George Lewis

with Eva Soltes

La Jolla, California

October 9 and 10, 1997

TABLE OF CONTENTS

DAT 1

Side a                                                                                                                         pp. 1-18

            Family history and jobs--Chatham  neighborhood of Chicago--musical life growing up--father’s jazz collection--experiences at school--poor quality of schools--musical tastes of parents--admission to the University of Chicago Laboratory School--experiences at the Lab School--CD “Changing with the Times”--taking up the trombone--in class with Frank Tirro.

Side b                                                                                                                                    pp. 18-37

Playing the trombone--father’s influence--Dean Hay--improvising--stage band camps--Muhal Richard Abrams--Art Ensemble of Chicago--concerts and jazz clubs--cabaret card restrictions--Regal Stage Shows--Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians--decline of American cities--connection to music--attending Yale--Anthony Davis.

DAT 2

Side c                                                                                                                         pp. 37-48

Year off from Yale:  playing concerts with Steve McCall and Roscoe Mitchell--AACM--composing--Richard McCreary and electronic music--question of influence of one composer upon another.

Side d                                                                                                                                    pp. 48-65

People involved with AACM--return to Yale--degree in philosophy--study of Afrocentric history at AACM--jam sessions in Chicago--work with Count Basie group--International Computer Music Conference--African culture as theme in Lewis’s work--jazz--Count Basie Band.

Side e                                                                                                                         pp. 65-83

Anthony Braxton--Art Ensemble of Chicago--music director of the Kitchen--David Behrman and computer music--concerts with Braxton in Europe--contact with others: Alvin Lucier, Richard Teitelbaum, Maryanne Amacher--use of computer for performance:  New Music American Festival--concerts at the Kitchen:  Diamanda Galàs and others--Tod Machover--residency at IRCAM--computer music and improvisation--playing with Count Basie--Alvin Singleton--Maurice Weddington--TV shows on IRCAM.

Side f                                                                                                                         pp. 83-96

Working at IRCAM (cont’d.)--playing jazz with European Musicians--Mischa Mengelberg--computer technology at IRCAM--Rainbow Family--improvised music with computer at IRCAM--playing in Holland with Mengelberg--Fluxus--Eric Dolphy--artist-in-residence at the Studio for Electro-Instrumental Musique [sp?]--interactive computers--voice recognition techniques--video.

DAT 3

Side g                                                                                                                         pp. 96-113

Michael Visefuss[sp?] and STEIM--playing concerts in Holland--recordings--piece at International Computer Music Conference----teaching at the Art Institute of Chicago--What is American Music?--article on Cage and Zwern [sp?]--people who influenced Lewis--the nineties: work at University of California at San Diego--class on new music performance--improvisation.

Side h                                                                                                                                    pp. 113-132

Improvisation and indeterminacy--defining and teaching improvisation--improvisation in academia--influence of other figures at the university--jazz and personality--experiences in improvisation class--program at UCSD.

Side i                                                                                                                          pp. 132-146

Twenty-first century jazz--Voyager--improvising computer orchestra--improvisation and structure--piece for Rova Saxophone Quartet--work with poets:  Quincy Troop and Jerry Rothenberg--Northstar Bugaloo--Collage--John Zorn--Steve Schick--more on the improvising orchestra--models of large group improvisation--humanity and technology.