The Art of Improvisation

Portraits of Change features jazz music, among other genres, because the music is new every time you listen to it. Often times, you have to study and appreciate the intricate harmonic movements in jazz to "get it" or feel it. I am interested in different ways of representing these subtle aspects of jazz. Essentially, to create a real-time visual captioning of the harmony.

Our approach to visualizing music is simple. We let the music carry the weight of the work, and the change of effects on stage. If we played classical music, we know precisely what the outcome should look like. This is useful in many situations. With jazz improvisation however, this ensures a new, emergent, experience every time.

I am primarily inspired by Miles Davis approach to jazz, and innovation. The way he approached his horn like a laboratory, always trying new sounds, new forms, deeply inspires me. How he approached Bitches Brew is how I tried to embody creativity throughout the project. This is in diametric congruence with Coltrane's philosophies, that also deeply influenced my music theory and analytical application of geometry to music. I also utilized music set theory from Shoenberg extensively in my audio visualizations.