Day three of the What’s Going On festival, with two conduction events, one with strings plus guests and one with all percussion plus guests, with an incredible line up of phenomenal Seattle improvisers and stellar out of town guests.
What’s Going On: Conduction, Improvisation, and the Culture of Structure honors the work and lives of Lawrence “Butch” Morris, Sun Ra, and Henry Threadgill. The festival celebrates the innovations and musical philosophies of these three mid-century African American musical conceptualists, all of whom created highly personal approaches to structural integrity in music. They all borrowed concepts from a wide range of traditions, eschewing European conventions while looking for new ways to expand beyond the traditional assumptions inherent in the music commonly known as jazz.
November 14th at the Chapel features two large ensembles, Kin of the Moon Orchestra and Manual de Ritmo de Percussion con Senas, each performing a set of conductions based on themes by Morris, Threadgill, Sun Ra, Roscoe Mitchell, Carla Bley, Wayne Horvitz, and Julius Hemphill. The first ensemble is a string chamber orchestra and the second is an ensemble of nine percussionists. Featured soloists include Leanna Keith, Brandon Ross, Ingrid Laubrock and Robin Holcomb.
“Conduction” is a technique in which the artist uses hand symbols to orchestrate the music of an ensemble of improvisers. Elements of written music are sometimes used, often not. This technique has roots in various music traditions but was formalized and came into common practice largely due to the efforts of Lawrence “Butch” Morris. Mr. Morris passed a decade ago, and the festival began as an homage to his legacy, and the spirit of re-imagining notions of structure in music.
Co-presented South Hudson Music Project and Nonsequitur.