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I was anxious when I read "collective improvisation" as the description for the music of River Cow Orchestra’s Zen Jazz performance. It is a tricky genre as it can easily—and often does—go in the direction of a chaotic expression of indistinguishable melodies, ideas that lose direction, pieces that seem to go forever, in short, a musical experience that leave the listener in a confused state of mind. I couldn't have been more wrong. From the very start my ears were hit by freshness, sincerity, and innovation of sound. It took me only five minutes to feel almost embarrassed for not having heard of this Kansas City gem before.

The event took place at the modest setting of the Kansas City Fringe Festival’s Fringe Central with a scant attendance. As the soft synthesizer pedals and ostinato motives opened the evening, the piercing notes on the trumpet set the tone for the night and put the audience into an immediate trance. The music was accompanied by digital projection on a large screen that provided a backdrop for the ensemble, offering a rare performance of visual and sonic expression outside of a rock concert.

RCO presented eight pieces that were created on the spot without charts or any preconceived idea of structure, which I found hard to believe due to the uncanny level of synergy and communication. So many times the musical transitions were collective, and rhythmic shifts on the drum and bass—the backbone of any jazz ensemble—were synchronized. They must have been channeling each other at some subconscious level.

The pieces, or excursions as the trumpet player E. E. Pointer put it, took the audience through a journey of styles from psychedelic to funk, acid jazz, traditional jazz and contemporary classical music in the likeliness of Eric Dolphy, Charlie Haden, Charles Mingus, even Pink Floyd and Radiohead. Little surprises, like a musical quote from the Wizard of Oz and Middle Eastern melodies, Pointer rang out in one of the "excursions" took me out of my trance.

In addition to musical elements, River Cow Orchestra employed spoken word: both improvised and previously written. "I saw her in the backroom / Her eyes cut my air / Her eyes grabbed me in the throat" is a little quote from percussionist Greg Field I managed to jot down. As several pieces were opened by Field's words, I made a note to myself: “He must be a poet.” I found out after the performance he indeed was, and I found his poetry striking.

The projected visuals result’s was a heightened performance as the play of color and light engulfed the musicians. Keyboardist Brent Bowman is the ensemble’s video artist. He prepares a visual component that is projected on the screen for the each performance, however none other than himself knows the video selection of the day, nor do they see what is projected on the screen as they play.

The visuals Bowman selected for July 23^rd's performance was a seamless composition of time-lapse imagery of natural phenomena. The passing of clouds, blossoming of flowers, emerging of seeds and spread of mushrooms transformed into abstract images of a symbolic language as the music unfolded. The idea served as a perfect metaphor for the philosophy of the ensemble. Just like each seed visually emerged and grew into a full body, the musical ideas grew into full-blown thoughtful compositions. The visual component and the music complemented each other in a way that is rare to come by.

Much to my surprise and enjoyment, the pieces were fashionably short. The musicians played with such awareness of time, sound and aesthetic that as soon as the initial musical idea grew and ripened they concluded with an elegant ending. As a result, the pieces had individuality, thus making them memorable.

River Cow Orchestra's philosophy is to explore the process of artistic improvisation rather than focus on creating a music product for entertainment. "We emphasize musical mood and place an aesthetic premium on the character and personality of each musician rather than the technical skill of each individual." Do not be fooled by the modesty of this statement for each player is high-level musician with the skill of a Zen master.

I was overjoyed and impressed by River Cow Orchestra's performance. It was one of the best spontaneous musical creations I experienced. If you're asking what Zen has anything to do with jazz, you only need to see River Cow Orchestra in action to understand. Go "fringe" this while there is still time.

REVIEW:
Kansas City Fringe Festival
River Cow Orchestra: Zen Jazz
Saturday, July 23 and Friday, July 29, 2011 (Reviewed Saturday July, 23)
Fringe Central
1730 Broadway, Kansas City, MO
For tickets call 816-359-9195 or online at www.kcfringe.org

Top photo: Greg Field and Don McCarter of River Cow Orchestra

By Nihan Yesil

Classical, New Classical, Jazz, Theatre Contributor
Nihan Yesil is a composer/performance artist and currently a candidate of M.M.Composition at the UMKC Conservatory. She composes both acoustic and electroacoustic music and has a strong interest in experimenting with the perception of sound and language.

Nihan started studying classical music with her father, M. Emin Yesil, at an early age and earned a bachelor's degree in Jazz Composition in Istanbul, Turkey, studying with Lawrence D. "Butch" Morris, Ali Perret, and Aydin Esen. She participated in festivals and artist residencies inclduing the Henry Mancini Institute, Czech-American Summer Music Institute, Brevard Music Festival, Electronic Music Midwest Festival, Women in New Music, Oregon Bach Festival Composers Symposium, Escape to Create Artist-in-Residence Program and I-Park Artists' Enclave Residency where she also served as a selection committee member for the composition program. Her compositions have been performed at number of venues both in Turkey and the U.S.

Her favorite activity is experiencing or witnessing any form of artistic creativity. Nihan is a big fan of the Internet and keeps several blogs where she presents her unsolicited opinion on different subject matters.