Part 2

Do you feel as though there are at least elements of composition and improvisation which are entirely unique to each? Based on your own work or maybe performances or recordings by other artists, do you feel that there are results which could only have happened through one of them?

Yes, there are definitely elements that are uniquely distinct between the two of them.

BUT here is an example which meshes the unique elements on top of eachother. I was lucky to be one of the musicians on the new DARIUS JONES album entitled fluXkit Vancouver (i̶t̶s̶ suite but sacred). There is a track on the album that he actually named “Zubot” dedicated to my brother and I.



Darius saw us perform with my brother’s string ensemble (Josh Zubot Strings) and it gave Darius the inspiration to write this string quartet music for us and two of our other string colleagues from Vancouver (Peggy Lee on cello and James Meger on bass). The album also has Gerald Cleaver on drums.

[Read our Gerald Cleaver interview]

On this composition “Zubot,” the written elements are essential to keep the music moving along and to also keep it on a sort of grid. On top of the written elements, my brother and I are doing very abstract improvisation throughout being led by graphic score, which is generally open for interpretation, but also specific at the same time. It was a mind melding scenario to get through the whole piece and required concentration, stamina and the ability to transcend through improvisation at the same time as keeing track of the grid.

This is a perfect example of VERY unique elements working together. The elements are all unique to each, but in this scenario they happened at the same time.

Also, I do a lot of composing for film and modern dance these days. When doing this, I like to create a base for a composition and then I just start improvising with various instruments to create a palette. Then I will go in and edit things out that seem irrelevant. The overall result could only happen by improvising material and I feel it is a lot better when I compose this way.

When you're improvising, does it actually feel like you're inventing something on the spot – or are you inventively re-arranging patterns from preparations, practise or previous performances? What balance is there between forgetting and remembering in your work?

At this point I would say inventing on the spot is happening all the time. If there is too much repetition it kind of feels like you aren’t contributing to art or creation.

I don’t prepare anything for improvisational performances at this point in my career. It is all about searching for moments and emoting through soundwaves.

Are you acting out parts of your personality in your improvisations which you couldn't or wouldn't through other musical approaches? If so, which are these?

Improvisation gives you an opportunity and a free ride into expression that can be ultra unique and through this aspects of your personality can come out in very bizzare ways, sometimes subliminally, sometimes more obvious.

I feel like you can really stretch and you are allowed the freedom to do things such as howl for as loud and long as you feel like in the moment. It is a free way to express. Therefore parts of your personality come through because you aren’t generally censoring yourself or worrying about what people may think of you.

Sometimes they can be the more wild aspects of your personality, or the most tender parts of it.

In your best improvisations, do you feel a strong sense of personal presence or do you (or your ego) “disappear”?

I would say in the best improvisations you feel like you do disappear to a kind of other plane, but are strong in your journey. Therefore your spirit is very present, not really your ego.

In a live situation, decisions between creatives often work without words. From your experience and current projects, what does this process feel like and how does it work?

From my experience, when you are working with creatives that you know and trust, most of the time the process is through osmosis.

It is a really great feeling when this happens and it works. The creations usually seem better to as they are tapping in to something beyond.

I have always been fascinated by the many facets of improvisation but sometimes found it hard to follow them as a listener. Do you have some recommendations for “how to listen” in this regard?

I would suggest listening to improvisation in a way that is more linked to meditation or calm openness, rather than expecting it to entertain or reward you in any specific way. It will present you with many feelings, emotions and ideas, if you let it.

Also, expecting it to ‘make sense’ in anyway that is similar to a constructed song or compositions related to any particular genre of music, probably is not a good idea.

In a way, improvisations remind us of the transitory nature of life. When an improvisation ends, is it really gone, just like a cup of coffee? Or does it live on in some form?

I am a firm believer in the interdimensional power of sound waves. I feel like they travel through this plane and can enter and exit other planes of existence that are all around us.

When an improvisation ends that energy has travelled infinitely through time and space (dimensions). Therefore it seems it may live forever.