Two Excellent Articles from Daniel Barbiero

Actually, one is an essay and one's a review. Both are well worth reading:



A review of Jack Wright's new book...

...and an intriguing essay about free improvisation. Building on notions of self-exposure, he says:

The central, medium-independent content of free improvisation is the improviser’s disclosure of him- or herself, from the first person perspective. ...

Think of how music can convey an emotion such as agitation—with rapid flurries of notes, loud dynamics, dissonant pitch combinations it can model the restlessness and unease of an agitated emotional state. ... What is being represented is the state of the improviser, the first person perspective on the performance, in the medium of organized sound. ...

The expressive part of free improvisation’s content can be described—we can say of a player that his line is agitated or her harmonies are anxious—but in itself it isn’t description. Through the agitated line or anxious harmonies the performer isn’t describing his or her state but rather is expressing it.

The only caveat I would have for that is: don't underestimate the power of acting. My playing may be agitated, but I may be pretending, not expressing....

I love thinking about playing in this way, and Daniel's writing about music always gets in deep.