Number 26 November 30, 2009

“Success is doing the right thing, at the right time, with the right people” Duke Ellington

I’ve spoken before of my dear friend, the brilliant composer/conductor Butch Morris. http://www.conduction.us/ Butch comes from the jazz tradition, and played with Steve Lacey in Paris, among many other legendary improvisers. For 25 years he has been performing what he calls conductions. Working with symphonies (largely in Europe) improvising musicians, even spoken word ensembles, Butch directs various members of the group to play, to repeat passages, to lay out, etc. using hand signs, as a conductor. The result is a fresh, spontaneous, performance that builds and follows its own internal logic. (These are my descriptions, Butch has a very developed methodology, and is writing a book on his conduction methods.)

While Butch is the foremost practitioner of this, it is not without precedent. Count Basie (especially in the early days in Kansas City, before the pieces became codified in recordings and countless gigs) would signal a horn section to improvise a riff, and would then signal other sections of the band to comment on, or repeat, variations of the riff. In the Count’s band, he would usually start with piano, then bass and drums, and the tunes would build in volume and density (think One O’clock Jump). My record label (I will be changing the name from Rogue Records to Valence Records, more on that shortly) will be releasing some very important work of Butch’s in the new year.

Gregory James