The Origins of this piece go back to one summer when I saw The Barry Guy New Orchestra and Peter Brötzmann's Chicago Tentet within a few weeks of each other. How could two improvising bands of more-or-less the same size, from the same sort of musical background and with some of the same players sound so different? At the same time I was getting very irritated by the so-called "conduction" that some people use to control large improvising groups. This seems to me to give improvising musicians an excuse not to listen, to cut themselves off from the musical and structural decisions, and inhibits their ability to negotiate the music with the other players. Once this happens, they are just technicians producing more or less bizarre noises on cue.
I was looking for ways that a composer (like Barry Guy) or a bandleader (like Peter Brötzmann) could organise music into a structure without inhibiting the players and promoting co-operation between them. I thought I could see one solution in Barry Guy's graphic scores. In trying to get to the essence of how these work, I drew little diagrams on scraps of paper. Symbols like a triangle for a trio passage or linked circles for a duo came quite naturally. Post-it notes are good because you can stick them on to music-stands, your knees, the back of the head of the person in front of you, and so on. My niece was appalled at the scrappy nature of my stick-figures, and showed me the proper way to draw them. The first attempt at an orchestral piece using this method was a thing called Seven Sisters which GIO performed at the Red Rose club in 2007.
While I was planning a more complicated piece that would bring out the useful aspects of conduction while keeping the emoting and arm-waving to a decent minimum, we got the new of Harry Beckett's death. An orchestral piece with space for solos seemed a good way to celebrate his life and music, because one of the characteristics of his playing was his ability to play lines which floated cheerfully over the broiling chaos of a big free-jazz improvising group. The challenge was to make a coherent structure combining solo passages, free improvising by a large group and a conductor trying to impose his or her own vision of how it "should" go...
That's the origin of the 'Improcherto'. Evan Parker and Lol Coxhill, Harry's old muckers, play the first two solos followed by Neil Davidson, Raymond MacDonald and John Burgess. Conducted sections are by George Burt, Raymond MacDonald, Una MacGlone, George Burt again and Peter Nicholson.
The act of playing a complicated piece of music from a score written on sticky bits of paper has a certain entertainment value, and Harry knew the value of humour. And he also knew that humour and a seriousness of intent are not in opposition to each other. I hope that comes across in this recording.
George Burt, 2011
credits
released January 2, 2012
Recorded at the Gateshead International Jazz Festival
The Sage Gateshead 27:3:2011
Rick Bamford - drums
Chris Barclay - trombone
Stuart Brown - drums
John Burgess - tenor saxophone
George Burt - acoustic guitar
Lol Coxhill - soprano saxophone
Neil Davidson - acoustic guitar
Robert Henderson - trumpet
Raymond MacDonald - alto / soprano saxophone
Una MacGlone - double bass
Nikki Moran - viola
Peter Nicholson - cello
Evan Parker - tenor saxophone
Emma Roche - flute
Gerry Rossi - piano
Liene Rozite - flute
Matthew Studdart-Kennedy - flute
Armin Sturm - double bass
Fritz Welch - percussion
Graeme Wilson - baritone saxophone
Recorded, mixed and mastered by Jim McEwan, 2011
Thanks: Paul Bream from North East Jazz, Ros Rigby from Gateshead International Jazz Festival, John Cumming from Serious.
Glasgow Improvisers Orchestra is a large improvising ensemble of around 20 musicians from diverse artistic backgrounds. They perform across the UK and Europe, host an annual festival of improvisation and run regular events.
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