This is a recording of Spotlight On's recent live event, which took place at the Royal Room in Seattle, WA on June 22, 2024. The event, Improvisation in Music and Life, featured me, @LawrencePeryer, in conversation with and performances by James Falzone’s Division Ensemble.
The Division Ensemble is a group of master improvisers that includes James Falzone on clarinet, Ray Larsen on trumpet, Wayne Horvitz on piano, Abbey Blackwell on bass and Rocky Martin on drums.
During the live show, we explored the nature of improvisation in music and how its principles are relevant in all aspects of life. James and the band performed compositions of his as well as a completely free, composed-in-the-moment piece.
The conversation was rich, the music was superb. I was so fortunate to share the stage with these talents and am so happy to share this with you. I look forward to your feedback on this episode and to meeting you at a future live event.
About the music in this episode
G.F.O.P. (Falzone)
There Is Often Another Way (Falzone)
Brooklyn Lines (Falzone)
Everything Is Now Equalized (an open improvisation) (Falzone/Larsen/Horvitz/Blackwell/Martin)
Room 307 (Falzone)
A Dream In Which Appeared Marc Chagall (Falzone)
We are offering a poster, t-shirt and mug based on the poster art from our live show, available now at spotlightonpodcast.com/store. The coffee mug is the very same one given to each musician who performed at the show.
Our event poster was designed by David Gorman, guest alum of the podcast and a Grammy-winning art director whose credits include work on albums by Otis Redding, Willie Nelson, Keith Richards, Sam Cooke, the Doors and Paul Simon.
We will donate a portion from every event item purchased to the South Hudson Music Project, the presenting organization for live events at the Royal Room.
Special thanks to James Falzone and the members of his Division Ensemble: Ray Larsen, Wayne Horvitz, Abbey Blackwood and Rocky Martin. Thank you to Aleida, Sheridan, Simon, Ben and the entire team at the Royal Room. Thank you to David Gorman for the wonderful poster art. Thank you to Alyssa Seng and JazzED and Tim Carey at Jazz Night School. And thank you to everyone who attended the live show.