Right in our own back yard.

After graduating graduate school in the spring of 2008, I was looking for 2 very different things. A job and a new outlet to perform music and meet like minded musicians in the New Haven area. My search actually did not take too long when I stumbled across the New Haven Improvisors Collective.

Aside from a catchy name I was intrigued at the roster of musicians that were under the members section of their website. Every instrument ranging from drums to theramin was listed. What more could I ask for!! The site said that the collective was dedicated to playing and promoting artistic music in CT....I was sold.

I quickly emailed the head of the organization and was happy that a simple email was all it took and that I was welcomed to any meeting I choose. Meetings are the last Monday of the month at Never Ending Books on State Street in New Haven.

I showed up to my first meeting in the summer of 2009 and had no idea what to expect. I remember the first group of members I met were a few guitarists, a guy playing the boom box a la John Cage and an accordian player. The meeting was run by the collectives leader: Bob Gorry, a guitarist with a very broad and open minded interest in music. He certainly impressed me when he mentioned seeing Sex Mob back in the day when they had a regular gig at Tonic.

The way in which we jammed was even more impressive. Instead of just playing 'free,' we played using a series of patterns based on meter, role, harmony and rhythm that were set up from Bob's leadership. Alot of free music can get very terrible very fast without any sort of direction and this group was well led and the players really listened to each other.

Well the collective had its 12th edition of what it calls the Uncertainty Music Series last weekend at Never Ending Books. There were two sets made up two groups Bob randomly through together. (he used the roster of members that said they would play and broke them into two groups.) Each member had to contribute 1 tune to the performance and without rehearsing both groups played amazing sets of music. It was quite honestly one of the most creative gigs I have ever played. Both sets were mind blowing. Full of intensity and creativity. My group was made up of accordian/clarient/acoustic guitar/electric guitar/tenor sax/drums and trumpet. We opened with my original that i play with my acoustic and electric outfits, "Cylon Stare." I was blown away by the performance. I really had no idea what to expect and was met with a band of musicians who took my tune to a whole new level. (i'm hoping to get a recorded copy soon.)

The New Haven Improvisors Collective is always welcoming new members. Anyone interested should contact Bob Gorry at info@nhic-music.org.