A live improvised performance by students from the Reid School of Music has been released on Bandcamp after gig organisers were so impressed, they decided the work deserved a wider audience.

The ensemble of 13 students from the ‘Improvisation as Social Process’ course performed at Home Bar in Tollcross, as part of the Flux Gigs event series, which promotes experimental music and art in Edinburgh.

Flux co-founders Nick Langford and Neil MacLean recorded the concert, and have now released it on their Bandcamp label, Flux Archive - you can listen via the link at the foot of the page.

The 20-minute piece includes students playing a range of instruments including guitar, violin, saxophone and percussion. They improvised freely on the day, with occasional ‘light touch’ guidance as individual conductors spontaneously emerged from the group to help structure the music using hand gestures. 

Chair of Music Psychology and Improvisation, Professor Raymond MacDonald, said the gig came about after he had been discussing with Nick and Neil a future concert where he would perform with fellow musician Christian Ferliano. When he mentioned that it would happen on the same day he was teaching improvisation, they suggested that they attend the lecture to discuss experimental music, the DIY scene, and their own work; then students would go to Home Bar to perform.

Raymond said: “The concert and recording articulated perfectly with the student learning experience. The course aims to introduce students to new ways of performing and composing music, new ways of collaborating together, emphasising how improvisation can be the meeting place for musicians from different backgrounds and with different experiences of music making. The concert provided an excellent public context for the students to put their newly developed skills into practice with a paying audience listening to the fruits of their endeavours.

“Jazz and improvised music is an art form that happens spontaneously and in the moment, and in public contexts, performers’ senses, decision making, collaborative choices can all be heightened and honed and unique way that is quite different from the classroom. The positive response from a full house in the bar on the evening, and the extra validation of Nick and Neil subsequently releasing the performance on Bandcamp, provides evidence that what the students are learning in the classroom translates very effectively to a public context.”

Nick said: “It was a great privilege to witness a class in action and to hear how Raymond, [Professor] Peter Nelson and Christian Ferlaino framed the language around free performance in both classroom and 'live' contexts. They discussed the concept of a 'scene' and we realised that Flux is indeed part of the 'scene' in Edinburgh, and that the provision of a space for performance and connection is a vital constituent of that scene. 

“We were delighted so many turned up to the gig, where Raymond, Christian and the students were very warmly received. It was especially thrilling to see the final collaboration, with 13 performers squeezed on to the tiny stage. Such is the unique character of free improvisation, we had no hesitation in featuring all three sets on our Bandcamp page.”

Any other students or staff who would like to play as part of the Flux series are invited to contact Raymond via the link below.