Improvisation...And All That Jazz

A most unusual jazz trio will take the stage at Wellesley College tomorrow (Friday) night. Award-winning jazz musician and composer Vijay Iyer (who's album Historicity was named the #1 jazz album of 2009 by more outlets than I have fingers on one hand) and George Lewis (a MacArthur Fellow and scholar of experimental music who plays a mean trombone) will perform with The Voyager System, a digital device developed by Lewis that is capable of improvising musical responses to human performers -- don't tell me that's something you see every day. 

Concert details: .

If improv is a topic that interests you, join Mr. Lewis and philospher Arnold I. Davidson this afternoon (Thursday, February 9) at 4:30 PM for a talk titled "Improvisation as a Way of Life" at The Susan and Donald Newhouse Center for the Humanities (237 Green Hall). They'll be exploring the suggestion that improvisation as an aspect of everyday life (not just something that exists in the artistic domain) that can lead to new models of intelligibility, ethics, and social transformation.

Lecture details:

“Spontaneous Sounds is the first chapter in the Newhouse Center’s semester-long interdisciplinary exploration of improvisation,” said Carol Dougherty, Professor of Classical Studies at Wellesley College and Director of The Susan and Donald Newhouse Center for the Humanities. “What's unique about this series is that it isn't just about overlapping performances. The series creates an intersection of creative expression and critical inquiry and enables audiences to experience music, art, and intellectual exchange in a way that can only be done at Wellesley."

Like so many other campus events, both the concert and the lecture are free and open to the public. As always, hope to see you here!