An incisively lovely Lacy line, recounted by pianist/composer/improviser Frederic Rzewski.. In 1968 I ran into Steve Lacy on the street in Rome. I took out my pocket tape recorder and asked him to describe in fifteen seconds the difference between composition and improvisation. He answered: In fifteen seconds the difference between composition and improvisation is that in composition you can have all the time you want to decide what to say in fifteen seconds, while in improvisation you have fifteen seconds. His answer lasted exactly fifteen seconds and is still the best formulation of the question I know. -- From the brochure Listen To Lacy (1990), as quoted in Derek Baileys book Improvisation (1992).
Posted on: Sun, 18 May 2014 18:37:17 +0000
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