In 2018 Bergen ImproStorband released an album with commissioned pieces for improvisers by composers Knut Vaage and Per Zanussi.

If you are interested in acquiring the physical LP and the notebook with the scores please visit bergenimprostorband.com

About the pieces:

Side A: AD LIB (Knut Vaage)

Ad Lib is based on a material developed through improvisation. The score shows the ideas and the structure, and the musicians have to fill each idea with their own sound. An aim is to create a polyphonic metamorphosis from one part to the next one. The notation is without exact timing, so the performers move from part to part by cues made intuitively by listening to the sound-landscapes that evolve during each run-through.
The recording of Ad lib was done in one take live in studio, and there were no cuts during post-production, only mixing and mastering. We did it that way to keep the feeling of a natural flow throughout the whole piece, like we all experienced it in the studio.
Ad lib was commissioned and premiered (at Landmark in January 2015) by Bergen Improstorband. For the recording session in January 2018, the score was slightly changed and adapted to the LP-format, and with a few changes in instrumentation. I am extremely happy to dedicate this piece to Bergen Improstorband for their great spirit of freedom and enthusiasm for the music itself.

Knut Vaage, July 2018

Side B: LI 4 (Per Zanussi)

LI 4 for Bergen Improstorband is a collection of modules for improvising musicians.
Each module is based on one or more ideas derived from formations and patterns occurring everywhere in nature: Ripples and dunes, cloud patterns, angular patterns, meanders and so on.
The patterns in Nature, aka ”Li”, can be thought of as snapshots of certain moments in dynamic processes, where energy and form interact, similar to how music works. The forms of the natural patterns are mainly simple, but their content can be complex.

The piece on this recording was made through collective improvisation, with some instructions, pitches or frameworks inspired by the natural patterns.

Each section of the piece was recorded live over the course of one intense session, and edited together afterwards: Rather than creating a complete score from A to B (since this was a recording session and not a concert) I wanted to see if I could use the studio situation to create the form of the piece as we went along. I think the piece turned out great, especially because of the excellent musical contributions, discipline and enthusiasm of Bergen Improstorband and the wonderful Iver Sandøy.

Li 4 is the fourth installment in a series of pieces based on these patterns in Nature, and my process behind them is documented at www.naturalpatterns.no. My compositional ”toolbox” (from which this piece has been constructed) can also be found here.

Per Zanussi, August 2018