AMM (group)

AMM is a British improvisation ensemble, which has existed since 1965.

History and Credits

Saxophonist Lou Gare, Eddie Prévost drummer and guitarist Keith Rowe founded the ensemble in 1965. You were first art student and jazz musicians (Gare and Rowe played with Mike Westbrook, Prévost and Gare in a hard bop quintet ). At the London Art School, she came through contact with artists such as Marcel Duchamp, Jackson Pollock and Robert Rauschenberg to the idea of ​​concepts such as action painting transferred to the music. In 1966, bassist Lawrence Sheaff ( at the AMM but cello and accordion playing ) and the pianist and composer Cornelius Cardew were added; first LP recordings took place. Following the resignation of Sheaff 1967 also played with the percussionist Christopher Hobbs ( 1968-1971 ) and the composer Christian Wolff ( 1968). Later the group became smaller again, after the departure of some Cardew 1973 to the Duoformat (Gare and Prévost 1973 to 1975, then Rowe and Prévost mid-1970 ). Since 1980 the pianist John Tilbury was added. Partly now playing with Rohan de Saram also the cellist, clarinetist Ian Mitchell and saxophonist Evan Parker. As a rule, AMM today consists of three musicians.

Functioning and self-image

Generally no appearance of AMM is planned, but will spontaneously ( without pre languages) instead. In addition, the musicians rehearse neither common nor collectively analyze the outcome of their game. In the realization of these principles a radical understanding of improvisation, inspired by John Cage which led to a quasi- aleatoric creation of new musical works created. In this way, the contrast between musique concrète and serial music, the particular musical debate in the 1950s was obsolete. By adding this improvisation practice, also presented the socially relevant question of the relationship between performers musicians and composers in new ways. The hierarchy between these two instances could now be overcome by the players were Composing himself and the musical idea on the stage in the spontaneous interaction was held in the ivory tower of the composer.

AMM is understood always as a collective. If the individual voices are important for the process of interactive sound generation, the result is fundamentally aimed at collective improvisations and not to a succession of solo contributions. The performances of the ensemble have nothing to do with jazz improvisations that take place usually on a chorus, but are defined by a radical negation given formal structures ( in the free-form jazz not dissimilar ), but also by the substantial avoidance of existing idioms. However, in order to avoid a formal arbitrariness that improvising musicians play to avoid the forming of routines as infrequently as possible to each other: " It will be a part of our secret that we have not played too much ," analyzed Eddie Prévost. In addition, the instrument was expanded early (eg by short wave receiver to echo tape device or a " tabletop guitar", which is prepared by means of plastic ruler or with his transistor radio to sound ). The group met in some cases also in darkened rooms, where the concerts sometimes lasted several hours. Regularly, the improvisations contained long, the voltage increasing phases of silence.

Aesthetics

Already from the first plate ( AMMusic 1966) exists in a very conscious use of time, with dynamics and musical textures, which differs significantly from the aesthetics of the free jazz and its " Energy Play" over long passages; rather, the musical language of the new music is used, although a subterranean tension arises, that of the free jazz is not dissimilar.

" Every noise Has A note ," this ( analytical and normative ) Determination of Eddie Prévost describes the radicalized aesthetics of the new improvised music: the sound that is often confused with the non- musical, the same regularity as the Musical underlies so that a ( creative ) ordering principle can be found, which implies the transfer of noise and notated music. The generation and origin of noise is determined from the social practice of music-making, but also from the interaction with the audience.

Dealing with compositions

Although AMM is an improvisation ensemble, but not dogmatic closes the performance of composed works. It was realized early on the performance of Cardew's graphically notated Treatise ( 1963-67 ) due to its interactive capabilities. Since the mid- 1980s the ensemble led repeatedly to the chamber opera Irma by Tom Phillips.

Effect

The musicians of AMM developed a musical language and game entertainment that exceeded both the former possibilities of new music as well as the ( free ) Jazz radically. Thus, the group of improvisers was in various musical genres, from rock music to classical and for the emergence of an independent free improvisation an example, similar perhaps otherwise only the same resulting improvisation ensemble Musica Elettronica Viva (MEV ) by Alvin Curran, Frederic Rzewski and Richard Teitelbaum. ( Only in 2004 there were joint performances and recordings of the two improvisational ensembles. )

AMM had already been created early on the level of technology used unintended impact on the pop music since guitarist Syd Barrett of Pink Floyd attended their first recordings and deeply impressed by the possibilities was that offered the tape echo device used therein. While AMM for a while even acted as the opening act for Pink Floyd in the UK, had the ensemble long time no opportunities to perform in other countries.

Discography (selection)

• " The Crypt - 12th June 1968" ( Matchless, 1968)
• " It had been an ordinary enough day in Pueblo, Colorado " (JAPO 1979)
• "The Inexhaustible Document" ( Matchless, 1987)
• "Before driving to the chapel We took coffee with Rick and Jennifer Reed " ( Matchless, 1996)
• AMM / MEV: " Apogee " ( Matchless, 2004)