Timaeus (review)

Neil Leonard, Associate Professor of Music at Berklee College of Music in Boston, is an experienced saxophonist and composer. His group, the Cyberjazz Ensemble, has featured Badal Roy, tabla virtuoso from Miles Davis's band, and David Bryant, synthesist with Ornette Coleman. As a saxophonist he's performed with many well-known musicians including Don Byron, Robin Eubanks, Anton Fier, Victor Lewis, Marvin "Smitty" Smith, Lew Soloff, and Steve Swallow. His compositional work has been featured in a New York Times Sunday Edition article, Leonardo Music Journal, and Computer Music Journal.

Timaeus is Mr. Leonard's debut compact disc featuring ten of his saxophone and computer compositions, spanning the decade from 1989–1999. All the music was recorded in real time, without overdubbing. According to the composer's liner notes, "each piece uses a unique computer program of my design that was developed to flow with the movement and moods of the given composition. Within this context the software listens or analyzes my performance and computes a compatible improvisation in real time." His approach to computer-assisted, interactive design can be compared with similar real-time improvisational systems by other performer-composers such as the late Salvatore Martirano and trombonist George Lewis. Mr. Leonard's rig for this CD included a Macintosh Powerbook 5300 running Max, and sound modules by Alesis, Kurzweil, and Roland.

The back cover of the CD package contains an endorsement-quote by George Russell, one of the best-known living jazz composers, and inventor of the Lydian-Chromatic Concept. According to Mr. Russell, "the explosive computer sounds of contemporary media, backed by a dead beat, worn out rhythm blasting at levels far beyond the FCC's limit, succeed in beating the listener into a nervous wreck, contributing to life on earth being made ugly. In the midst of this carnage is a civilized musician who has taken on the gargantuan task of humanizing the computer. If anyone can 'in-soulmate' the computer in a manner which integrates it beautifully and subtly with the heart and soul of the human artist, that person is Neil Leonard." Above Mr. Russell's testimonial is a photograph of a vacant, staring Mr. Leonard performing on his alto saxophone in front of a video or slide of cupped, wet hands over a bowl, suggesting perhaps, his ability to capture a small trickle of substance in a world devoid of such things. Some might find this a bit bloated and self-important. Whatever the case, the testimonial and photo certainly raise the bar on a listener's expectations.

The first composition, M87, seems to lay the groundwork for the rest of the CD. It begins with a quick, jazzy head in an extended kind of diatonicism. This is followed by scalar improvisations based on the same materials. Joining the saxophone are various marimba, dulcimer, glockenspiel, and bongo sounds. The latter break up the overall arrhythmic flow with brief, fragmented "grooves." Significantly, the head does not come back at the end. After a brief coda the piece simply stops. The most intriguing aspects of this, and several other pieces of this collection, occur as Mr. Leonard's lip glissandi are answered by metallic filter sweeps and portamentos.

According to the composer, the second composition, Timaeus I, is "a study in automated improvisation using the Lydian-Chromatic Concept. The tuning of the scale expands and contracts in real-time to create glissando effects. Microtonal clusters gradually expand to form more familiar chord voicings." After an effective, ballad-like opening featuring a sultry saxophone over an undulating computer drone, the saxophone begins to explore more scalar territory punctuated with glissandi. The sound modules follow the sax closely in harmony, themselves interrupted by more glissandi and filter sweeps. Timaeus II, the seventh piece on the disc, features a healthy dose of modal pitch-following. A salient mix of digital organ...