Obtuse Arguments

[Mark Kleinhaut]

Here's some tonal mayhem. Well, that’s how I hear this music coming out at this time. It’s completely improvisational, so the slightest wind shift can start a course change, any bump can change its direction or cascade unexpectedly. Uncertainties surrounding us in a precarious world. Playing “tunes” right now just doesn’t satisfy me.

[Boss Man Zwiebelsohn]

Wow ...

[Mark Kleinhaut]

Wow ...

. Thanks for listening!

[Jimmy blue note]

That's really lovely, the way what's being played is so informed by the sound of the instrument and the space you leave to really be savoured. These are the kinds of thoughtful compositions that really make an introduction into something that pulls a listener into the space.
I hear the emergence of lots of motific ideas, even some Gershwin passing in the stream.

Now I'm really missing the duets and solo things I used to do with Mick with models at a figure model art session we did weekly. The only parameters were a strict time limitation of between 30 second gesture to 30 minute long poses, each of which was free improvisation that was based on, or initiated by the motifs of space and shape provided by a living model.
In that space of time, it was important not to be a distraction, nor an annoyance from the flow of ideas that was necessary for artists to draw. So space and consideration, reaction, motif and dynamics were all part of the compositional process. After playing like this for 3 hours, it profoundly changed the relationship we had with standards.

It's really too bad you didn't have the opportunity to participate in these with us. He'd invite students of his with a propensity for exploring their creative initiative to be a part of these free association sessions. It actually turned out to be not so "free" after all, but extremely disciplined and responsible to form, only that form was determined by the ability to perceive and realize in real time.

Thanks for doing this one, Mark! As usual, the sound and space is gorgeously framed by your playing.

[Mark Kleinhaut]

Now I'm really missing the duets and solo things I used to do with Mick with models at a figure model art session we did weekly. The only parameters were a strict time limitation of between 30 second gesture to 30 minute long poses, each of which was free improvisation that was based on, or initiated by the motifs of space and shape provided by a living model.
In that space of time, it was important not to be a distraction, nor an annoyance from the flow of ideas that was necessary for artists to draw. So space and consideration, reaction, motif and dynamics were all part of the compositional process. After playing like this for 3 hours, it profoundly changed the relationship we had with standards.

It's really too bad you didn't have the opportunity to participate in these with us. He'd invite students of his with a propensity for exploring their creative initiative to be a part of these free association sessions. It actually turned out to be not so "free" after all, but extremely disciplined and responsible to form, only that form was determined by the ability to perceive and realize in real time.

Thanks for doing this one, Mark! As usual, the sound and space is gorgeously framed by your playing.

Thanks so much for your generous listening! Means a lot to me. Do any videos of these model sessions exist?

[Jimmy blue note]

Thanks so much for your generous listening! Means a lot to me. Do any videos of these model sessions exist?

There aren't any, because the models were nude and I didn't have video artist releases for them, and some artists didn't want any videos of their work documented without their control. They were there, then, and gone.

[Mark Kleinhaut]

There aren't any, because the models were nude and I didn't have video artist releases for them, and some artists didn't want any videos of their work documented without their control. They were there, then, and gone.

”There, Then and Gone”. I’d love to use this as the title for my next free piece. I don’t have models to work with but the ideas of them and all of my many invisible friends gives me a steady stream of starting points.

[Jimmy blue note]

I don’t have models to work with but the ideas of them and all of my many invisible friends gives me a steady stream of starting points.

The environment was a huge contributing factour in these sessions. Artists aware and appreciating but not "attending" like a traditional performance. We felt each others' presence but visual, musical, graphically creative and spacial (the moods created by the music effected the attitudes and poses of the models, turned their poses into sequential physical narratives).
These sessions comprise the last phase of Mick's artistic career and were all post retirement from the stage. He continued to be invited to play with people all over the world, but to them he always declined. "If there's not a beautiful nude model and an engaged room full of artists, why do it?"
It was an experience that re-shaped the musical experience whereby improvisation was an integral process that came from being moved by the beauty of the human form. Painting with sound.
Far from being random, though without "changes", it needed to be coherent and have an arc to it because when you have exactly 4 minutes to create a piece of music, it needs to be open to possibility, statement and definition in the first part, sustain and build engagement in the second, signal the peak and immanent end of the pose and end on time, to the second (we had a digital timer with us at all times). If we worked together, it was inspiring and engaging. If artists didn't feel the inspired flow, they didn't come back. If models felt the music, the perception of time would fly by and they would be envigourated. If they weren't moved and lost in the music, a pose could be very long.
It was pretty cool. The guitar seat was always welcome for anyone wanting to join us. Many top players "sat in" with us because it was an amazing time and ...it was the only way to play duo with Mick after he retired.
Oh yeah, it was free improvisation but it could also include any song we knew if it lead into it naturally. A free improvisation would find a DNA trace of Stella, or Someone to Watch, or Ghost Riders in the Sky, and it would coalesce into that without any outward cue. We saw that as the composer sitting in.

If a player couldn't help but take the spotlight and do something that was counter to the spirit and vibe of the pose or session, they would get a sour look and they would not be encouraged to come up again until they had drawn a while.
Everyone learned a lot, especially musicians

[Mark Kleinhaut]

The environment was a huge contributing factour in these sessions…

It sounds totally amazing, such a scene. I don’t know what could even compare to what you’re describing- such a dream…. Isolation has replaced so much of what once was.

[Mark Kleinhaut]

Well said. Both in your comment and the playing. You have quite a God given talent Mr.Kleinhaut that it is very apparent that you have worked hard to hone and improve. Bravo!

Thanks for your supportive comment. I don’t know where any of it comes from. I’m not a believer in anything beyond my immediate perception and I don’t really feel like any hard work was involved. All I’ve ever done is kept my ears open and put in the years.

[Jimmy blue note]

It sounds totally amazing, such a scene. I don’t know what could even compare to what you’re describing- such a dream…. Isolation has replaced so much of what once was.

I don't know what could even describe the fractured concept of art that we're headed into- such a nightmare... Artificial Intelligence will replace a human intelligence we once took for granted.
Keep the music flowing and the frontier expanding.

[Cunamara]

The specter of AI may ultimately even eclipse the political insanity we are hurtling into. The potential impact on art and artisanship is inestimable and unpredictable, we just have to keep playing as best we can to keep humanity in the music.