Bill Kautz - August 31, 2014

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It is with great pleasure to have another opportunity to curate at The Racer Sessions! 

This week myself and Chris Icasiano will be performing duets to 5 of my compositions. The duo format has brought in a fresh breath of air to these pieces, some of which have been performed before in a few different ensembles. It’s great to hear them so youthful! 

Playing together just with one person has been one of the most accessible ways that I have grown as a musician. It’s simply not as complicated to get together and jam with one of your friends. There is also an openness and exposure that allows the instruments to resonate and show their characteristics more so than in a larger group, which includes an increased openness for an exchange of ideas and a composition’s development. You learn to fill your sound with less and also get on a stronger frequency with the individual you are playing with. 

The pieces Chris and I will be performing tonight were developed by improvising repetitively on the melodies and trying different ideas. Most of the time I stayed relatively consistent with the melodies as originally designed and Chris would try a number of different ideas with what he was hearing. We’d then conference after each piece and pick out things we liked and other directions we could take. There was a lot of importance given to working together and not one supporting the other. That’s why there are a lot of counter-melodic ideas happening throughout what we do this evening. 

For the session following our bit, I’d encourage smaller ensembles and perhaps instrumentation that is unique together. I’d also like to hear improvisations which develop a main focus, but have varying textures that evolve around the main focus. Bringing new life to a familiar idea.

Thanks and I look forward to seeing you there!