Artist: Moss Freed, Union Division
Album: Micromotives
Label: Discus Music
Year Of Release: 2023
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Tracklist:
01. Union of Egoists – for Anthony Braxton (20:45)
02. Unprecedented Times – for Pauline Oliveros (18:15)
03. Left-Leaning – for Louis Andriessen (21:32)
04. Kilter – for John Zorn (15:58)
05. Starlings – for Christian Wolff (16:27)
06. Hidden Hand – for Terry Riley (15:13)
07. Hung Parliament – for Barry Guy (19:01)
Personnel:
Moss Freed: Electric Guitar
Laura Jurd, Charlotte Keeffe, Sam Eastmond: Trumpet
Tullis Rennie: Trombone
Rachel Musson: Tenor Saxophone
George Crowley: Tenor Saxophone, Clarinet
Chris Williams: Alto Saxophone
Rosanna Ter-Berg: Fute, Piccolo
Brice Catherin: Voice
Otto Wilberg: Double Bass
Steve Beresford, Elliot Galvin: Piano
Will Glaser, James Maddren: Drums
Pierre Alexandra Tremblay: Electronics, Electric Bass
Six Years In The Making, ‘Micromotives’ Represents A Dynamic And Empowering Vision Of Real-Time Collective Composition, Created By Composer Moss Freed And Showcased By Large Ensemble Union Division
With Improvisation And Sociality At Its Core, This Is Dazzling And Surprising Music That Shifts Nimbly Between Materials And Structural Events, Encouraging Synchronicity And Collaboration While Giving Unusually High Levels Of Creative Control To Individual Performers. The Aim Of The Project Was To Engineer An Large-Scale Environment That Both Maintained The Personal Freedoms, Sense Of ‘Nowness’ And Modes Of Communication That Improvisers Commonly Experience In Small Groups; And Produced Distinct And Distinguishable Compositions That Were Audibly Impossible To Achieve Through Improvisation Alone.
Freed Established Union Division Early In 2018 To Workshop These Ideas, Bringing Together Some Of The UK’s Top Improvisers From A Range Of Backgrounds. Through A Shared Language Of Hand Signals, The Collective Practice That Evolved Enables Large Numbers Of Players To Self-Organise Easily And Transfer Detailed Information Between Themselves Directly And Inaudibly. There Is No Demarcated Leader And Any Attempts To Coordinate The Group Are Invitations Only. Each Piece Within ‘Micromotives’ Has A Unique Set Of Compositional Materials That Guide Players Towards Particular Activities And Soundworlds But, Critically, There Is No Obligation For Performers To Use These: Improvisation Is Always The Default Position. Players, Then, Have Power To Determine Their Roles And Integrate Improvisation With Predetermined Elements Fuidly, As They See Ft, From Moment To Moment.
