"Thirty-five years ago when I began to explore solo and group improvisation the idea was to make improvisations that sounded like compositions. I’ve evolved away from this idea gradually to the point where I want my improvisations, both solo and group, to sound (and be) unpredictable—to take me, my fellow improvisers and the audience to places we haven’t been before.

"For this piece Tom Hamilton and I decided to carry independence as far as we can. Each part is developed independently, and the goal is not to modify our independent ideas in the act of putting them together. The "wild card" in this practice is the live electronic processing of the voice, for which Tom has developed a system that guarantees unpredictability while integrating the voice into the electronic soundscape. The result is an organic whole with independent but integrally connected parts."

Tom Hamilton

"After a decade of wringing inspiration from observation, it is with great pleasure and some relief that I’ve returned (for awhile) to making pieces that address essentially formal procedures. This performance uses techniques of analog electronic synthesis to structure, phrase and pace the music, as well as to generate the actual sound material.

"Revisited here is my crackpot theory - that art after Euclid has been in a constant state of decline. What can I imagine to be more perfect than the representation of circle, square and triangle? So while I try to reflect on the musical analogies, I strive to displace and subvert the inherent symmetry of that visualized ideal; music balanced by instability."

Thomas Buckner and Tom Hamilton have performed together in a myriad of circumstances since the early 1990s. Their past recordings include Act of Finding and Off-Hour Wait State. They also produce the Cooler in the Shade/Warmer by the Stove series of improvised music and intermedia at Lotus Music and Dance in New York.

Recorded live in concert, December 1, 2000; EMF @ Engine 27, New York, by Jody Elff

Mixed and mastered by Tom Hamilton at The Pickle Factory, New York.

Electronic instruments used in this recording include the Nord Modular Keyboard, Alesis Q20 and Quadraverb processors. Our thanks to the Electronic Music Foundation and Engine 27, especially Holland Hopson, Bernadette Speach, Jody Elff and Jack Weisberg, who provided the perfect jumping-off point for this performance.

© Thomas Buckner, 2000; © Tom Hamilton, 2000

Published by Data Day Music (ASCAP)

Cover Design: Matt Schickele
Photo Credits: Lia Chang (Buckner); Michal Shapiro (Hamilton)