I will not be performing the score THIS IS IT any more. Don't be fooled by my calendar, which refers to all improvising gigs (well, there are only three left) as THIS IS IT. I am sick of the piece and have a feeling it is somewhere between condescending and outright stupid. It is something I feel funny/uncomfortable asking improvisers I know and respect to play, and therefore it is something I should not ask anyone to play. I don't agree with it anymore, I don't think, and I would like to be free to improvise with whomever without the specter of this piece looming above our heads. I think it generally ends up invalidating or trivializing its own performance, which is not something I want to be doing, at least not anymore. I really like improvising, and I think the way that group improvisation instantly creates community is really exciting - in fact, it is this very thing that I like about music. I don't care about virtuosity, I care about community. I don't want to trivialize it. Even if I am being overly negative and the piece does have some validity or positive value, John Baldessari does it better:
I will keep THIS IS IT as a sticker series, though, I think it works in that context. And if you would like to perform THIS IS IT, it is covered under Creative Commons and is available for download somewhere on this site. You might have to do a search for it, in the top right-hand corner up there. Perhaps you'll be able to figure your way into an effective performance of it. I am just tired of doing it.
That was it? (Your show last night)
Wow, that was amazing. I sat for a while -- ten minutes? ten years? -- I can't be sure, because time stood still; all I know is that when I left, I was much older and a little wiser. And $7 poorer. Way to not cave to the old definitions of "music." How quaint that I had an expectation of hearing a human being use a brass instrument to produce the sound of air being forced to resonate through metal tubes! Your spluttering and spitting, your deconstruction of the whole idea of "trumpet," and the repeated wiping of your mouth on your sweater have inspired me. Later today I will be dusting my piano, and I would invite you to watch/listen, but I'm sure you will be too busy practicing lip contortions for your next gig, so I shall perform instead for the random passersby lucky enough to catch a glimpse through my window.