Many musicians have talked about how an improvisational approach to music can be instructive on how one might also approach life. Creating in the moment, remaining open to reacting, and responding to unplanned and unexpected occurrences during an improv session can allow for many possibilities, ones the rational mind might not have considered. Longtime practitioners seem ready for anything, quick to react intuitively to changes in music or even a change in the room.
Imagine trying to live life like that. Would you be more sure-footed walking through this world, or feel less grounded? Would it cause more stress, or less? Would it make your day, your life, seem longer or shorter?
Who knows until you try, but master improviser Roscoe Mitchell leading a 15-member Art Ensemble of Chicago 50th anniversary concert looked like the calmest, coolest person at Big Ears this year. The group closed out the 2019 festival, and their set was a mind-blower. Covering a lot of ground in 90 minutes, Mitchell led the group through several fiery improv-based pieces, percussive-heavy compositions that favored African rhythms, politically charged spoken word pieces fused with lovely art songs, swinging big band arrangements, and more. Your eyes could be as active as your ears, as keeping track of each musicians’ activities was part of the enjoyment of the concert. Mitchell held forth at center stage, delivering several lengthy saxophone solos that were clearly the result of decades of musical exploration. The entire concert was emotionally charged, and the standing ovation from the packed Tennessee Theatre at the curtain call especially so. You felt you had witnessed something truly extraordinary, an event informed by decades of musical practice and exploration, even if its density might take some time to unpack and process.
As always, there were many emotional moments at Big Ears, often during rare or once-in-a-lifetime experiences. This Is Not This Heat’s set had the weight of being one of their few, and next to last, performances, and this was palpable in the audience. Drummer Charles Hayward and guitarist Charles Bullen exchanged looks and smiles a few times during the performance, and you sensed a private joke or memory being shared, and they seemed genuinely moved at the reception of a performance that exceeded high expectations from fans. Harold Budd and Alvin Lucier retrospectives offered a chance for fans and novices to soak in a lifetime of work from two highly original and influential composers. Lucy Negro Redux, The Way Forth, and Killed In Action were involved productions germinating from historical texts, calling upon the audience to remember and rethink the past in the service of shaping a better future. Every Meredith Monk performance is a special event. It can feel like she and her ensemble are on stage speaking just to you. Even a performance from a younger artist not yet weighted with a legacy or the responsibility of a history lesson can be nearly life-changing, as serpentwithfeet proved to many who were moved to tears by his set.
One of the most celebrated aspects of Big Ears is its venues, both the quality of their sound and their close proximity. A performance space goes a long way in setting the mood for and contributing to the tone of a concert. At late notice, Irreversible Entanglements’ set was moved from The Mill and Mine to Pilot Light. The downside of this was that only a small crowd ended up seeing a fantastic free jazz group fronted by Camae Ayewa’s spoken word performance, and the band would have surely sounded heavy through Mill and Mine’s booming sound system. The upshot, of course, was in the intimate setting, the front end of the capacity crowd of around 100 was all but up on the stage with the group. This performance benefited from its confined setting, however, making the fire and fury of the music and words almost tangible.
Ayewa performed twice more, a solo set as Moor Mother, and as part of Art Ensemble of Chicago. Big Ears is known for programming music that might take attendees out of their comfort zone or challenge them to rethink our culture’s received aesthetic wisdom. Though the music surrounding her certainly does these things, Ayewa’s words and delivery do this far more directly, literally challenging people to change and live their lives to help assuage the suffering occurring in so much of America. And if nothing else, change your life to alleviate your own suffering.
These challenges were also apparent in Amirtha Kidambi’s Elder Ones set at St. John’s Episcopal Cathedral. “You’ll notice a theme running throughout the songs,” Kidambi said by way of introduction. “This first one’s called, and I truly believe this, ‘Eat the Rich.’” The second song was “Dance of the Subaltern,” referring to people excluded from the colonial system, or more broadly, those who have no say or power within their society. The jazz ensemble accompanying her were improvisational and exploratory, matching the intensity of her vocals and lyrics. The programmers and performers were surely aware that this material would be all the more charged in a church, with its aura of a sacred space, stained glass images of Christ and saints looking down on you.
St. John’s Cathedral Choir performed Arvo Pärt’s exquisite choral composition Passio under those same glass eyes 25 hours later. A meditative work based on the crucifixion of Christ, the piece has long appealed to Christians and non-believers alike. Listening to this beautiful music, staring up at that lovely and colorful stained glass, you can understand why art and music are so crucial to most religions. Referencing, but also having evolved beyond the didactic role of early religious art, a modern religious piece like Passio can inspire the listener to reflect on the more disappointing aspects of ourselves and humanity in general, reminding us of all the good that is present in our lives, and point us toward our potential for betterment. Reflecting on Kidambi’s set the day before, it’s also easy to understand why art and music are needed to critique and combat those institutions and people who take advantage of people’s faith in, and vulnerability before, their unearned, malicious power and authority.
I’m glad I experienced those two concerts in St. John’s Cathedral, as I never would have linked them otherwise. I didn’t even have Elder Ones on my originally planned schedule, because a good rule of life is, any time you have the chance to hear Carla Bley play, you should. But at that particular moment, I was not in the mood to hear a piano trio, no matter how great. Nor did I want to sit in another dark theater on such a sunny Spring day. So in the spirit of improvisation, I changed course at the last-minute and headed to church. Similar events occurred throughout the weekend, and at one point I found myself standing at the corner of Gay and Clinch for two to three minutes, trying to decide between Lonnie Holley and KTL, both great improvisers.
So even if you’re on the fence about how much to let improvisation navigate your life, I think improvising is a great way to navigate Big Ears. Otherwise you more or less know what you’re going to get. And while that can be satisfying, it’s not always the most rewarding choice, or the most fun.
