Shadow Music by Tropos

When originality is the goal, the proper mechanism is necessary to fulfill it. Improvisation can indeed be the thing that facilitates making imagined music that is just too complex—and too alive—to be conveyed effectively as a composition. State of the art improvised music requires a rigor arrived at with a precise understanding of methodology and operational strategies shared in conversation and rehearsal. The ability to decipher how the other players present and respond to material that emerges in the process of performance can result in uniquely cohesive and unpredictable music that can only happen once.

These three musicians have studied the full range of improvised music, can play it with great artistry, and can articulate the what, why and how of it better than most. I can hear their understanding of the composite methodologies of that music throughout these five tracks. They work together with a relaxed control that allows the music to breathe even in the silences.

I hear their deep expression in their restraint, which is both stark and always lovely. I hear their individual decisions as they navigate through the contingencies that emerge as they interact decisively with flexibility: leading, sharing, supporting, and contrasting, but never dominating or impeding the collectively generated elegant forms that emerge. The music never stutters, and nothing is forced. Instead, each sound has its own place in the perfect balance with silence.

This music may be spare, even sometimes stark, but it is also relaxed and comfortable, never contrived or precious. That requires the ability to mix logic with emotion, a factor that sets this apart from more static music in this vein. Having heard them perform works by Ornette Coleman, Albert Ayler, Cecil Taylor and Anthony Braxton, I know this work is connected to them even as it is also informed by their interest in Morton Feldman, John Cage, opera, electronic and pop music, and more. This recording isn’t an attempt to counter any single work, but to complement all of it. It isn’t an argument against density, melody, or accented rhythm; it is their presentation of other things to add to that collection of sounds—those that defy the notion of an exclusive culture or hierarchy. This is another beautiful example in the special continuum where courageous artistic expression made by vibrant young people is truly contemporary and inspiring.

Joe Morris
July 2022

Tropos is a collective ensemble of improviser-composers based in Brooklyn, NY.

troposmusic.org