Here at the Bottom of the Sky…: Negotiating Time through Phrase, Form, and Tradition within a New York Performance Network

Abstract

While improvisational interaction is often understood as the momentary give-and-take between musicians in performance, this chapter considers ways in which relationships between improvisers function at a range of different timescales. Organized around extensive conversation with drummer Tom Rainey, bassist Drew Gress, and other members of their performance network, the chapter reveals ways in which this group of musicians employs shared cognitive schemas, collaborative approaches to composition, and common musical histories to shape small- and large-scale musical time at the levels of gesture, form, and tradition. Through analysis of musical examples from several of Rainey’s working ensembles, the chapter demonstrates specific ways in which those shared conceptions of time are realized in sound.