The Ghost Opera (2006)
The Ghost Opera Company formed at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where I taught improvisation from 1968 to 1974. We used an improvisatory technique, based on musical games I'd developed in Chicago with percussionist George Marsh, bassist Clyde Flowers, and woodwind master Rich Fudoli. I recorded our spontaneously woven ensemble music and then these recordings into two pieces, Odd/Even and The Narrow Pass.
From the liner notes: “Each age has its characteristic feeling. The feelings of creative possibility and free association in the sixties and early seventies seemed especially bright. When I walked the streets of San Francisco, every passerby seemed like a kindred soul. The air was quickened; you could fly through it. The world would be forever changed. In this atmosphere, much free jazz and improvisatory chamber music had its nascence. Now, in 2006, more than 40 years after The Ghost Opera began, we have new technologies, new ears, and new aesthetics. I hope this music has a chance to speak again to folks who remember those times, and to speak in new ways to contemporary ears.”
The Ghost Opera
is available from
Cold Mountain Music