The Hear and Now is composed for improvisers and draws heavily on a form of structured improvisation developed by the Rova Saxophone Quartet which we have termed Radar. This piece was commissioned for the 2004 Other Minds Festival. What really differentiates the Radar series from most structured improvisation is that the cues, parameters, hand signals, and “rules” are predetermined but the performers create the structure itself. The flow of sonic materials is decided in real time.
The Hear and Now adds additional material, such as the 5 Chinese pitch sets Zhi, Shang, Yu, Jue, and Gong. These components are used as a Radar improv and as the basis for composed solos the musicians use throughout the work. A graphic section inspired by Wassily Kandinsky’s Point and Line to Plane was also incorporated. Much of his graphic language was drawn from music and in turn, these visual ideas were used to create music.
Recorded live in concert at Other Minds Festival 10 at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, California on March 4, 2004.
Gino Robair, conductor; Min Xiao-Fen, pipa; Kyaw Kyaw Naing, pat waing; Jiebing Chen, erhu; Shoko Hikage, koto; Sang Won Park, kayagum; Jim Santi Owen, tabla tarang
Rova Saxophone Quartet: Bruce Ackley, soprano and tenor saxophones, clarinet; Steve Adams, alto and soprano saxophones, flute; Larry Ochs, tenor and soprano saxophones; Jon Raskin, alto and baritone saxophones.
To view or buy Raskin’s score for The Here and Now, follow this link.
* OM Live downloads include a pdf booklet and cover image
1 · The Hear and Now: I (9:56)
2 · The Hear and Now: II (6:41)
3 · The Hear and Now: III (10:54)
4 · The Hear and Now: IV (7:38)
5 · The Hear and Now: V (10:47)
6 · The Hear and Now: VI (9:35)
