An oft-repeated piece of musical lore states that the great composer/arranger Duke Ellington wrote music specifically for the individuals in his orchestra. His knowledge of their musical lineage, strengths and weaknesses allowed him to customize parts for each voice. Pianist and composer Andy Milne takes this principle a step further on his new recording, The Seasons of Being. Applying the principles of homeopathic diagnosis, Milne generates an optimized environment for improvisation for his long running Dapp Theory ensemble and a host of special guests.
After a challenging couple of years and some seismic life changes, Milne was able to channel his energy into some positive changes, including accepting a full-time teaching position at the University of Michigan. But it was his own battle with prostate cancer that led the pianist to explore homeopathic healing, as he felt it was important in his quest to become cancer free. His study of the subject led to a Chamber Music America commission to explore the effects of homeopathic techniques on composition for a chamber ensemble.
Milne’s idea stemmed from his experiences performing other composers’ music, and from observing other musicians perform his. In some cases, inspiration would come easily, whether because of the material or the musician’s temperament. Milne wondered if there could be a way to personalize the music to optimize engagement and benefits for all involved during performance.
To augment Dapp Theory’s already expansive sound, Milne wanted to recruit a number of diverse and experienced special guests to be a part of his experiment, the unifying element being that they were all musicians he respected and wanted to work with further. He entrusted the duties to guitarist Ben Monder, trumpeter Ralph Alessi, vocalist La Tanya Hall, saxophonist Michael Attias and cellists Christopher Hoffman and Jody Redhage.
Milne’s positive experiences with homeopathy led him to ask how it could influence improvisation and lead to more emotionally meaningful interactions for the musicians playing his music. He hoped to find a way to create compositions that play to hidden aspects of his collaborator’s emotional profiles, namely, where they might feel most stimulated to broaden their range of expression.
To apply his method, Milne studied each musician to collect and learn their emotional responses. Many of these responses would never have been garnered through their personal or musical relationships. First, Milne subjected the individuals to a listening test of 15 short excerpts of a wide array of musical styles, asking them to share how the music did or didn’t resonate for them. Second, there was a questionnaire with a number of yes/no questions. With the assistance of homeopathic healer David Kramer, Milne then assessed their handwritten responses, looking for clues to their musical tastes and emotional lineage. Kramer identified individual pathologies based on their answers. Milne found it remarkable how close those characterizations were to the individuals’ traits. In some cases Kramer was able to describe physical attributes of certain musicians.
