My cohorts and I meet most Thursday afternoons to listen, play and discuss our co-creations. We have done this for a little over a year now. I am so grateful to have the keen ears and skilled playing of Suzanne Romey, Eleanor Mills and Jim Kellough to engage with the sound collages I create. They are one of the biggest gifts I have ever received from the WoW.

What is it that we are creating? I have called them soundscapes, sound paintings, sound collages. We work with the elements of music in an open format. We dispense with genrefication and virtuoso performance in order to explore deep listening, improvisation and harmonic relationships. In my mind I call it “free-range music” although I don’t like to use the term “music” cause it is so loaded with expectations.

The expansiveness of our work does limit our audience. Music listeners of today seem to be drawn to the familiar, repeatable, easily catagorized, or to virtuoso performers who have “mastered” their instruments or who have charisma, excellent marketing or celebrity cache.  We are not of this ilk, but still we bring what we have to offer, and we find people who listen, hear and appreciate us. Sometimes I think we are creating music for a future time, like our magnificent predecessor, Sun Ra.

On September 11, ibod will play an outdoor soncert in downtown Durham. The program will include pieces we have played before and some revised work. Here is a small sample of what we will create:

Undulatus was inspired by the feeling of undulation I experienced as the soundscape was forming. The original title was Undulato which sounded like Italian ice cream to some folks. Then I saw videos of cloud formations called undulatus and thought “ah-ha, there’s my title!”

some kinda waltz was created as a loop for an ADF dance class in the summer of 2015. Jody Cassell used a recording of this piece for I’mpossible Aren’t I? which was presented as a dance and dance film during Tobacco Road Dance Productions Spring Showcase 2016. Here is a slice of a more recent recording:

Big Stride is our breezy, sunny day beach song. Eleanor said she pictures a tall woman in a long skirt striding down the beach. I like that image alot!

And, finally, here is a brief sample of one of our group improvisations sans soundscape. These have been evolving over the last 6 months to help us develop big ears and conversational skills.

I hope you enjoyed this little taste of ibod. Come listen, dance and dream with us next Sunday at 7 in Sushi Alley off Foster Street across from the Marriot Hotel in downtown Durham.