Sound It Out

"How does the “idea of north” trope relate to Canadian experimental music today?” In this fascinating talk, Professor Ellen Waterman describes, analyzes, and questions "the symbiotic relationship between public funding and artistic programming and content.” Waterman's engaging and authoritative style is an enormously welcome way of digesting a wealth of historical and contemporary references, audio samples, and insightful interpretation about experimental music practice in Canada, as it pertains to our understanding of ourselves living with this land over time. 

Sound It Out airs on CFRU in Guelph on Tuesdays at 5pm. New episodes usually appear on a fortnightly basis. Sound It Out is produced and hosted by Rachel Elliott in conjunction with the International Institute for Critical Studies in Improvisation.

This episode aired on February 27th, 2018.

“How does the “idea of north” trope relate to Canadian experimental music today?” In this fascinating talk, Professor Ellen Waterman describes, analyzes, and questions “the symbiotic relationship between public funding and artistic programming and content.” Waterman’s engaging and authoritative style is an enormously welcome way of digesting a wealth of historical and contemporary references, audio samples, … Continue reading Episode #72 – The Idea of North and Experimental Music in Canada: Ellen Waterman @ MMap →

In this mostly music version of Sound It Out, you will stroll with me through time and space, including outer space, and meet some of the most groundbreaking musicians of the 20th Century and beyond. From Eleanor Collins, whose eponymous TV series on CBC predated Nat King Cole by a year to make her the first black TV host in North America, to the Womanist dub poet and Doctor of Philosophy Afua Cooper, Wundagurl, Brampton’s pre-eminent bedroom beat-maker turned Grammy nominee, and Mélissa Laveaux who, singing for the first time in créole, refracts haïtian heritage in Radyo Siwèl. Also: Lillian Allen, Portia White, Michie Mee, Salome Bey and more!

Sound It Out airs on CFRU in Guelph on Tuesdays at 5pm. New episodes usually appear on a fortnightly basis. Sound It Out is produced and hosted by Rachel Elliott in conjunction with the International Institute for Critical Studies in Improvisation.

This episode aired on February 13th, 2018.

In this mostly music version of Sound It Out, you will stroll with me through time and space, including outer space, and meet some of the most groundbreaking musicians of the 20th Century and beyond. From Eleanor Collins, whose eponymous TV series on CBC predated Nat King Cole by a year to make her the first black … Continue reading Episode #71 – Mostly Music: A Survey of Black Women in Canadian Music →

How can we know the improvisatory if it only happens one time? In this episode we consider the possibility of knowing a temporal process from the inside, while it is happening. Is it possible to be in the middle of an event unfolding in time and still perform ‘analytical acts’? Or do we need to freeze them and examine them later as if from a bird’s eye perspective? Hear this discussion with music theorist and trombone player Dr. Chris Stover (U of Arizona), who is (fittingly) in the midst developing a two-pronged approach to real-time analysis of improvised music. Also hear a recorded performance by Marshall Trammell (Music Research Strategies) and Kade Twist (Postcommodity), in which they verbally analyze their own music while they make it.

Sound It Out airs on CFRU in Guelph on Tuesdays at 5pm. New episodes usually appear on a fortnightly basis. Sound It Out is produced and hosted by Rachel Elliott in conjunction with the International Institute for Critical Studies in Improvisation.

This episode aired on January 23, 2018.

How can we know the improvisatory if it only happens one time? In this episode we consider the possibility of knowing a temporal process from the inside, while it is happening. Is it possible to be in the middle of an event unfolding in time and still perform ‘analytical acts’? Or do we need to … Continue reading Episode #70 – Epistemology Series: Real-Time Analysis →

How do we know improvisation? Do we need to define it before we can research it? Or are the characteristics, causes, and effects of improvisation only knowable through that research itself? This episode is the first in a series on epistemological issues surrounding improvisation studies. Definitions of improvisation are presented, and debate over the merits of such definition is had. Post-doctoral research that circumvents the debate entirely concludes the episode: I-Ying Wu’s Daoist approach to practice-based improvisation research. Hear the voices of renowned Canadian novelist Dr. Cecil Foster, Music Professor Dr. Jason Stanyek (University of Oxford), Taiwanese qigong improviser Dr. I-Ying Wu, and award-winning interdisciplinary scholar Dr. Rebecca Caines (University of Regina). Music from Danielle Palardy Roger, Sandy Ewen, Mary Lattimore, and Mahalia Jackson.

Sound It Out airs on CFRU in Guelph on Tuesdays at 5pm. New episodes usually appear on a fortnightly basis. Sound It Out is produced and hosted by Rachel Elliott in conjunction with the International Institute for Critical Studies in Improvisation.

This episode aired on January 9, 2018.

How do we know improvisation? Do we need to define it before we can research it? Or are the characteristics, causes, and effects of improvisation only knowable through that research itself? This episode is the first in a series on epistemological issues surrounding improvisation studies. Definitions of improvisation are presented, and debate over the merits … Continue reading Episode #69 – Epistemology Series: What is Improvisation? →

Peter Brötzmann is a German Free Jazz saxophonist who has been a key figure in the development of the Free Jazz movement. Hear him in a conversation with animated Newfoundland personality Mack Furlong, recorded live at the Guelph Jazz Festival in September 2017. You will finish this episode with a renewed vision of improvisation’s social impetus.

This episode aired on CFRU on Tuesday December 5 at 5pm in Guelph, Ontario. Sound It Out is produced by Rachel Elliott with the International Institute for Critical Studies in Improvisation.

Peter Brötzmann is a German Free Jazz saxophonist who has been a key figure in the development of the Free Jazz movement. Hear him in a conversation with animated Newfoundland personality Mack Furlong, recorded live at the Guelph Jazz Festival in September 2017. You will finish this episode with a renewed vision of improvisation’s social … Continue reading Episode # 68 – Peter Brötzmann talks with Mack Furlong →