Experiments in Minimalism

I’ve been trying to write jazz pieces based on the repetition and phasing ideas inspired by the works of composers like Steve Reich and Philip Glass. One of the bigger problems I’ve been having is trying to effectively incorporate improvisation without abandoning the minimalist soundscapes that develop at the beginning of these works. This ties into an even more critical concern, which is the fact that repeating the same one- or two-bar phrase almost indefinitely is mentally and physically taxing on the musicians in the band. But then again, none of the big names in minimalism have been particularly merciful in their compositions anyway. Maybe classical musicians are more accommodating in that regard… I wouldn’t know.