1
00:00:00,070 --> 00:00:01,670
The following
content is provided

2
00:00:01,670 --> 00:00:03,820
under a Creative
Commons license.

3
00:00:03,820 --> 00:00:06,540
Your support will help MIT
OpenCourseWare continue

4
00:00:06,540 --> 00:00:10,120
to offer high quality
educational resources for free.

5
00:00:10,120 --> 00:00:12,690
To make a donation or to
view additional materials

6
00:00:12,690 --> 00:00:16,570
from hundreds of MIT courses,
visit MIT OpenCourseWare

7
00:00:16,570 --> 00:00:17,205
at ocw.mit.edu.

8
00:00:20,961 --> 00:00:22,949
PROFESSOR: My name
is Mark Harvey,

9
00:00:22,949 --> 00:00:24,890
and I am teaching a
course this semester

10
00:00:24,890 --> 00:00:25,931
on musical improvisation.

11
00:00:25,931 --> 00:00:28,416
We have our students
here this evening,

12
00:00:28,416 --> 00:00:31,895
and [INAUDIBLE] the
rest of you [INAUDIBLE].

13
00:00:31,895 --> 00:00:33,883
And in conjunction
with the course,

14
00:00:33,883 --> 00:00:35,871
we're running this
concert series,

15
00:00:35,871 --> 00:00:38,356
which is the last of
four concerts we've had.

16
00:00:38,356 --> 00:00:41,338
And you see on the
page that you picked up

17
00:00:41,338 --> 00:00:47,302
at the door, another very
different kinds of programs

18
00:00:47,302 --> 00:00:48,296
that we've had.

19
00:00:48,296 --> 00:00:51,278
And we're thrilled to include
in this particular [INAUDIBLE]

20
00:00:51,278 --> 00:00:54,757
we call Tre Corda with
Tim Ray over here,

21
00:00:54,757 --> 00:00:56,745
Greg Hopkins, and
Eugene Friesen.

22
00:00:56,745 --> 00:00:58,733
So please welcome them.

23
00:00:58,733 --> 00:01:01,715
[APPLAUSE]

24
00:01:07,190 --> 00:01:10,520
[MUSIC - TRE CORDA, "SHADOW
 PLAY"]

25
00:06:18,466 --> 00:06:21,952
[APPLAUSE]

26
00:06:32,239 --> 00:06:33,030
TIM RAY: Thank you.

27
00:06:33,030 --> 00:06:33,738
Thanks very much.

28
00:06:33,738 --> 00:06:35,343
And thank you all
for coming out.

29
00:06:35,343 --> 00:06:40,080
It's great to see a great
audience here at MIT.

30
00:06:40,080 --> 00:06:43,520
We are Tre Corda and
very glad to be here and.

31
00:06:43,520 --> 00:06:46,330
And as Mark mentioned,
the gentlemen

32
00:06:46,330 --> 00:06:48,560
up here on stage-- on stage?

33
00:06:48,560 --> 00:06:51,000
Do we call this a stage?

34
00:06:51,000 --> 00:06:53,940
It's where we're playing,
so I guess it's a stage.

35
00:06:53,940 --> 00:06:55,640
Anyway, I just
want to remind you

36
00:06:55,640 --> 00:07:00,150
that is on trumpet and
flugelhorn Greg Hopkins.

37
00:07:00,150 --> 00:07:05,617
[APPLAUSE]

38
00:07:05,617 --> 00:07:08,296
And on cello, Eugene Friesen.

39
00:07:08,296 --> 00:07:10,776
[APPLAUSE]

40
00:07:21,710 --> 00:07:25,885
So that first piece you heard
was a composition of Eugene

41
00:07:25,885 --> 00:07:28,802
Friesen's called
"Shadow Play," which

42
00:07:28,802 --> 00:07:30,855
of course is an
amazing pizzicato

43
00:07:30,855 --> 00:07:33,987
technique on the cello.

44
00:07:33,987 --> 00:07:39,370
And we love to jump in on some
of Eugene's pizzicato creations

45
00:07:39,370 --> 00:07:41,180
as we did on that song.

46
00:07:41,180 --> 00:07:43,050
We're celebrating a new CD.

47
00:07:43,050 --> 00:07:45,890
We have a new CD, the three
of us, called Squeaky Toy.

48
00:07:45,890 --> 00:07:49,242
And we're going to
play-- "Shadow Play,"

49
00:07:49,242 --> 00:07:50,950
the song we just played
is on the new CD.

50
00:07:50,950 --> 00:07:53,670
And we're going to play some
other ones on the new CD

51
00:07:53,670 --> 00:07:54,700
as well.

52
00:07:54,700 --> 00:08:00,208
And continuing on with
another song from that disk.

53
00:08:00,208 --> 00:08:04,922
This is the first movement of
the sonata for trumpet, cello,

54
00:08:04,922 --> 00:08:07,860
and piano composed
by Greg Hopkins.

55
00:08:07,860 --> 00:08:12,982
And the title of this
movement is "Sneakers."

56
00:08:12,982 --> 00:08:15,788
[MUSIC - TRE CORDA, "SNEAKERS"]

57
00:15:23,612 --> 00:15:27,596
[APPLAUSE]

58
00:15:42,544 --> 00:15:43,960
GREG HOPKINS: Thank
you very much.

59
00:15:43,960 --> 00:15:48,350
Yeah, it's such a joy to have
these wonderful musicians play

60
00:15:48,350 --> 00:15:50,250
the music you're
hearing in your head.

61
00:15:50,250 --> 00:15:51,390
And it comes out like that.

62
00:15:51,390 --> 00:15:53,945
Thank you so much, guys.

63
00:15:53,945 --> 00:15:55,340
This next one I also wrote.

64
00:15:55,340 --> 00:15:58,070
And it's an homage
to my late cat.

65
00:15:58,070 --> 00:16:00,410
His name was Cargassian.

66
00:16:00,410 --> 00:16:06,950
And he was very deft at walking
in the dark up on the mantels.

67
00:16:06,950 --> 00:16:09,750
And you could hear the china
just clinking together.

68
00:16:09,750 --> 00:16:11,290
Nothing ever fell or broke.

69
00:16:11,290 --> 00:16:13,640
But it just tingled
a little bit.

70
00:16:13,640 --> 00:16:15,210
So you knew he was there.

71
00:16:15,210 --> 00:16:19,380
Anyway, so please
enjoy "Cargassian."

72
00:16:19,380 --> 00:16:20,630
He had blue hair.

73
00:16:23,620 --> 00:16:25,742
Nothing to do with
the [INAUDIBLE].

74
00:16:33,760 --> 00:16:37,636
[MUSIC - TRE CORDA,
 "CARGASSIAN"]

75
00:20:49,274 --> 00:20:52,256
[APPLAUSE]

76
00:21:10,112 --> 00:21:11,820
TIM RAY: Eugene and
I had the opportunity

77
00:21:11,820 --> 00:21:15,014
to work with some of the
students in Mark Harvey's

78
00:21:15,014 --> 00:21:16,950
improvisation class today.

79
00:21:16,950 --> 00:21:18,886
And that's their assignment.

80
00:21:18,886 --> 00:21:20,822
They have to play
that for us next week.

81
00:21:20,822 --> 00:21:21,790
[LAUGHTER]

82
00:21:21,790 --> 00:21:23,726
So [INAUDIBLE].

83
00:21:23,726 --> 00:21:25,178
GREG HOPKINS: Get stratching.

84
00:21:25,178 --> 00:21:26,650
TIM RAY: Get scratching.

85
00:21:26,650 --> 00:21:29,111
So we're going to continue on.

86
00:21:29,111 --> 00:21:33,996
This is a recent piece that
I wrote, pretty recent.

87
00:21:33,996 --> 00:21:36,454
GREG HOPKINS: Tim, this is the
first time we're playing it.

88
00:21:36,454 --> 00:21:37,426
TIM RAY: So I guess--

89
00:21:37,426 --> 00:21:39,370
[LAUGHTER]

90
00:21:39,370 --> 00:21:42,285
I guess that makes it recent.

91
00:21:42,285 --> 00:21:47,762
No, this was for the
occasion of my wife

92
00:21:47,762 --> 00:21:52,590
and I, who's here tonight, for
our 25th wedding anniversary,

93
00:21:52,590 --> 00:21:55,090
one of the things we
did to mark that was we

94
00:21:55,090 --> 00:21:59,240
bought this clock,
this big chiming clock.

95
00:21:59,240 --> 00:22:03,384
And there's a long story
that goes behind it.

96
00:22:03,384 --> 00:22:05,648
But basically the ones
that were really cool

97
00:22:05,648 --> 00:22:07,606
that sound beautiful and
that look really nice,

98
00:22:07,606 --> 00:22:08,647
we couldn't afford those.

99
00:22:08,647 --> 00:22:09,990
[LAUGHTER]

100
00:22:09,990 --> 00:22:15,460
So we got this kind of sort
of smallish and the case

101
00:22:15,460 --> 00:22:17,440
is a little misshapen.

102
00:22:17,440 --> 00:22:20,675
And it's only got one hand.

103
00:22:20,675 --> 00:22:23,710
And it makes this
horrendous chiming sound.

104
00:22:23,710 --> 00:22:25,690
It's really bad.

105
00:22:25,690 --> 00:22:28,660
Like for the first month
after we got the clock,

106
00:22:28,660 --> 00:22:31,135
every hour the
dogs would run out

107
00:22:31,135 --> 00:22:32,620
of the room,
because they thought

108
00:22:32,620 --> 00:22:34,290
something terrible
was about to happen.

109
00:22:34,290 --> 00:22:35,700
But now the dogs are used to it.

110
00:22:35,700 --> 00:22:36,640
And we're used to it.

111
00:22:36,640 --> 00:22:40,660
We actually kind of fell in
love with this clock now.

112
00:22:40,660 --> 00:22:44,330
Another thing I did for
this was I wrote a song.

113
00:22:44,330 --> 00:22:46,220
And the title of
this song is Joy.

114
00:22:46,220 --> 00:22:49,610
And if you listen
at the end, you

115
00:22:49,610 --> 00:22:53,366
will here 25 chimes
for the 25 years.

116
00:23:03,346 --> 00:23:05,841
[MUSIC - TRE CORDA, "JOY"]

117
00:30:44,090 --> 00:30:47,114
[APPLAUSE]

118
00:31:02,990 --> 00:31:06,075
[MUSIC - TRE CORDA]

119
00:36:10,393 --> 00:36:13,879
[APPLAUSE]

120
00:36:33,047 --> 00:36:34,297
TIM RAY: Thank you, thank you.

121
00:36:34,297 --> 00:36:40,748
That of course, from the opera
Carmen, or our version of that.

122
00:36:40,748 --> 00:36:43,213
That's also kind of neat for us.

123
00:36:43,213 --> 00:36:45,663
Actually, Mark, I think
summed it up perfectly

124
00:36:45,663 --> 00:36:46,329
before the show.

125
00:36:46,329 --> 00:36:51,300
He said, yeah, that manages to
offend the French, the Spanish,

126
00:36:51,300 --> 00:36:53,722
and the Cubans all at once.

127
00:36:53,722 --> 00:36:57,442
I think he's right, too, not
to mention classical music

128
00:36:57,442 --> 00:36:59,190
in general.

129
00:36:59,190 --> 00:37:01,840
So we're going to give
Eugene a breather.

130
00:37:01,840 --> 00:37:04,780
And Greg and I are
going to do a duet.

131
00:37:04,780 --> 00:37:06,740
And I don't know what
we're going to play,

132
00:37:06,740 --> 00:37:08,656
because I never know
what we're going to play.

133
00:37:08,656 --> 00:37:11,140
We'll find out
when we get there.

134
00:37:11,140 --> 00:37:11,640
[INAUDIBLE]

135
00:37:17,579 --> 00:37:19,412
[MUSIC - TRE CORDA, "LITTLE
 ROOTIE TOOTIE"]

136
00:42:54,086 --> 00:42:57,068
[APPLAUSE]

137
00:43:14,957 --> 00:43:15,457
OK.

138
00:43:15,457 --> 00:43:17,030
What song was that?

139
00:43:17,030 --> 00:43:20,954
First of all-- OK,
title, anybody?

140
00:43:20,954 --> 00:43:23,420
Title?

141
00:43:23,420 --> 00:43:23,950
Yeah.

142
00:43:23,950 --> 00:43:25,730
Yeah, I was going
to say, composer.

143
00:43:25,730 --> 00:43:27,064
Thelonious Monk, very good.

144
00:43:27,064 --> 00:43:30,452
Thank you, Alan.

145
00:43:30,452 --> 00:43:33,840
"Little Rootie Tootie,"
is the name of that.

146
00:43:33,840 --> 00:43:36,018
Written for his
son, apparently he

147
00:43:36,018 --> 00:43:38,551
called his son
Little Rootie Tootie.

148
00:43:38,551 --> 00:43:41,009
EUGENE FRIESEN: And now for
something completely different.

149
00:43:41,009 --> 00:43:42,981
TIM RAY: And now--
Can you set this up?

150
00:43:42,981 --> 00:43:43,967
You can find the music.

151
00:43:43,967 --> 00:43:45,446
EUGENE FRIESEN: OK, sure thing.

152
00:43:45,446 --> 00:43:50,040
This shows a little of the
different side of improvising.

153
00:43:50,040 --> 00:43:53,505
This is a piece that was
originally a [INAUDIBLE].

154
00:43:53,505 --> 00:43:57,960
As we were discussing
this afternoon, some of us

155
00:43:57,960 --> 00:44:00,435
benefit from launching
into an improvisation

156
00:44:00,435 --> 00:44:01,920
by kind of limiting
the boundaries

157
00:44:01,920 --> 00:44:03,128
of the language a little bit.

158
00:44:03,128 --> 00:44:05,890
In this case, this
was pretty much

159
00:44:05,890 --> 00:44:08,986
a diotronic piece that
was a free improve.

160
00:44:08,986 --> 00:44:12,280
It was recorded in a beautiful
cathedral, St. John the Divine,

161
00:44:12,280 --> 00:44:15,256
in one November night in 1986.

162
00:44:15,256 --> 00:44:17,736
And thank goodness
the tape was rolling.

163
00:44:17,736 --> 00:44:19,720
It turned out to
be something that I

164
00:44:19,720 --> 00:44:21,720
wanted to play again and again.

165
00:44:21,720 --> 00:44:22,970
I call it "First Ride."

166
00:44:22,970 --> 00:44:26,786
And we went back and
transcribed the original improvs

167
00:44:26,786 --> 00:44:28,694
so we could perform it again.

168
00:44:28,694 --> 00:44:31,079
Tim did an amazing
job of reinventing

169
00:44:31,079 --> 00:44:33,068
the improvised piano part.

170
00:44:33,068 --> 00:44:35,060
I'm pretty much
playing the cello part

171
00:44:35,060 --> 00:44:38,546
that was improvised that
night some years ago.

172
00:44:38,546 --> 00:44:50,000
This is called "First Ride."

173
00:44:50,000 --> 00:44:53,984
[MUSIC - TRE CORDA, "FIRST
 RIDE"]

174
00:49:30,370 --> 00:49:33,863
[APPLAUSE]

175
00:49:55,580 --> 00:49:56,881
TIM RAY: Thank have.

176
00:49:56,881 --> 00:49:58,354
Thanks very much.

177
00:49:58,354 --> 00:50:01,791
We've got a couple more left.

178
00:50:01,791 --> 00:50:03,264
Now I'm trying to decide.

179
00:50:03,264 --> 00:50:04,877
As you can see, we
have way too much

180
00:50:04,877 --> 00:50:06,210
music for the time we have left.

181
00:50:06,210 --> 00:50:08,665
So we're going to pick and
choose a little bit here.

182
00:50:12,593 --> 00:50:14,557
You guys want to do Bartok?

183
00:50:14,557 --> 00:50:17,012
Let's do Bartok.

184
00:50:17,012 --> 00:50:20,449
As I'm sure you've probably
figured out by now,

185
00:50:20,449 --> 00:50:23,886
we're playing a lot
with classical music.

186
00:50:23,886 --> 00:50:26,579
And we're obviously
influenced by classical music.

187
00:50:26,579 --> 00:50:28,046
It's a lot of what we're doing.

188
00:50:28,046 --> 00:50:29,513
And now we're
actually going to try

189
00:50:29,513 --> 00:50:31,947
to play some classical music.

190
00:50:31,947 --> 00:50:32,447
I know.

191
00:50:32,447 --> 00:50:35,870
I know, I thought
the same thing.

192
00:50:35,870 --> 00:50:37,826
And these guys-- well, anyway.

193
00:50:37,826 --> 00:50:41,738
But of course, we're not
going to play it straight.

194
00:50:41,738 --> 00:50:44,518
This is something else, and by
the way, it's on the new CD.

195
00:50:44,518 --> 00:50:47,392
I was introduced to these piano
pieces, Bartok, Bela Bartok,

196
00:50:47,392 --> 00:50:51,230
piano pieces back
when I was at college.

197
00:50:51,230 --> 00:50:53,405
And I was immediately
attracted to them

198
00:50:53,405 --> 00:50:55,321
because the title of
them is "Improvisations."

199
00:50:55,321 --> 00:50:57,604
Then I thought, cool.

200
00:50:57,604 --> 00:51:00,568
I get to just make up stuff
and call it classical music.

201
00:51:00,568 --> 00:51:03,038
But it turns out, it
doesn't work that way.

202
00:51:03,038 --> 00:51:05,460
You have to play the
notes that are out there.

203
00:51:05,460 --> 00:51:07,060
But they're called
improvisations,

204
00:51:07,060 --> 00:51:08,830
but they're all written out.

205
00:51:08,830 --> 00:51:10,315
So I was a little disappointed.

206
00:51:10,315 --> 00:51:13,285
But nevertheless, I loved these.

207
00:51:13,285 --> 00:51:15,265
I play these pieces,
and I love them.

208
00:51:15,265 --> 00:51:19,080
And I kind of rediscovered them
by accident a few years ago.

209
00:51:19,080 --> 00:51:22,190
And I thought this would be
great to, first of all, to try

210
00:51:22,190 --> 00:51:24,074
with the trio,
and second of all,

211
00:51:24,074 --> 00:51:26,130
to actually put
some improvisation

212
00:51:26,130 --> 00:51:30,370
into the "Improvisations."

213
00:51:30,370 --> 00:51:32,720
So with apologies
to Bela Bartok.

214
00:51:32,720 --> 00:51:36,305
We're going to do three-- these
are eight short piano pieces.

215
00:51:36,305 --> 00:51:38,721
And we're going to do three
of them, number five, number

216
00:51:38,721 --> 00:51:39,720
three, and number eight.

217
00:52:07,070 --> 00:52:09,746
[MUSIC - TRE CORDA,
 "IMPROVISATIONS"]

218
01:00:11,978 --> 01:00:16,469
[APPLAUSE]

219
01:00:29,443 --> 01:00:30,441
Thanks very much.

220
01:00:30,441 --> 01:00:31,510
Thank you.

221
01:00:31,510 --> 01:00:34,863
So we're going to
do one more song

222
01:00:34,863 --> 01:00:39,653
and get our in the beautiful
cool air once again.

223
01:00:39,653 --> 01:00:42,530
But before we do, a
couple of reminders.

224
01:00:42,530 --> 01:00:44,030
If you're interested
in a CD, we've

225
01:00:44,030 --> 01:00:49,644
got the new CD, the new
Tre Corda CD, Squeaky Toy.

226
01:00:49,644 --> 01:00:54,870
And I'm told that my merchandise
staff out there gives

227
01:00:54,870 --> 01:00:56,960
huge discounts to students.

228
01:00:56,960 --> 01:01:00,165
Huge discounts for students.

229
01:01:00,165 --> 01:01:05,390
And Greg Hopkins's new CD is
also out on the table, right?

230
01:01:05,390 --> 01:01:09,016
Greg Hopkins has a new
sextet, a quintet plus one,

231
01:01:09,016 --> 01:01:11,980
as he calls it, which to
me sounds like a sextet,

232
01:01:11,980 --> 01:01:13,462
but apparently it's different.

233
01:01:13,462 --> 01:01:14,022
[LAUGHTER]

234
01:01:14,022 --> 01:01:15,438
GREG HOPKINS:
You're the plus one.

235
01:01:15,438 --> 01:01:16,521
TIM RAY: I'm the plus one?

236
01:01:16,521 --> 01:01:17,326
OK.

237
01:01:17,326 --> 01:01:20,040
So look for that as well.

238
01:01:20,040 --> 01:01:24,680
We also have, for
the new CD, you know,

239
01:01:24,680 --> 01:01:28,166
we're all old guys,
relatively speaking.

240
01:01:28,166 --> 01:01:30,158
I'm very proud of myself.

241
01:01:30,158 --> 01:01:33,644
I actually have download cards
out there, for a discount rate.

242
01:01:33,644 --> 01:01:35,360
I forget what the
discount rate is.

243
01:01:35,360 --> 01:01:36,370
She'll tell you.

244
01:01:36,370 --> 01:01:37,952
You can buy a little
download card.

245
01:01:37,952 --> 01:01:38,910
It's cheaper than a CD.

246
01:01:38,910 --> 01:01:40,888
That much I know.

247
01:01:40,888 --> 01:01:43,551
And go download
it from a CD Baby.

248
01:01:43,551 --> 01:01:45,217
So that's a cool thing
to do if you just

249
01:01:45,217 --> 01:01:47,247
want the digital,
the ones and zeroes.

250
01:01:47,247 --> 01:01:50,000
That's a good way to do that.

251
01:01:50,000 --> 01:01:52,998
And mailing list, if you
want to get on email list.

252
01:01:52,998 --> 01:01:55,746
You can also do
that at the table.

253
01:01:55,746 --> 01:01:59,410
And I think that's it
except for two more things.

254
01:01:59,410 --> 01:02:02,520
Of course I want to
give a big thank you

255
01:02:02,520 --> 01:02:05,592
to MIT and to the folks
here at Killian Hall

256
01:02:05,592 --> 01:02:07,300
for providing this
beautiful space for us

257
01:02:07,300 --> 01:02:10,796
to play in, and particularly
to my good friend

258
01:02:10,796 --> 01:02:13,724
Mark Harvey who invited us here.

259
01:02:13,724 --> 01:02:17,140
[APPLAUSE]

260
01:02:19,790 --> 01:02:22,040
As I said before, we're
really glad to be finishing up

261
01:02:22,040 --> 01:02:28,024
the series of improvising
groups here at MIT.

262
01:02:28,024 --> 01:02:30,350
And we're having a great time.

263
01:02:30,350 --> 01:02:35,204
And again, if you
want to come find us,

264
01:02:35,204 --> 01:02:37,514
go sign up on our email list.

265
01:02:37,514 --> 01:02:40,998
And lastly, but not
leastly, please help me

266
01:02:40,998 --> 01:02:44,741
thank once again on
cello, Eugene Friesen.

267
01:02:44,741 --> 01:02:47,236
[APPLAUSE]

268
01:02:53,224 --> 01:02:56,218
And on trumpet, Greg Hopkins.

269
01:02:56,218 --> 01:02:59,212
[APPLAUSE]

270
01:03:04,186 --> 01:03:07,106
GREG HOPKINS: And our fearless
leader, Tim Ray on piano.

271
01:03:07,106 --> 01:03:10,058
[APPLAUSE]

272
01:03:17,438 --> 01:03:20,820
TIM RAY: So I'm looking at
three or four songs here.

273
01:03:20,820 --> 01:03:24,780
Should we-- do you have an idea?

274
01:03:24,780 --> 01:03:26,520
Oh, you're pointing at Greg.

275
01:03:26,520 --> 01:03:28,728
We could do "Theme Park" or
we could "Church Rhythm."

276
01:03:28,728 --> 01:03:30,222
Let's do "Church Rhythm."

277
01:03:30,222 --> 01:03:33,459
OK, we're going to do another--
we started with a Eugene

278
01:03:33,459 --> 01:03:34,704
Friesen composition.

279
01:03:34,704 --> 01:03:36,912
We're going to end with a
Eugene Friesen composition.

280
01:03:36,912 --> 01:03:48,648
This is entitled,
"Church Rhythm."

281
01:03:48,648 --> 01:03:54,126
[MUSIC - TRE CORDA, "CHURCH
 RHYTHM"]

282
01:08:53,950 --> 01:08:58,200
[APPLAUSE]