Guerino Mazzola Spring 2021 Music 5950 Topics in

Guerino Mazzola (Spring 2021): Music 5950 Topics in Music: Free Jazz—from Structure to Gesture V THREE COLLABORATIVE PILLARS V. 05 (Mo. March 29) Flow (1)

Guerino Mazzola (Spring 2021): Music 5950 Topics in Music: Free Jazz—from Structure to Gesture • Flow (Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi) is being described as „being completely involved in an activity for its own sake. The ego falls away. Time flies. Every action, movement, and thought follows inevitably from the previous one, like playing jazz. “ Jazz improvisation as flow: „. . . the music will work itself“ „. . . goes into autopilot“ „. . . stream of consciousness“ chick-sent-me-high-ee Flow—The Psychology of Optimal Experience Harper & Row, NYC 1991

Guerino Mazzola (Spring 2021): Music 5950 Topics in Music: Free Jazz—from Structure to Gesture Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi • Phenomenological theory of consciousness (no neuronal bio-chemical model) consciousness = intentionally ordered (better: ordering!) information (contrast: dream) • What is the self? It is the sum of all contents of consciousness • Disorder of self = entropy (in general, entropy is a measure for disorder in physics) • Flow = maximal order in consciousness = optimal experience = negentropy information coming intentionally into awareness congruent with goals This is an individual experience, not one of a group of individuals! • transformation of time characteristic for flow • MC‘s description of flow in music: three ways of listening to music: sensorial, analogic, and analytical (with increasing complexity) Problematic classification via logical vs. analogical approach. Listening to free jazz a priori low rated (analogic. . . ). The gestural component is not recognized.

Guerino Mazzola (Spring 2021): Music 5950 Topics in Music: Free Jazz—from Structure to Gesture Keith Sawyer (Group Creativity) • Group flow as equilibrium between shared structures and specific goal: • shared structures = overall outline of performance, repertory of ready-mades, roles of performers, agreement on tacit interaction practices • specific goal = extrinsic goal for problem solving creativity intrinsic goal for problem finding creativity • business teams have flow in many shared structures + extrinsic goal • improvisational groups have few shared structures + intrinsic goal • both live on the diagonal line in Sawyer‘s diagram shared structures many predictable, scripted free jazz few intrinsic/unknown flow p u gro chaotic, ineffective extrinsic/known specific goal

Guerino Mazzola (Spring 2021): Music 5950 Topics in Music: Free Jazz—from Structure to Gesture 1. Symphony for Improvisers: Symphony for Improvisers Nu Creative Love What's Not Serious? Infant Happiness 19: 43 2. Manhattan Cry: Manhattan Cry Lunatic Sparkle Plenty Om Nu” Don Cherry: Gato Barbieri: Pharoah Sanders: Karl Berger: Henry Grimes: Jean-François Jenny-Clark: Ed Blackwell: 19: 17 cornet tenor saxophone, piccolo vibes, piano bass drums produced by Alfred Lion for Blue Note recorded September 19, 1966 Excellent group flow

Guerino Mazzola (Spring 2021): Music 5950 Topics in Music: Free Jazz—from Structure to Gesture 1. Pharaoh's Dance (Joe Zawinul) 2. Bitches Brew 3. Spanish Key 4. John Mc. Laughlin 5. Miles Runs the Voodoo Down 6. Sanctuary (Wayne Shorter) Miles Davis Wayne Shorter Bennie Maupin Chick Corea John Mc. Laughlin Dave Holland Harvey Brooks Lenny White Jack De. Johnette Don Alias Juma Santos tp ss bass cl e-p gt b e-b d d congas, d shaker, congas, pc Larry Young Joe Zawinul 20: 06 27: 00 17: 34 04: 26 14: 04 11: 01 e-p produced by Teo Macero for Columbia Records Billy Cobham d Airto Moreira pc recorded August 19 -21, 1969 sold over 500‘ 000 times #49 in Rolling Stone‘s best albums Davis drew a line in the sand that some jazz fans have never crossed, or even forgiven Davis for drawing.

Guerino Mazzola (Spring 2021): Music 5950 Topics in Music: Free Jazz—from Structure to Gesture Miles Davis’ comment: I had told Teo Macero, who was producing the record, to just let the tapes run and get everything we played, told him to get everything and not to be coming in interrupting, asking questions. “Just stay in the booth and worry about getting down the sound, ” is what I told him. And he did, didn’t fuck with us once and got down everything, got it down real good.

Guerino Mazzola (Spring 2021): Music 5950 Topics in Music: Free Jazz—from Structure to Gesture So I would direct, like a conductor, once we started to play, and I would either write down some music for somebody or I would tell him to play different things I was hearing, as the music was growing, coming together. It was loose and tight at the same time. It was casual but alert, everybody was alert to different possibilities that were coming up in the music. While the music was developing I would hear something that I thought could be extended or cut back. So that recording was a development of the creative process, a living composition. It was like a fugue, or motif, that we all bounced off of. . . I wish I had thought of video taping that whole session because it must have been something and I would have liked to have been able to see just what went down, like a football or basketball instant replay.