The following is my response to Cory Grossman’s article on the Lulu’s Playblog about free improvisation:

Since the beginning of my formal education in jazz, I have been attempting to listen to “free” music. I had to take a jazz listening course in middle school for two weeks at a camp I was attending and there I was exposed to the music of Cecil Taylor (who has been regarded by many as coming from the European Avant Garde rather than the American Jazz tradition, I wont get in to that), the melody ridden “who the f#^% does he think he is” Shape of Jazz To Come life-changer Ornette Coleman, and the later works of the great John Coltrane. I hated them all.

Now, I was young, and listened to a lot of Jay-Z and Nelly, but thats really not unlike most of popular culture today. So the problem is, how do we draw in an audience that isn’t really interested in this music in the first place, and further, is that even the point of this music?

Well, I believe it IS the point of this music, because I believe the point of ALL music is to reach an audience through some sort of emotional, political, social, or other kind of statement. So that falls on the performer. That falls on us. Most importantly as a band, we need to know each other, and be able to anticipate each others’ next thoughts.

In all of those free improvisation jam sessions I have attended the theme from our coach or instructor has always been the same: YOU PLAY TOO MUCH. The tendency for young musicians is to play too much, and then listen to the other players only when it is convenient for them. The problem is that these young musicians, in my humble opinion, have no business playing free music in this kind of setting. They need to be put in a room with 1 to 5 close friends, and just hack away. The fewer people the better, for beginners.

So that brings me to Lulu’s Playground and why I believe the everyday listener will (hopefully) enjoy what we do, even when it is “just free improv.” We’re all close. We’re friends. We hang out and eat food together, we go out and listen to music together, we play other musics together, we drink together, we laugh together, and finally we make free music together. We know each others’ tendencies, we respect each other, and we LISTEN to each other. Communication is such a beautiful, attractive thing in music! Some of the most inspiring sessions of free music I have listened to on recording or seen live have been played by old friends with a gift for telling a story. Just listen to Ornette’s “Lonely Woman,” or Coltrane’s suite “A Love Supreme.” Both are thick with passion and an intense sense of awareness, and could both be characterized as “free” music. And they are two of my favorite recordings ever.

I heard drummer Dave King say once that audience members can feel the intention behind the music. They can sense the feeling. He said it is your intention that draws audience members in to free music. When posed with this same question in a master class, the great NY trumpeter Russ Johnson said, “Never underestimate your audience, you’d be surprised how much they can handle.”

I guess I’ll leave you with that.