each individual jam.