George Lewis (trombonist)

George Lewis, moers festival 2009

Photo by Andy Newcombe

George E. Lewis (born 13 July 1952 in Chicago) is a trombone player, composer, and scholar in the fields of jazz and experimental music. He has been a member of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) since 1971, and is a pioneer of computer music.

Biography

Lewis graduated from Yale University with a degree in philosophy. In the 1970s, he succeeded Rhys Chatham as the music director of The Kitchen. Since 2004, he has served as a professor at Columbia University in New York City, having previously taught at the University of California, San Diego. Lewis is married to koto player Miya Masaoka. They have a son together. In 2002 Lewis received a MacArthur Fellowship.

In addition to his own recordings, he has recorded or performed with musicians including Anthony Braxton, John Zorn, Roscoe Mitchell, Douglas Ewart, Laurie Anderson, Muhal Richard Abrams, Count Basie, Gil Evans, Nicole Mitchell, Karl E. H. Seigfried, Fred Anderson, Conny Bauer, Evan Parker, and Bertram Turetzky. He was also a sometime member of the ICP Orchestra (Instant Composer's Pool).

Lewis has long been active in creating and performing with interactive computer systems, most notably his software called Voyager, which "listens to" and reacts to live performers. Between 1988 and 1990, Lewis collaborated with video artist Don Ritter to create performances of interactive music and interactive video controlled by Lewis’s improvised trombone. Lewis and Ritter performed at venues in North America and Europe, including Festival International de Musique Actuelle de Victoriaville, Verona Jazz Festival, Art Institute of Chicago, The Kitchen (NYC), New Music America 1989 (NYC), The Alternative Museum (NYC), A Space (Toronto), and the MIT Media Lab (Cambridge).

In 2008 Lewis published a book-length history of the AACM titled A Power Stronger Than Itself: The AACM and American Experimental Music (University of Chicago Press).

Appearances

In 1992 Lewis collaborated with Canadian artist Stan Douglas on the video installation Hors-champs which was featured at documenta 9 in Kassel, Germany. The installation features Lewis in an improvisation of Albert Ayler's "Spirits Rejoice" with musicians Douglas Ewart, Kent Carter and Oliver Johnson.

Lewis is featured extensively in Unyazi of the Bushveld (2005), a documentary about the first symposium of electronic music held in Africa, directed by Aryan Kaganof.

Lewis gave an invited keynote lecture and performance at NIME-06, the sixth international conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression, which was held at IRCAM, Paris, in June 2006.

In 2008 his work "Morning Blues for Yvan" was featured on the compilation album Crosstalk: American Speech Music (Bridge Records) produced by Mendi + Keith Obadike.

Discography

As leader

• Solo Trombone Record (Sackville, 1976)
• Shadowgraph (Black Saint, 1977)
• Chicago Slow Dance (Lovely, 1977)
• George Lewis - Douglas Ewart (Black Saint, 1978)
• Homage to Charles Parker (Black Saint, 1979)
• From Saxophone & Trombone (Incus, 1980) with Evan Parker
• Voyager (Avant, 1993)
• Changing with the Times (New World, 1996)
• Endless Shout (Tzadik, 2000)
• The Shadowgraph Series: Compositions for Creative Orchestra (Spool, 2003)
• Sequel (for Lester Bowie) (Intakt, 2006)

As co-leader

• Elements of Surprise (1976) with Anthony Braxton
• Duo (Black Saint, 1979) with Douglas Ewart
• Company, Fables with Derek Bailey, Evan Parker, and Dave Holland
• Yankees (Celluloid, 1983) with John Zorn and Bailey
• Hook, Drift & Shuffle (Incus, 1985) with Parker, Barry Guy and Paul Lytton
• News for Lulu (hat Hut, 1988) with Zorn and Bill Frisell
• More News for Lulu (hat Hut, 1992; recorded 1989) with Zorn and Frisell
• Duo (Donaueschingen) 1976 (hat Hut, 1994; recorded 1976) with Braxton
• Slideride (hat Hut, 1994) with Ray Anderson, Craig Harris, and Gary Valente
• Triangulation (9 Winds, 1996) with Vinny Golia and Bertram Turetzky
• The Usual Turmoil and Other Duets (Music & Arts, 1998) with Miya Masaoka
• Conversations (Incus, 1998) with Turetzky
• The Storming of the Winter Palace (Intakt, 1988) with Irene Schweizer, Maggie Nicols, Joëlle Léandre, and Günter Sommer
• Streaming (Pi, 2006) with Muhal Richard Abrams and Roscoe Mitchell

As sideman

• Roscoe Mitchell Quartet, Roscoe Mitchell Quartet (Sackville, 1975)
• Anthony Braxton, Creative Orchestra Music 1976 (Arista, 1976)
• Anthony Braxton, Dortmund (Quartet) 1976 (hatART, 1976 released 1991)
• Anthony Braxton, The Montreux/Berlin Concerts (Arista, 1975-6)
• Roscoe Mitchell, Nonaah (Nessa, 1977)
• Anthony Braxton, Quintet (Basel) 1977 (hatOLOGY, 1977, released 2000)
• Roscoe Mitchell, L-R-G/The Maze/S II Examples (Nessa, 1979)
• Roscoe Mitchell Creative Orchestra, Sketches from Bamboo (Moers, 1979)
• Leo Smith Creative Orchestra, Budding of a Rose (Moers, 1979)
• Muhal Richard Abrams, Spihumonesty (Black Saint, 1979)
• Sam Rivers, Contrasts (ECM, 1979)
• Muhal Richard Abrams, Mama and Daddy (Black Saint, 1980)
• David Murray Octet, Ming (Black Saint, 1980)
• John Zorn, Archery (Parachute, 1981)
• Anthony Davis/James Newton Quartet, Hidden Voices (India Navigation)
• Anthony Davis, Episteme (Gramavision)
• Anthony Davis, Variations in Dream Time (Gramavision)
• Anthony Davis, Hemispheres (Gramavision)
• David Murray Octet, Home (Black Saint, 1982)
• John Lindberg Trio, Give and Take (Black Saint, 1982)
• Anthony Braxton, Four Compositions (Quartet) 1983 (Black Saint, 1983)
• Steve Lacy Seven, Prospectus (hat Hut, 1984)
• Misha Mengelberg et al., Change of Season (Soul Note, 1985)
• Steve Lacy Nine, Futurities (hat Hut, 1985)
• ICP Orchestra, ICP Plays Monk (1986)
• ICP Orchestra, Bospaadje Konijnehol I (1986)
• Richard Teitelbaum, Concerto Grosso (hat Hut, 1988)
• Anthony Braxton, Ensemble (Victoriaville) 1988 (Victo, 1988 [1992])
• Leroy Jenkins, Space Minds, New Worlds, Survival of America (Tomato, 1989)
• Misha Mengelberg et al., Dutch Masters (1991)
• Gil Evans Big Band, Lunar Eclypse (New Tone, 1993; recorded 1981)
• Anthony Braxton, Creative Orchestra (Köln) 1978 (hat Hut, 1995; recorded 1978)
• Bert Turetzky & Mike Wolford, Transition and Transformation (9 Winds)
• Globe Unity Orchestra, 20th Anniversary (FMP, 1993; recorded 1986)
• India Cooke, "India Cooke RedHanded" (Music & Arts, 1996)
• Roscoe Mitchell, Nine to Get Ready (ECM, 1997)
• Steve Lacy Seven, Clichés (hat Hut, 1997; recorded 1992)
• Evod Magek, Through Love to Freedom (Black Pot, 1998)
• Miya Masaoka Orchestra, What Is the Difference Between Stripping and Playing the Violin? (Victo, 1998)
• Anthony Braxton, News from the '70s (New Tone, 1999; recorded 1971-1976)
• ICI Ensemble, ICI Ensemble & George Lewis (PAO, 2007)
• Globe Unity Orchestra, Globe Unity — 40 Years (Intakt, 2007)

Bibliography

• A Power Stronger Than Itself: The AACM and American Experimental Music (University of Chicago Press, 2008) "Four Decades of Music That Redefined Free", New York Times May 2, 2008 [1]
• Zorn, John, ed. (2000). Arcana: Musicians on Music. New York: Granary Books/Hips Road. ISBN 188712327X.
• Interview with George Lewis in Christian Broecking: Jeder Ton eine Rettungsstation, Verbrecher, Berlin 2007, ISBN 978-3-935843-85-0

External links

• Audio Recordings of WCUW Jazz Festivals - Jazz History Database
• George Lewis faculty profile from Columbia University site
• George Lewis on the Voyager interactive computer system.

Interviews

• Casserley, Lawrence. “Person to... person?” Interview with George Lewis, discussing computer music and other topics, including improvisation and Voyager.
• Golden, Barbara. “Conversation with George Lewis.” eContact! 12.2 — Interviews (2) (April 2010). Montréal: CEC.
• Peterson, Lloyd. “Interview with George Lewis.” Ken Vandermark website.