Quote:
Originally Posted by Ferkungamabooboo
If you're looking for rhythmic complexity, the first place to start is free jazz (crap this is going to be hard with a broken z key). In free jazz, where i'm also lumping European free Improv - is a wealth of musicians who are focused on weird, obscure, and complex. Their influences range to the exotic, where rhythms such as septuplets are a main part of the repertoire. Ornette Coleman is a great place to start - an analysis of Lonely Woman gives three tempi for the head: drums, bass, and melody.
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I don't want to get on too much of a tangent, but I don't think free jazz is a place to look for rhythmic complexity.
Rhythmic
freedom, sure...but you'd be hard-pressed to say that Ornette was Consciously feeling three tempos in Lonely Woman...or that Evan Parker intentionally uses septuplets in free situations. You're forcing traditional notational techniques on non-traditional performances...they're not compatible. Transcriptions of free improvisors may approximate, but certainly do nothing to capture the actual spirit and intent of the musicians...
I think a better place to look for rhythmic "complexity" is in Steve Coleman (and others associated with his M-BASE concepts), Vijay Iyer (incorporates indian rhythmic/metric theories) and other modern-jazz conspirators. David Binney, Dave Holland, et al.
Anyway...
