ICASP Newsletter July 2011
 IMprov Notes: News of the Moment July 2011 2011 Guelph Jazz Festival
Colloquium  The Guelph Jazz Festival’s Colloquium opens at the Macdonald Stewart Art Centre and runs from September 7th-9th. This is a three-day offering of workshops, lectures and concerts, all of it free, and all of it at the Macdonald Stewart Art Centre. Aside from a widerange of exciting talks, interviews, and performances, this year's colloquium features two particularly exciting keynote speakers: Jayne Cortez & Aldon Lynn Nielsen! Aldon Lynn Nielsen is an American poet, and literary critic, whose critical text, Black Chant: Languages of African-American Postmodernism (1997), provides a poignant reassessment of African American cultural history, by tracing the transformation of black modernisms and postmodernisms by African American avant-garde poets (many whose works combine post-Bop jazz with postmodern verse forms) in the decades after World War II. Currently, Nielsen is the George and Barbara Kelly Professor of American Literature at Pennsylvania State University. Jayne Cortez is an American poet, and performance artist, and unsurprisingly—given that her work is highly performative and jazz-infused—is one of the poets explored in Nielsen’s Black Chant. She is the author of ten books of poems and performer of her poetry with music on nine recordings. Her voice is celebrated for its political, surrealistic, dynamic innovations in lyricism, and visceral sound. Cortez has presented her work and ideas at universities, museums, and festivals in Africa, Asia, Europe, South America, the Caribbean and the United States. Listen to Cortez perform her poem, “I am New York City” New to the research collection
ORAL HISTORIES:
Body and Soul: An Interview with Andrew Cyrille conducted by Rob Wallace: Rob Wallace conducts an interview with renowned drummer Andrew Cyrille as part of the 2010 Guelph Jazz Colloquium. They discuss the body in relation to spirituality, drumming, dance, pedagogy, improvisation, sociality, big bands, among other insights and reflections informed by Cyrille's own practice. Adaptive Use Musical Instruments: Members and collaborators associated with the Deep Listening Institute and the Adaptive Use Musical Instruments Project discuss the origins of the project, its therapeutic value and experiences using the technology working with Abilities First in Poughkeepsie, New York. Also discussed are the research activities conducted through the ICASP project, and the role of improvisation in the project as a whole. Interview with Bob Ostertag: Scholar, journalist, and improviser Bob Ostertag discusses the relationship between improvisation and electronic musical production, his time spent playing with renowned jazz improviser Anthony Braxton, and Walter Benjamin's insights on art with respect to contemporary forms of digital media distribution. Interview with Eugene Martynec: Improvising as a Community: In this interview, musician Eugene Martynec identifies the functionality and ideals of his group, the Toronto Improvisers Orchestra. He explains techniques behind conducted improvisation languages. In addition, he talks about pedagogical devices which uses to direct an improvising 'community-like' orchestra in Canada. "A Second Standpoint": Howard Becker talks about music, sociology, and their intersections: Howard Becker, in conversation with ICASP's Elizabeth Jackson, discusses ideas in collaborative music, such as leadership and power differentials, and the various roads leading to "ordinary" musicianship and its payoff. Further, Becker provides his thoughts about what makes for good collaboration, as well as the value of the outsider perspective. Improv Notes was initially distributed in 2008 as a quarterly newsletter. The ICASP team is happy to announce that the newsletter is back in action and will be distributed once a month. If you have anything improvisation related that you would like to have included in the newsletter, please send an email to: icaspweb@uoguelph.ca About ICASP The international Improvisation, Community, and Social Practice research project explores musical improvisation as a model for social change. The project plays a leading role in defining a new field of interdisciplinary research to shape political, cultural, and ethical dialogue and action. |
This Month's Featured Artist:
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