Inspiring Improv

An inspiring, hands-on guide to narrative improvisation, by the co-creator and director of the Olivier Award-winning improv show Showstopper! The Improvised Musical.

Improve quilting, in which quilt designs emerge organi­cally as fabric is cut and stitched, is simple, popular, and fun. In this book, expert quilter Patricia Belyea offers improv instruction and shares her appealing Quilt Manifesto of five simple rules. While providing quilters with a starting point, the fifth rule of the Manifesto, “Break any rule you like,” opens the door to creative freedom. (However, the solid instructions allow even the rule-breakers to create beautiful quilts on the first try).

Theme 59 – Transgressions - Music can be heard as “wrong”, an artistic choice can be thought of as “inappropriate”, but as far as grist for the artistic mill, there is always the interest inherent in crossed boundaries, blurred edges, and constant trespass.

Spirit To All is the latest record by Polish bassist and composer Wojtek Mazolewski and his famed Quintet (WMQ). Mazolewski’s distinctive voice and vision are highly lauded and widely recognized for his contribution to the resurgence in Polish jazz and improv music on a global, crossover scale.

In 1986, the synth skies were studded with digital technology. That’s why the original AX73, with its proudly all-analog signal path ended up flying under the radar. Martinic has taken what was great about the original AX73 and elevated it into a powerful, flexible software instrument that fits right into the modern producer’s lineup of go-to synths.

Turkish free jazzers KONSTRUKT continue their series of exciting collaborations with KEN VANDERMARK, one of the key figures of Chicago's vivid jazz scene.