Has anyone considered improvisation from a cubist perspective?
Music for me is a quantum experience. I use the concept in quantum physics of superposition. To me, any note played implies many different possible notes to play. I call that superposition. Once the next note is played, more variations come into view. Has anyone else ever thought of music this way and, specifically, has any improvising jazz musician felt like they were not in total control of their output but couldn’t put into words what was happening?
If the metaphor of superposition is mysterious to you, then the concept of the unsolvable AI computer problem of P and NP is certainly not obvious. But to take LittleVoice’s putdown seriously consider the reference to time where P equals serial, linear time, and NP equals time in the sense that Einstein refers to time, that is, all time exists in every moment. Or, since I am referencing quantum physics, P equals the changes and NP equals all the possibilities and directions one can proceed in considered all at the same time–the concept of superposition. Therefore, the P NP problem is solvable by knowing the changes and then throwing them all away to allow anything to happen–and it will. What shapes the sound is our musical sensibility and this human quality is exactly what the P NP problem refers to when it requires Turing machines to solve the unsolvable. Jazz improvisation requires more than linearity. It is an art form. Miles is known for his simplicity and elegance–every note appears to have meaning. This is true of Coltrane, Dolphy, and the extension of bebop into hard bop into expression which is less obvious but more challenging. I feel like I am riding a wave, that I am searching for a deep structure, that I can trust the process. It is not so much mental as it is spiritual and emotional.
Has anyone considered improvisation from a cubist perspective?
I am always on the lookout for new metaphors to assist me to improvise jazz. My latest efforts have been the area of quantum physics. Unfortunately, quantum physics has no direction, no aesthetics, and no love. It is strictly probabilistic and functional. Cubism, on the other hand, is an artistic and geometric concept which combines physics (planes, dimensions) with perspective, shape, and artistic creative energy. Besides, cubist art is my favorite form of art. While I’m attracted to 12-tone music, I’m a real novice at it and need to work more on treating it in terms of improvisation. Cubism might be a way to improvise from the perspective of shifting tonalities, rhythms, meter, scales, and atonality as vehicles to effective, moving expression.
