The musings of Jim Goodin: ImprovFriday

Every Thursday afternoon a splendid spontaneous gathering begins at the experimental improvisational Internet site and web community known as ImprovFriday. Started by musician/sound artist J.C. Combs, the site on the Ning network has steadily attracted musicians worldwide interested in pushing the edge of aural creativity.

The weekend 'thread' as it's known launches officially at 4pm PST with an open call for it's community of 150+ members to post newly created music either complete or not on the Thursday thru Saturday 10pm PST forum, the foundation of the 'thread'.

Each participant is free to download any of the posted pieces and 'mash-up' with their own ideas, reposting to expand on the original idea or more probably take it entirely somewhere new.

I'm been participating in ImprovFriday for the last 3 months and have found it amazingly fresh, inspiring and a constant sense of both honor and encouragement from each fellow artist.

In addition to the musical dialog, thread participants post their reactions, thoughts and feelings throughout the open weekend call. ImprovFriday member Paul Muller and host of the monthly ImprovFriday Radio series, often posts brief review comments to as many pieces as possible which are sometimes pushing 50 pieces of amazing original music each weekend. I too have tried to post my thoughts to all participating artists as much as possible as for it's a way of 'giving back' when I can.

In an effort to give visibility to our wonderful gathering located at http://improvfriday.ning.com, I've jotted down the following responses which are just momentary reactions on listening to each piece from the recent thread of June 3-5, 2010.

Member musician	Musical Work	My Reaction
Jukka-Pekka Kervinen	YM2612 (6/4/10-#1)/AB	Close to the circuits, like being inside a pinball machine.
Jukka-Pekka Kervinen	The Not So Lonely Piano Player Anymore (feat. Roger "ErocNet" Sundström)	Right out of R2D2!
Jukka-Pekka Kervinen	MD/GBA 06/05/10-#1	Highly creative 'noize' with great sense of backwardness/forwardness.
Jeff Fairbanks	Dented	Tim Story like melody but still finding the 'noise'.
Joseph Benzola	Patti & Lenny Crash the Stage at the Electro Singalese Bar in the Bronx	Great visionary vibe and I think I hear an udu!
Roger "ErocNet" Sundström	Gitimp100604	Hands on strings, inside the coils.
Roger "ErocNet" Sundstrôm	Gitimp100604-2	Tension on the wire, bouncing colors from above.
Roger "ErocNet" Sundström	Gitimp100604-3	Great sense of minimalism, in instrument and feel
Roger "ErocNet" Sundström	The Lonely Piano Player	Guests in one room, piano soul in the other, blissfully oblivion unites.
Roger "ErocNet" Sundström	Slownoisen feat. Jukka-Pekka Kerviven, Bruce Hamilton & Paul Muller	I think there is a sleeping polar bear rising from the mix!
Roger "ErocNet" Sundström	Line Dancer feat. Steve Layton & Ken Palmer	Lovely color and mystery, bit of Pat Metheny at times.
Roger "ErocNet" Sundström	Law Twist feat. Jukka-Pekka Kerviven & Jim Goodin	I'm proud to be part of this mash, Roger thanks (think the R man is feeling my struggles with the lawyers of late). Great noise from Jukka.
Greg Hooper	That Which Hair Is Flesh To feat. Benjamin Smith, Jérôme Poirier, Peter Thörn, Norbert Oldani, Roger "ErocNet" Sundström, voice 0f Virginia Baxter	Atmospheric environmental. Voice midway reminiscent of Hal in 2001 or the voice in Portal.
Steve Layton	Thrumdrum	Lower east side from the heart of Texas!
Steve Layton	Epic feat. Peter Thörn, Norbert Oldani, Bruce Hamilton, Steve Moshier, Steve Layton, Jérôme Poirier	Clocks, the turning of time, voices in the halls...
Steve Layton	Bedroom Window	echoes of Mark Isham.
Steve Layton	The Ties That Break or Bind feat. Bruce Hamilton, Lee Noyes, Roger Sundström, Jim Goodin	Thanks for including me in this mash and bringing some balance to my angst at the time with Misters' Hamilton, Noyes & Sundström.
Steve Layton	Outward feat. Jeff Fairbanks, Jeff Duke, Gaetano Fontanazza, Shane Cadman, Jukka-Pekka Kervinen Jeff Fairbanks, Jeff Duke, Gaetano Fontanazza, Shane Cadman, Jukka-Pekka Kervinen	Lovely mash, reflective canyons and journey's.
Steve Layton	Corroboree feat. Jukka-Pekka Kervinen, Peter Thörn, Lee Noyes, Steve Layton, Roger Sundström	Glitch, oscillations and pensive tones from the North.
Steve Layton	Die Wunderkammer feat. Ken Palmer, Benjamin Smith, Steve Moshier, Norbert Oldani	Lovely pensive tones, indeed a 'cabinet of curiosity'.
Steve Layton	Manic feat. Jukka-Pekka Kervinen, Lee Noyes, Roger Sundström, Jérôme Poirier, Jim Goodin	Flattered to once again be in one of Mr. L's mashes and in a word as the name implies...
Norbert Oldani	Rhythm Improvisation	Synth patches against latin percussion, for some reason reminds me of Stan Kenton who in a sense was 'experimental' for his time.
J.C. Combs	Random Title Generatorfeat. J.C. Combs, Norbert Oldani, James Ross, Shane Cadman, Roger "ErocNet" Sundström	Inside a clock beginning seguing to ambient/mixed media, technique J.C. does so well.
J.C. Combs	Soundreel feat. Werner Herzog, Buddy Holly, Easy Rider, Star Wars, Afrika Bambaataa, Taxi Driver, Planet of the Apes	Wow echoing on the mixed media, all wonderful 'Hollywood' moments brought together in reflective mix.
Paul Muller	IF 6-4-10	A contrast to Paul's more rhythmic recent pieces, floating angelic patches.
Paul Muller	Thrumdrum Plus feat. Steve Layton	Paul mashes his floating ostinato synth wash with Steve's streetesque beats proving how things grow on IF.
Peter Thörn	A Close Shave	In physical, much manipulation about the piano soundboard, in the metaphysical, spirits at the door.
Peter Thörn	6 Layers in Audacity	Pulse, stare, across the room...
Bruce Hamilton	Fliss	Floating, pulsing, melancholy, light.
Bruce Hamilton	Looj feat. Miles Hamilton-Sommer	Spooky, native lands
Bruce Hamilton	Basstop	Pensive, a story within.
Bruce Hamilton	Compulsion	TVesque open, could be Hill Street...
Bruce Hamilton	Lonely Duo feat. Roger "ErocNet" Sundström	More ghostly tones in this mash, lots of spirits in this thread.
Bruce Hamilton	Paint the Sun Danger feat. Jim Goodin, Steve Moshier	Once again nice to be mashed and to be balanced with such a cool vibe from Steve.
Jim Goodin	Blur Between The Lines feat. Jukka-Pekka Kervinen, Peter Thörn and Bruce Hamilton	Not meaning to review my own work but in this is the mash I of three others, thought it neat textures.
Ken Palmer	Sqall Line	knowing Ken hails from Missouri and it's tornado season in the mid-west/south I can feel the approaching winds in this piece.
Lee Noyes	Filter Rolls	Great oscillations and Lee's fav past time of space between the tones.
Lee Noyes	Passionate, Irregular	There is indeed passion both 'for' and 'in the noise' here.
Steve Moshier	Tale of Two Cities	Around each corner, who goes there? 'Ghostbuster' tones here, sense of motion.
Steve Moshier	Hatari	Neat 'street beat' to stellar melody, tip of the hat to Mancini?
Benjamin Smith	Ben.Improv.May.30.2010	Randomness and exploring but with 'Monk like' sensibilities.
Benjamin Smith	Ben.Improv.Jun.4.2010	Nice patch texture muted steel drum core meets Michael Oldfield
Steve Layton & Benjamin Smith	After Hours	Touching interplay, analog to digital, digital to analog.
Shane Cadman	Piece0604010	Lovely acoustic work, thinking lines akin to Steve Khan.
Shane Cadman	if060410_Muller_Cadman feat. Paul Muller	Thinking of Shadowfax...
Usit Gaetano Fontanzza & Jeff Duke	Regolith	These guys have been working together a lot through NinJam and the result is wonderfully connected muse from thousands miles away.
Jérôme Poirier	Portrait : Sans Titre 52 d'Eric Lepoureux	Lyrical low end bowing, forceful direction surrounded by interesting percussive/plucked textures.