ALVIN CURRAN
Genres: Jazz Related Improv, Composition, Third Stream, Avant-Garde Jazz • United States

Alvin Curran is an American composer, sound artist, writer, and educator. Over the course of his vast career, he has created sound installations, solo performance pieces, radio works, choreographic works, environmental concerts, and music for string quartets, chamber ensembles, and saxophone quartets. Many of his works combine acoustic instrumentation with electronics and taped/sampled sounds, including voices, fog horns, and sounds from nature such as wind, water, and animal noises. Curran co-founded the groundbreaking electro-acoustic improvisation ensemble Musica Elettronica Viva in 1966, and began releasing solo work during the '70s, beginning with the acclaimed Canti e Vedute del Giardino Magnetico in 1975. He continued releasing solo electro-acoustic works as well as collaborations with free jazz musicians such as Steve Lacy and Evan Parker throughout the decade. During the '80s, he began focusing on environmental concerts (later compiled on the release Maritime Rites) and radio concerts involving multiple ensembles performing simultaneously throughout read more...