We are pleased to present you the album by Brad Barrett, Joe Morris and Tyshawn Sorey entitled Cowboy Transfiguration – the latest release in our catalogue.
The music in this recording is completely improvised, although it is not without specific methodology. These works reframe the concept of composition through frameworks that direct musical activity, and explore a participatory compositional process that unfolds through moment-to-moment interaction. At any time, musicians may choose to solo, play in unison, complement, juxtapose, or make no sound at all. This style of composition asks musicians to make informed decisions based on the activity of other musicians and to co-construct form through collective choices.
In these works, one or all of the musicians may be soloing, we may attempt to play in unison, we might complement the other’s choices, we might juxtapose our actions against the other’s, or we may elect not to play at all. Within this framework of interaction, musicians are also making choices based on density, rhythmic ratios, register, melody, and timbre. Musicians are encouraged to employ small particles of sounds and blend timbres with an awareness of implied pulse and an inclination to disrupt it.
