Imaging Music: Abstract Expressionism and Free Improvisation

Abstract

The author defines free improvisation, a form of music-making that first emerged in the 1960s with U.K. composers and groups such as Cardew, Bailey, AMM and the Spontaneous Music Ensemble. The approach here considers free improvisation as creative activity, encompassing its artistic agenda on the one hand and the process-based dynamic of its production on the other. After considering the historical location of free improvisation within Western music history, the article explores free improvisation as analogous with Abstract Expressionist art. This comparison enables a fuller understanding of the activity's conceptual basis and the creative process it engenders.

Klangfarbenmelodie: Learner Identity and the Creative Arts

“…Because of Mr. B's passion for jazz music, he introduced me to soloing and improvising within a jazz setting, and ultimately to trust my musical instincts within an unfamiliar context. Sansom (2001) writes about the use of sand, glue, and burlap in the improvisatory process, saying "...the use of musical instruments in unconventional ways and more unusual sound sources (from children's toys to homemade electronic devices) has become established means of sound-production in freely improvised music" (p. 32) He compares this process to Jackson Pollock's action-painting. Using less traditional instruments would allow students to explore sound and creation in a less intimidating format.…”

“…In the same article, Sansom (2001) also states, The emphasis upon process and material qualities enabled by 'freedom' from the image and more (traditionally) formal concerns is paralleled by 'freedom' from functional harmony and/or traditional modes of compositional construction, resulting in direct engagement with the medium of sound and the process of musical creation. (p. 32)…”

Improvisation in the Arts

“…Thus, literature, the visual arts, dance, theater, and jazz and non‐jazz music have reacted to and been influenced by one another. Matthew Sansom connects abstract expressionism in painting with free improvisation in experimental, non‐jazz music (31). Joan Miró, André Masson and Max Ernest, Sansom points out, developed painting processes that were influenced by surrealist poet André Breton's efforts at automatic writing (31).…”

Learning From the Experts

“…The genre often is described as a blending of avant-garde European music with the African American tradition of jazz (Bailey, 1992; Lewis, 2004; Pelz-Sherman, 1998). 1 It is also referred to as “contemporary art music” or “contemporary Western improvisation.” Since its emergence, free improvisation has spread to many countries throughout the world, is performed by a variety of dedicated artists, and, as Sansom (2001) notes, “has become (perhaps somewhat ironically), a genre in its own right, with associated record labels, media, significant artists, aficionados and performance rituals” (p. 29).…”