Racer Session #329 | Haley Freedlund | June 19, 2016

We're so pleased to welcome trombonist and multidisciplinary artist Haley Fredlund to the Racer Sessions this Sunday. In addition to her performance at 8pm, Haley will also be leading our beginning improvisation series Improvisation is for Everyone! from 6:30-7:30pm at Racer. Be sure not to miss this great opportunity to dig deep into Haley's musical universe. Below are a few words on her Racer Session this Sunday, June 19th.

"The way that I perform and how I think about performing has shifted drastically in the last two years, and much of this shift is a direct result of two ideas: 

1. I am not playing my trombone as an instrument, but instead my trombone is a mouthpiece for my body as an instrument; 

2. My body, my trombone, and every single big-or-small thing either of them can do are tools for the act of improvisation. 

This is the only sort of manifesto I have in regards to the art I make, but I've found it to be very freeing. You can change 'trombone' to whatever instrument or medium you use, and suddenly, your improvisational toolbox is huge, whether you're an instrumentalist or a vocalist or a painter or a software engineer or a basketball player. So this is what I'm hoping can be the basis for what will happen on Sunday!

Moving forward: this is going to be a little different than the normal Racer Session presentation, and that's because, if you want, you are also the presenter! 

The plan is this: at 6:30pm, I will be teaching Table & Chairs' monthly Improvisation Is For Everyone! class. A lot of what we'll do in that class will offer ideas to implement in the collaborative presentation at 8pm, and if the weather is nice, we might even do one or both of these sessions outside on the Ravenna median (NOTE: if that's the case, this would mean an acoustic approach to sound-making, and I encourage you to think creatively and accordingly). We will follow a very simple graphic score, which is a simple arch. Imagine the shape of a rainbow, and you'll be imagining the score. The performance length is variable, as is how we move along the arch, because it will be based on how we all interact.

"You can change 'trombone' to whatever instrument or medium you use, and suddenly, your improvisational toolbox is huge"

I encourage you to come to the 6:30pm class if you're a musician who wants to get more comfortable moving and working with movers, and likewise if you're a mover who wants to get more comfortable making noise and working with musicians. I know this sounds very open-ended, and that was my intent, but I promise this will be a welcoming, not-scary environment! I'm so excited to see what happens."

All my best,

Haley Freedlund

1: Ivan Arteaga (alto sax into piano) Haley Freedlund (trombone into piano) Travis Fisher (plucked piano strings), other players’ names were not recorded

2: Chris Icasiano (drums) and ? (Tenor sax)

3: Nick Rogstad (trombone and movement) Evan captain (piano and movement) Chris Icasiano (drums and movement)

4: Patrick Latham (drums), Michael Prophet (piano), Taylor King (bass)

5: Tyler Martin (piano), Bryan Lineberry (alto sax), Keely McCarthy (drums),Chris Cole (Trumpet)

6: Ivan Arteaga (alto and movement), Haley Freedlund (voice and movement)

7: Aaron Otheim (piano), Patrick Latham (drums)

8: Michelle Hutchinson (drums), Gianni Aranoff (Tenor sax)

9: Ivan Arteaga (alto sax), Taylor King (Drums)

10: Michael Prophet (electric guitar), Brian Lineberry (alto sax)

11: Ivan Arteaga (alto saxophone), Gianni Aranoff (tenor saxophone) [partial recording]

12: Nick Rogstad (trombone), Taylor King (guitar), Travis Fisher (piano)