Improv

Improv: short for 'free improvisation'. Although improvisation plays a part in most musical genres, free improvisation emerges as a distinct form in itself in the 1960s. Improv can be traced back to guitarist, Derek Bailey's early perfomances with the Joseph Holbrooke Trio (with Gavin Bryars on Bass and Tony Oxley on drums). Initially playing post-bop jazz in the style of John Coltrane, Lennie Tristano and (incongruously) Bill Evans, the trio began to experiment with unusual time-signatures, eventually unhinging the rhythm section to the extent that no regular meter could be discerned...