Improvised

About Improvisation

"At least once in life every human being improvises. A baby stuttering his first syllables, a kid at school trying to disguise his ignorance during a hard test, a politician making people believe he's a real man. Be it instrumental or vocal, improvisation is the purest form of artistic expression and should respected and encouraged as such - in any possible way. A primal instinct, a thought, any gesture, the final result, they all MUST be real and coming directly from brain and heart at the same time.
Improvising is not about a formula, not about superimposition of Locrian upon Mixolydian; craziness, sweetness, rage and humour go together like in everyday's life. That's why this kind of music can be eye-opening or extremely stressing: for sure it's the perfect snapshot of our existence at that very moment, where it's not difficult separating contenders from pretenders. You just have to go with the flow, getting to the very soul of the ones who are playing, including yourself.
And so...listen to everyone, don't be afraid of speaking your own language; this is a moment in which you don't have to look back. Improvisation is absorbing lots of influences and spitting them out in your own special way.
Don't ever betray the spirit for which you have to listen always - but play only if you're gonna say something that COUNTS."

MASSIMO RICCI
Guitarist, composer, music writer
November 1, 2003
www.touchingextremes.org