Friday Night Music was one of the longest free improv arts/music collective/groups in the San Francisco Bay Area (1979-94, 2000-06), focused on live audio and video collaboration.

-FNM Archive Project

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Coming soon...

• Audio

• Video

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ON FNM

 

FRIDAY NIGHT MUSIC is like a social institution. A group of people - some fairly constantly and some only occasionally or only once - get together to create and record an improvisational musical and video event. Historically, the event has been structured physically as a studio recording session. Organisationally it has been structured as a series of "cuts" with participants determined randomly as they arrive and choose to participate or selected by the producer/conductor for the cut on any basis that person wants. Musically the structure has varied from jazz to symphonic with a heavy emphasis on improvisation, innovation, and the unexpected. Philosophically the structure has been the infinity of the universe of creativity in general and of music in particular. Aesthetically, the structure has been a performance mode free of expectations, free of mistakes by definition, and reliant, therefore, on the spontaneous creative energies of the various participants.

 

FRIDAY NIGHT MUSIC has evolved from its simple beginning in a Palo Alto living room into a non-profit organization with active support from thirty of forty people. Over the years we have recorded over 250 60-minute cassette tapes and 30 or 40 hours of video tape. Because the policy of "No Mistakes" has worked out so well, we have avoided the need for post-editing. The audio tapes are routinely copied, labeled with our own label, and made available to participants, visitors, radio stations, and the like. The masters represent one of the more interesting and complete collections of modern day, neighborhood, folk jazz ever produced. It may very well be the largest such collection in existence.

 

FRIDAY NIGHT MUSIC is dedicated to the proposition that the production and recording of music (and video) is a virtual freebee - like sunsets and clouds. We do not accept the common premise that only a select few shall have access to the means of creative production. The right of access to the means of artistic production belongs to everyone. If you can move, as we sometimes say, you can make music.

 

FRIDAY NIGHT MUSIC also believes that, "Change is growth and growth is change." In this spirit we are coming out of the studio and onto the public stage. The growth which this move may stimulate remains, of course, to be seen. Our experiences to date are encouraging. Exploring the hazy bond between the participants and the audiences should be an exciting adventure. Blending the music, the video, and (hopefully) the dance could very well generate entertainments of the first water.

 

FRIDAY NIGHT MUSIC looks backward with a sense of pride. We look forward to the future with a sense of uncertainty, adventure, and excitement. We welcome support and participation from all quarters.

 

H. Lane Colman (co-founder)

Palo Alto, 1983