Lawrence D. "Butch" Morris

Last Monday February 1, I was lucky enough to attend a lecture and performance given by Butch Morris and a string octet at the Stone. This was in celebration of the 25th anniversary of the first Conduction that Butch performed.

The Conduction system that Butch has developed over the years is a method for leading large ensembles in spontaneous performance. I hesitate to use the phrase "group improvisation" due to an eloquent dialogue given by Butch on the difference between improvisation and interpretation. I honestly can't give that discussion much justice. You should probably consult Butch yourself for a far more experienced and well spoken explanation than I personally could give.

Butch went through a series of his hand gestures that he uses in leading large ensembles. With the explanation of each gesture, he would lead the ensemble, focusing on the single gesture, to illustrate what can musically be accomplished within the system. So that the audience could see his gestural techniques, he had the ensemble set up with their backs to the audience with him facing forward. This gave a very intimate look into the happenings of a truly brilliant method of music making.

The following are a summation of the gestures that he discussed:

• sustain: musicians sustains a sound of their choosing
• repeat: musicians repeat a phrase of their choosing
• panorama: to play and/or to not play when passed over by a hand gesture (difficult to explain without just seeing it done)
• slow -> fast: signals for changing the speed of playing
• pedestrian: assigned musician is to bring new information to the ensemble (this is not a "take a solo" signal; in fact, there is no sign for that)
• memory: signal to the musicians to remember what they are playing, which allows Butch to recall instances within the music so as to develop themes and so forth
• graphic: musicians to interpret "graphic" input of Butch's movements
• develop: signaled musician to develop the material they are playing
• key: the note that each musician is currently playing is now their personal key

There were more signals that I didn't manage to jot down, but I think this gives a good picture of what can be accomplished. Note, there are no signals for specific harmonies and no signals for "take a solo". If he wants to hear something very specific, he writes it down and will assign the different written ideas numbers, which can be recalled just as other moments can through the use of the "memory" signal.

This system becomes very fast moving. Frankly, I believe it accomplishes so much that, on the page, would be very complex and stiff, but with the proper leadership, breathes with the beauty of true musical interaction – something that is often missing in contemporary pieces. For example, the ensemble is given the "repeat" signal. Every musician comes up with a musical gesture of their choosing at a length of their choosing and repeats. The wash of overlaying layers that is accomplished from this one signal is immediate and amazing. Notating this same idea would certainly require some effort on the interpreting ensembles part, but to me, the strict notation of such a simple yet complex idea is largely missing the point of what one would want to musically accomplish. I think this is exactly what Butch wanted to escape. And he has. Elegantly.

If you have an opportunity to see Butch perform a Conduction, GO LISTEN. The man is a master and an artist of the highest caliber.