'We're All Improvisers Now' by Tommy Crane
Tommy Crane 'We're All Improvisers Now'
We're All Improvisors Now bustles with programmed synthesizer melodies and percussion, recalling classical systems music and the spacy expanses of new age with guest contributions on saxophone and electric bass guitar. The album’s improvisatory nature then, comes from the way Crane was winging its creation, largely in isolation due to the measures implemented against COVID-19.
Crane meshes a battery of synths with organic instrumentation to blur the boundaries between the wood, wire and brass from which jazz is traditionally drawn and more “artificial” stylistic conceits. Paralleling that purposeful erasure of distinctions is the way Improvisors melds serenity and tumult, perhaps a confluence of feelings appropriate to the peacefulness of having the spare time to indulge in personal pursuits during a pandemic as well as not knowing what the future may hold. Crane has said that he may never make another album like this, but here's hoping he at least attempts to further plumb his ideas regarding what constitutes ambient jazz.
