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James Falzone is a musician, composer, improviser, and educator based in Chicago, Illinois.  Thoughtful, warm, and insightful, James ebbs and flows between all these facets of his practice, plus more.  His instrument of choice is the clarinet, an unusual voice in the jazz scene.  Nominated as the 2011 Clarinetist of the Year by the Jazz Journalist Association.  James has the unparalleled craftsmanship and “chops” that fortify his ability as an improviser. In order to link the parallels I sensed between current research on improvisation studies and arts thinking, I wanted to interview an improvisational musician, and James was the perfect collaborator.

For our interview, James and I met in a large, open, rented classroom.  I prepared some questions, brought in a book to show him what I knew about improvisation studies so far, and asked if he might bring in his clarinet to include the instrument’s “voice” in the context of the interview.  I recorded the audio of our interview, and near the end, together we tried an improvisational exercise.  In this exercise, we took about 30 seconds where James played one disassembled section of the clarinet, and I explored how a piece of paper could make noise as my “instrument.”  This exercise was meant to directly explain the feeling of simultaneous listening, action, and reaction that one experiences when improvising “live” others.  After doing the exercise, we talked about it to directly give voice to what happened and what we were thinking and noticing throughout the short process.