This dissertation presents an artistic research investigation into the application of techniques and theoretical models derived from early French spectral music to the cocreative dynamics of small jazz ensembles.
Spectral methods grounded in harmonic and non-harmonic spectra, perceptual fusion, and continuous transformation, such as those developed by Gérard Grisey and Tristan Murail, presuppose highly controlled compositional environments, while jazz relies on extemporaneous interaction, personal agency, and a heterogeneous sound ideal. The productive tensions and potential irreconcilabilities that ensue are explored by pianist and artistic researcher Piergiorgio Pirro in a series of artistic experiments.
Pirro shows that introducing theoretical models and paradigms from spectralism as a “foreign body” into the workings of a small jazz band illuminates a complex network of factors at play in the band’s music making, leading to a thorough reconfiguration in which new instruments are built and played, old habits need to be unlearnt, uncommon interactions emerge, and theoretical frameworks clash in practice. His experimentation generates an artistic and technical/theoretical account of the possibilities and limits of the application of spectral approaches in the small jazz band. The theoretical findings oLer a lens through which it is possible to discern certain elements and entities involved in jazz practice and shed light on cultural dynamics that are deeply engrained in the music making of the small jazz ensemble.