Sixth Stream Improvisational Ensemble

Sixth Stream started out as a series of concerts I assembled called "spotlight on improvisation."  These concerts were held at the Fort Flagler youth hostel on Marrowstone Island, and featured a different set of improvisational structures each night.  We started out with highly structured pieces, and removed layers of structure until we got to the piece I called "noise", in which we did our best to avoid any musicality in the music at all.  "Noise" often featured audience members who would spontaneously join in the action, chanting or using folding chairs as percussion, throwing their keys on the stage, or turning on a vacuum cleaner to add to the mayhem.  Alex Fowler (bass), Michael Townsend (guitar), and Alice Hiorth (oboe) joined me for this series of explorations.

After this series, Alex, Michael and I continued the association - we played one gig as "Sixth Stream Improvisational Ensemble" (my name - Alex and Michael were against the whole band name thing :-)), and a whole series of shows as an unnamed trio.  The tunes we played and rehearsed became the core of my album "Introspection," which I recorded in 1988 with Alex and Michael.

Many of the pieces here are described in chapter 12 of The Musical Experience, at http://www.kittycrack.net/dallett/me12.htm

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January 23, 1988 at the Quincy Street Coffeehouse, Port Townsend (Nick Dallett, piano and electric dih; Michael Townsend, guitar; Alex Fowler, bass)

- Excursions - an improv structure by Alex Fowler 
- Prelude and Polka - a structureless improvisation which segues in and out of "The Pennsylvania Polka"
- Vamp - we start out improvising on a chordal vamp and let ourselves wander from there

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December 11 - December 20, 1987 - Spotlight On Improvisation series (Nick Dallett, piano, guitar; Alex Fowler, bass; Michael Townsend, guitar;Alice Hiorth, reeds)

- Excursions - same structure described above, different performance, with the addition of Alice hiorth on  english horn

- Essay Questions - one member of the group poses a question, statement, or concept to the group, which is then interpreted by the group.  Several of these are represented here.

- Piano Sonata - Nick improvised a four-movement piano sonata (Nick Dallett, piano)

- Noise - all layers of structure are now removed in this atonal free-for-all (two performances represented) (Nick Dallett: piano, percussion, vocal, recorder; Alex Fowler: bass, vocal; Michael Townsend: guitar, percussion, vocal; Alice Hiorth: double reeds, vocal;Audience members: vacuum cleaner, chairs, vocals)

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November 28 and December 6, 1987 - Rehearsals for the Spotlight On Improvisation series (Nick Dallett, piano, recorder; Alex Fowler, Bass; Michael Townsend, guitar; Alice Hiorth, double reeds)

- Essay Questions (Nymphet) - Before the "essay questions" format was devised, we selected the word "Nymphet" from the dictionary and played this interpretation.

- Noise - our first explorations of this concept.  Nick plays the strings of the piano as much as the keys.

- Minor blues - all practicians of the 'prov eventually fall back on the 12-bar blues...

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April 8, 1988 - Nick Dallett and Michael Townsend at the Quincy Street Coffeehouse (Nick Dallett and Michael Townsend, guitars)

Nursery Rhymes / Reelin' in the years - we begin by improvising on several common nursery rhyme themes (Yankee Doodle, Three Blind Mice, Mary Had a little lamb), taking them into strange modes with a bizarre call and response.  We finish with an instrumental rendition of Steely Dan's "Reelin' in the years"