SKYSCRAPER® ingrandisci Skyscraper: an ensemble, group, collective or orchestra; a gathering of diverse musicians drawn from a musical community at large. With Conduction® as its blueprint, it is the objective of Skyscraper to collectively pursue new and inventive ideas, and evolve solutions to the challenges facing 21st century musicians and music. As an open structure, it embraces successive generations of musical and artistic concepts, styles and categories from every conceivable point of view then cross-pollinates to expand the parameters of cultural and social experience. In this way, Skyscraper renovates and modernizes historical content to navigate the future. Skyscraper allows us to enrich, extend, elaborate, refine and advance definitive and significant contributions to music, our appreciation of it, our hope for it, and our ability to use it wisely: musicians, administrators and audience members combined. Therefore, Skyscraper will continually present new needs, new productions, new consumption, new education and new employment to an ever-expanding community. A SHORT HISTORY OF SKYSCRAPER The idea of a resident performing ensemble was first suggested to me in Verona by Dr. Nicola Tessitore in 1994. In March 1995, I began the Skyscraper series in Tokyo with an ensemble of traditional Japanese instruments. Nine concerts, one U.S. tour and five collaborative performances followed. In June 1995, the Verona Skyscraper premiered at the Verona Jazz Festival with one performance followed by Berlin in 1995; New York, Istanbul and London in 1997; and Barcelona in 2002 (see Skyscraper Chronology) Skyscraper has seen forty-eight (48) concerts in fifteen (15) cities, with eight (8) collaborations between them to date. Currently, Berlin and New York Skyscrapers continue in residence while London, Barcelona and Tokyo practice a varied view of Conduction. Each locale is gifted with its own improviser/interpreter who individually and collectively translates the Conduction vocabulary (as symbolic information) into a music that is uniquely its own -- an ever changing, ever challenging discourse, not as narrative but as descriptive continuum. CONDUCTION CONDUCTION® (conducted improvisation/interpretation) is a vocabulary of ideographic signs and gestures activated to modify or construct a real-time musical arrangement or composition. Each sign and gesture transmits generative information for interpretation, and provides instantaneous possibilities for altering or initiating harmony, melody, rhythm, articulation, phrasing or form. Employing more than 3,000 musicians in 17 countries and 59 cities, resulting in 22 CDs since 1985, Conduction has amply demonstrated its capacity for cultural diplomacy by uniting communities and serving as a powerful example of a new social-logic based on collective interpretation and personal interaction. In its ceaseless investigation of an extra dimension that transcends style and category, it has proven itself supplemental to the entire scope of musical and artistic endeavor. Conduction not only broadens the realm of musical possibility while strengthening musicianship, it also maximizes the potential of existing and probable musical directions. To participate in Conduction is to refine the qualitative standard for what music is and can be, thereby giving birth to a "new virtuoso" -- one who satisfies beyond the audience's desire to be rejuvenated, enlightened or entertained. Conduction is not a genre, and is not confined to any specific culture. A catalyst of social and symbolic potential, it is a blueprint, a challenge and a mission: positive for education, culture and humanity, both now and for the future. ARTIST STATEMENT Jazz has driven the 20th century literally from one end to the other, and it has given birth to many offspring, re-inventing it’s self time and again. No matter how many times it has changed, however, jazz has always been a medium for individual expression and collective interaction with its own characteristic spirit, which is swing, or rather the essence of swing. Born from the elements of spontaneity, momentum, combustion, ignition and propulsion, this essence has been called the "extra dimension." The orchestral community has often sought out this extra dimension in hopes of rejuvenating its traditions. Yet for all the orchestral works written in the past century, only a handful have brought jazz and music for orchestra closer together or attained the monumental status that each tradition holds. In an age when the term "interactive" has come to mean "human and machine," it seems reasonable to hope that an acoustic medium of collective interpersonal intelligence could achieve a greater degree of cross-cultural dialogue and trans-social communication than it has to date. To find a common ground between orchestral and improvised music, I believe one must return to the fundamentals to identify what is necessary for the two traditions to co-exist: that is, the opportunity for improvisers to improvise and for interpreters to interpret the “same material.” As musicians we all speak a common language. We may speak in different dialects, vocabularies, categories or styles, but the language is music, and music, whatever the tradition from which it springs, has certain intrinsic properties. Although these properties may ultimately resist analysis, music will always allow musicians to communicate from vastly differing perspectives. Is this information sufficient to begin a new era of investigation and collaboration? I believe that the answer is yes! The most common misunderstanding concerning Conduction is that it is only for improvisers from the jazz or improvised music community. This is not true. Although Conduction was incubated within the improvised music community, it grew not only to encompass the ideas of that community but also to expand beyond them. In order to maximize the potential of existing and probable musical direction, I needed to be able to make instant modifications to written scores, to construct, deconstruct and reconstruct compositions—to change the pattern or order of sounds and, consequently, the larger form. The Conduction vocabulary made it possible for me to alter or initiate rhythm, melody, harmony, form/structure, articulation, phrasing and meter of any given notation. Once the vocabulary had been established, it then became possible to eliminate notation altogether to pursue ideas based on collective interactive confrontations for the process of constructing composition in real time. A process of encounter emerged to address composition from an interpretive and/or improvisational point of view as two dimensions of continuous territory. The result is a music that can reflect all known and unknown facts relevant to the sonic world while raising cognition, creativity and potential to capacity; a legitimate relationship between a defined compositional logic and collective musical needs that applies to each community I work in. In its present stage of evolution, Conduction is a vocabulary, a process and a product. It serves as a conduit for the transmission of symbolic information. The process motivates musicians not only to compose, arrange and construct, but also to evolve their own vision, model and tradition, placing idea with idea; working toward a collective organizational goal with responsibility dispersed throughout the decision-making process. Thus spontaneity, momentum and combustion all work together to produce ignition, propulsion and convection. To call Conduction an experiment is a grave error. Any time you synchronize the spirit and still give it liberty, you open many doors to the primus, where the intimate necessity of possibility reigns, where we find and realize our individual and collective freedoms. From the perspective of the conductor, the act of Conduction is the art of*environing*: the organization of surrounding things, conditions or influences. My task is not only to illustrate (teach) the Conduction vocabulary in the workshops (rehearsals), but also to observe the cultural, social, and historical potential, both in the individual and the collective, and to arrive at a specific momentary logic that will organize itself into the structures and many substructures that (can) exist in a composition. Jazz is my heritage, my condition, and my tradition. I have inherited it; I will carry it on.... At the same time, I am advocating an ensemble of musicians from diverse traditions who share a common ground and goal as servants to music, who’s aim is an extra dimension that will represent a point where all musicians can create on equal footing. This common ground is not as untested as it may seem. Indeed, Elliott Galkin, in his History of Orchestral Conducting, shows that Conduction and the classical tradition share the same roots. What I learned from this book, years into the development of Conduction, is that "chironomy" existed as far back as 1500 BC, or even earlier: "In its earliest applications... chironomy was intended to indicate the course and characteristics of melody through the use of specific spatial movements. In effect, it served as a substitute for notation. The gestures that were devised at that time constituted the earliest system of visual signs by which musical direction was achieved." In recent years, Lucas Foss (Improvisation Chamber Ensemble), Leonard Bernstein (“Three Improvisations for Orchestra,” Columbia Records LP 6133), Sun Ra, Frank Zappa, Alan Silva and Charles Moffett are but a few who have broken ground in this area, with others coming to the floor in the last 18 years. After more than one hundred-thirty Conductions, averaging three to five workshop/rehearsal days before a performance, I see only potential: potential for Conduction and for the future of music and musician; potential because there has never been enough time to realize every requirement, or total understanding, within workshop limitations. When I began I couldn't imagine where the music and the musician are now. But today I can imagine light years into Conduction, both as concept and process, and I can envision many more levels that can be achieved. By no means do I suggest Conduction as an alternative to existing musical-educational methods or styles, but rather the investigation of a new social-logic that can unite and enhance existing traditions, a neo-functionalist approach to ensemble music, a process and a music that stands, more than ever, as a viable supplement for music, musician and education. I offer this as my contribution to the extra dimension. LAWRENCE D. ‘BUTCH’ MORRIS GOALS • To expand the intellectual reach of the individual and collective by elaborating on the elements of the decision making process. • To supplement all existing musical forms by maximizing potential for continued development in their own distinctive creative paths. • To wed the concepts of notation and improvisation by providing all musicians (composer, conductor and instrumentalist) with a vocabulary that can convey the knowledge and opportunity to surpass their heretofore-perceived artistic limits. • To engage each musician in a system of music making that draws on his or her unique personality, history and ability. • To enhance the ensembles interpretive and expressive abilities and skills by strengthening each musician’s knowledge and concept of composition, orchestration and arrangement in real-time, therefore expanding the notion of music theory and the idea of potential. • To engage the ensemble and the audience in the discovery of a world of expressive possibility by refining the qualitative standard for what music is and what music can be. • Ultimately, to cultivate, nurture, and educate, while keeping the collective landscape creatively and economically healthy by satisfying the artists’ need for challenge and the audiences desire to be rejuvenated, enlightened, entertained and more. SKYSCRAPER CHRONOLOGY Verona Skyscraper 27 June 1995 Cond # 46 Verona, Italy Tokyo Skyscraper 4 March 1995 Cond # 49 Tokyo, Japan Tokyo Skyscraper 5 March 1995 Cond # 50 Tokyo, Japan Berlin Skyscraper 1 November 1995 Cond # 51 Berlin, Germany Berlin Skyscraper 2 November 1995 Cond # 52 Berlin, Germany Berlin Skyscraper 3 November 1995 Cond # 54 Berlin, Germany Berlin Skyscraper 4 November 1995 Cond # 55 Berlin, Germany Berlin Skyscraper 5 November 1995 Cond # 56 Berlin, Germany Berlin Skyscraper 18 October 1996 Cond # 67 Berlin Germany Berlin Skyscraper 19 October 1996 Cond # 68 Berlin, Germany Berlin Skyscraper 20 October 1996 Cond # 69 Berlin, Germany New York Skyscraper 16 April 1997 Cond # 73 NY, NY, USA New York Skyscraper 17 April 1997 Cond # 74 NY, NY, USA New York Skyscraper 18 April 1997 Cond # 75 NY, NY, USA New York Skyscraper 19 April 1997 Cond # 76 NY, NY, USA Berlin Skyscraper 24 October 1997 Cond # 77 Istanbul, Turkey Berlin & Istanbul Skyscraper-24 October 1997 Cond # 78 Istanbul, Turkey Istanbul Skyscraper 25 October 1997 Cond # 79 Istanbul, Turkey Istanbul & Berlin Skyscraper-25 October 1997 Cond # 80 Istanbul, Turkey London Skyscraper 30 October 1997 Cond # 81 Liverpool, GB London Skyscraper 31 October 1997 Cond # 82 Liverpool, GB London Skyscraper 1 November 1997 Cond # 83 Birmingham, GB London Skyscraper 2 November 1997 Cond # 84 Oxford, GB London Skyscraper 4 November 1997 Cond # 85 Manchester, GB London Skyscraper 7 November 1997 Cond # 86 Bristol, GB London Skyscraper 10 November 1997 Cond # 87 London, GB Tokyo Skyscraper 14 March 1998 Cond # 93 Minn, MN, USA Tokyo Skyscraper 22 March 1998 Cond # 94 Atlanta, Ga, USA Tokyo Skyscraper 27 March 1998 Cond # 95 Tempe, AZ, USA IST & N.Y. Skyscraper 3 April 1998 Cond # 96 NY, NY, USA TOK, IST & NY Skyscraper-3 April 1998 Cond # 97 NY, NY, USA TOK & IST Skyscraper 3 April 1998 Cond # 98 NY, NY, USA NY, IST & TOK Skyscraper-4 April 1998 Cond # 99 NY, NY, USA IST & TOK Skyscraper 5 April 1998 Cond # 100/1 NY, NY, USA NY, IST & TOK Skyscraper-5 April 1998 Cond # 100/2 NY, NY, USA Berlin Skyscraper 9 September 1999 Cond # 109 Berlin, Germany Istanbul Skyscraper 1 April 2000 Cond # 111 Istanbul, Turkey Istanbul Skyscraper 2 April 2000 Cond # 112 Istanbul, Turkey Barcelona Skyscraper 21 October 2000 Cond # 114 Barcelona, Spain New York Skyscraper 2 July 2002 Induction # 1 NY, NY, USA New York Skyscraper 9 July 2002 Induction # 1 NY, NY, USA New York Skyscraper 16 July 2002 Induction # 1 NY, NY, USA New York Skyscraper 23 July 2002 Induction # 1 NY, NY, USA New York Skyscraper 30 July 2002 Induction # 1 NY, NY, USA New York Skyscraper 27 October 2002 Induction # 1 NY, NY, USA New York Skyscraper 28 October 2002 Induction # 1 NY, NY, USA New York Skyscraper 29 October 2002 Induction # 1 NY, NY, USA New York Skyscraper 30 October 2002 Induction # 1 NY, NY, USA

[ Progetti / Tour ]  [ Artisti ]  [ Proposte concerti ]  [ Info ] 

P.iva: 0065466216