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UMI' Fields of Production and Streams of Consciousness: Negotiating the Musical and Social Practices of Improvised Music Peter David Johnston A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Graduate Program in Music York University Toronto, Ontario December 2009 Library and Archives Bibliotheque et 1*1 Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de I'edition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington OttawaONK1A0N4 OttawaONK1A0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-64922-0 Our file Notre rSfSrence ISBN: 978-0-494-64922-0 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non­ L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library and permettant a la Bibliotheque et Archives Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par telecommunication ou par I'lnternet, preter, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des theses partout dans le loan, distribute and sell theses monde, a des fins commerciales ou autres, sur worldwide, for commercial or non­ support microforme, papier, electronique et/ou commercial purposes, in microform, autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. The author retains copyright L'auteur conserve la propriete du droit d'auteur ownership and moral rights in this et des droits moraux qui protege cette these. Ni thesis. Neither the thesis nor la these ni des extraits substantiels de celle-ci substantial extracts from it may be ne doivent etre imprimes ou autrement printed or otherwise reproduced reproduits sans son autorisation. without the author's permission. In compliance with the Canadian Conformement a la loi canadienne sur la Privacy Act some supporting forms protection de la vie privee, quelques may have been removed from this formulaires secondaires ont ete enleves de thesis. cette these. While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires aient inclus dans in the document page count, their la pagination, il n'y aura aucun contenu removal does not represent any loss manquant. of content from the thesis. 1*1 Canada Abstract The concept of free improvisation emerged as an influence on Western musical practice in the mid-twentieth century, and has come to signify a domain of musical production that is discursively constructed by many musicians and commentators as experimental, boundary pushing, and perpetually contemporary. This dissertation is a practice-based ethnographic exploration of the rigorous approaches to free improvisation that arose in London, England in the mid-1960s. Through observing, interviewing, and playing with active practitioners on the London improvised music field, I construct an analysis of how a specific group of musical subjects operationalize the concept of free improvisation to produce musical culture and articulate the distinct identity of "improviser." The discursive construction of this identity position is analyzed in relation to the performance practices and sonic materials that these improvisers employ in their creative work, and then contextualized by an investigation into the social and economic structures that regulate the production of contemporary improvised music in London. I begin my analysis by applying Pierre Bourdieu's ideas of artistic fields and cultural production to the London improvised music scene, to build a conception of free improvisation as a practice that manifests within a specific universe of social relations. Following the establishment of this theoretical foundation, I use the ethnographic information I collected in London to explore how the idea of free improvisation is mobilized by the particular subjects in my study to enable creative action, generate meaning and identity, and mediate cultural production. The noisy, dissonant, and non- narrative sound-world that characterizes the music created by the London-based iv improvisers in my study is contextualized by connecting the sonic codes these improvisers employ to a history of musical modernism that defines itself through the negation of the basic tonal structures, harmonic cycles, rhythmic materials, and conventions of instrumental timbre that typify Western classical, folk, and popular music. I conclude with a structural analysis of the improvised music field, drawing on my experience living in London to describe how the existence of the non-commercially focused practice of free improvisation is dependent on a self-organizing network of venues, record labels, cultural institutions, and non-artist participants. My analysis addresses the structural factors that determine how improvised music is produced and interpreted by those who claim free improvisation as their aesthetic priority. v Acknowledgements Thank you first and foremost to all of the people who shared their thoughts and music with me while I was researching this dissertation. The generosity of all who volunteered their time to answer my questions will not soon be forgotten, and I hope one day to have the opportunity to repay the favour. I am most grateful to Rob Simms for taking on this project. You always seemed to know what I was trying to say before I figured it out myself, and kept me focused on the music when I was on the verge of getting carried away by the words. I could not have asked for a more supportive supervisor. A most sincere thank you to Martin Arnold, who has helped me travel this road since I started walking down it. Without your generosity of spirit and deep knowledge of the music there is no way that I could have done this project. I left every meeting with something new to think about, and hope that I got some of it right. Thanks also to Casey Sokol, for all your support over the last seven years, and for your continuing musical inspiration. You always challenge me to think differently, and to stay curious about the possibilities. My gratitude as well to Michael Coghlan, for steering the ship and knowing which way the wind is blowing. Special thanks to David Mott, who helped me get in to York University in the first place. I was glad that you could be there at the end to help me get out. And none of this work would have been done (on time or otherwise) without the sure and steady hand of Tere Tilban-Rios, who made sure I knew what needed to be done, when I needed to do it, and who I had to ask to sign the form proving that I did it. You have my deepest gratitude for everything you do for the students in the York University Music Department. vi Of course I owe everything to my parents, who sacrificed much so that my sister Helen and I could go to university. I dedicate this piece to you. You never questioned my desire to study music, and supported every decision I made along the way—even to drop out of school and go on the road with a travelling swing band. Although I am not the first doctor in our family, I am the first one to practice bass rather than cardiology. That has to count for something. To all of my colleagues in the Toronto improvised music scene, I thank you for the opportunities to make music with you, and for the fellowship that goes along with the playing. Especially to Tania Gill and Mark Laver, who remind me always that it's not about what you play, but whom you play it with. I am privileged in this life to have many true friends, and am especially grateful to know Dr. Eli Diamond, Dr. David Bronstein, Dr. Christopher Elson, and Rev. Andrew Killawee. You all have shown me what it means to be both a great scholar and a compassionate human being, and I will do all I can to live up to your examples. An extra special thanks to Alexander Glenfield, for helping me to navigate the waters of York University, and for finding the humour in all things. And finally, all of my love to Wendy Peters for believing in me, and for being everything a boy could ever need. Without you, not only would none of this have been possible, I would not have even known that it was possible to try. VII Table of Contents Abstract iv Acknowledgments vi Introduction 1 Constructing Connections 6 Situating The Sounds 15 Searching for the Script 43 Chapter Summary 59 Chapter One - Surveying the Improvised Music Field 62 Converting Capital 65 Fields and Fences 71 Transforming the Territory 80 Chapter Two - Chin Music: Talking and Playing with Improvisers 86 Finding the Field 92 Voicing the Discord 106 Rhetoric and Representation 128 Chapter Three - Playing the Field: Improvisation as Social Practice 134 Improvising Autonomy 142 Imagining the Improviser 152 Composing the Musical Margins 163 Chapter Four - Improvised Music and the Modernist Work Ethic 176 Improvising Modernism 177 Autonomy and Negation 182 Sphere of Influence 195 The Improv Ethic 201 The Anxiety of Genre 211 Chapter Five - The London School of Improvised Economics 222 Structuring the Spontaneous 229 Courting Conventions and Spatial Dimensions 247 Identifying the Improviser 260 viii Chapter Six - Reducing the Improvised Music Field 277 Last Past the Post 280 Another Other 296 Conclusion - Improvising Tradition 308 References 319 Sound References 325 Appendix A: Research Participants 328 IX Introduction The concept of improvisation emerged in the twentieth century as a determining influence on musical and cultural production in Europe and North America. Improvised musical forms persisted in European folk music alongside the production of notated sacred and art music compositions in the 18th and 19th centuries, but the practice of improvising performances, as described in contemporary accounts of Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven, was abandoned by subsequent generations of European composers and performers.