moten.fm is a concrete poetry mix comprised of tracks played in "free jazz: the realistic spot" a class taught by fred moten at new york university. both the mix and website were created by neta bomani for "material of language" a class taught by allison parrish at the same university.
what if it turns out free jazz isn't a thing, but instead is a way? (isn't a way also just a thing?) free jazz isn't a "thing" that can be thingified into an object. free jazz is a "we." we're simply on the way. not from something or to something, but perhaps to engage in the making of something.
any band larger than a quintet is dangerous. once a band gets too large you approach big band territory. when a thing scales, its capacity to fuck (other) things up increases. scale is necessary for ideological success from capitalism to communism, however, as a thing scales, it strays further away from its original intentions. how do you remedy scale? how to you maintain understanding and empathy? proximity, closeness, entanglement. free jazz is a music of proximity, overlap, crowdedness, rubbing, density.
free jazz is to curate, meaning to serve, which is to care. free jazz is taking care. this is not to be confused with art curation, which is evil. free jazz is a social practice. there is no rhythm section in free jazz—all players play all parts at the same time without giving into individuation. free jazz is Black music. it came from not only a brilliant and talented class of people, but also a deeply traumatized people who hacked together a music and sociality which turned shit into something good.
free jazz is the shit.
free jazz is the psychological grounding wire for those borne into social death. free jazz is ecstasy, that is, to be up or out of state or to take flight. free jazz is simaltaneously heaven and hell—or perhaps, the after life. the operationalization of a kind of magic or mysticism which is truly random. free jazz is a conduit through which we can experience the divine.
fred moten, for an indescrible classroom experience and the words for understanding free jazz.
allison parrish, for a rigourous study of language and the tools for understanding words as they surface digital substrate.
char stiles and patrick steppan, for your friendship and help debugging code.