Spontaneous composition,
Improvisation & Live Performance
In my work and experimentation as an improvising musician, I am focused on an examination of time as feeling versus time as metered exactitude. In various ensembles I have been called upon to both articulate precise through-composed multi-meter compositions and also to interpret time in more free, human breath-centered ways. My work in this area seeks to marry the precision of highly codified systems of time delineation and measurement with a raw, individualized, and organic abandon in improvisation. Of particular interested to me is how this approach to various temporal realities in improvisation can be both augmented and subverted in situations of computer and machine interactivity, such as in my work with the electroacoustic jazz ensemble Gray Code.
This examination of various ways of experiencing and expressing time in performance is essential to my approach to collaborative and interdisciplinary design work.
From the album Third Floor People, by Guggenheim Award-winning Canadian composer and musician Anna Webber, recorded in Montreal, Quebec
From the album Settle, by composer and musician Ken Thompson, recorded in New York City
New York Times
(with Slow/Fast)
"Soon it's a frenetic chase sequence, with the drummer Fred Kennedy thrashing a pulse."
Chicago Reader
(with Slow/Fast)
"The band's not-so-secret weapon is its agile rhythm section-featuring bassist Adam Armstrong; drummer Fred Kennedy, and guitarist Nir Felder, which sculpts and shapes the twisting lines with empathy and grace."
Jazz Times
(with Slow/Fast)
"Kennedy explodes with a turbulent statement to take out this provocatively restless opening track."
All About Jazz
(with Suite Unravelling)
“Full of drama ... keeping the listener locked in and off balance at the same time" ... "a high level of controlled chaos"
Jazz Times
(with Tanya Kalmanovitch's Girlfight)
“dramatic use of space ... “edgy, uncompromising solos”
Monsieur Delire
(with Gray Code)
“The music … explores sonic and human relations, isn’t afraid to question itself, dives into the unknown with a sense of urgency.”
Photgraphy by