Amplified Gesture

Directed and edited by Phil Hopkins, with interviews conducted by Nick Luscombe, Amplified Gesture (2009) takes us to the studios and workspaces of eleven leading improvisers across Europe and Japan – from legends like saxophonist Evan Parker to rising stars including Christian Fennesz. Their conversations teach us about improvisation as a practice and as a culture. “The aim was to pique the interest of the audience in the hope that they would wish to find out more,” says Hopkins. “I do think there are insights in this film which apply to anyone concerned or connected with other kinds of artistic endeavour. By focussing principally on the ideas and philosophies, I think we arrived at something quite ‘pure’.”
“There’s isn’t, to my knowledge, a comprehensive film on this subject, these musicians, the history of free improvisation as seen through the eyes and ears of its European practitioners,” says David Sylvian whose label made this film. “It’s a unique branch of the evolution of free jazz through to free improv, a story that’s not adequately been told on film. We attempt to touch upon the opening of the East to these influences and the significant impact artists such as Otomo Yoshihide and Toshimaru Nakamura have had upon the scene, and how that exchange broadens the conversation, contributing to an ongoing evolution of ideas.”
Keith Rowe and Eddie Prévost recall the birth of England’s groundbreaking ensemble AMM, while in Japan’s younger onkyo scene, practitioners such as Yoshihide, Nakamura, and Sachiko M describe their relationship with machines that defy mastery, like Nakamura’s no-input mixing board. Their discussions range from how they first began this practice – leaving behind old idioms and popular music in pursuit of the unknown – to the unending process of learning from their collaborators, their instruments, and the ever-changing circumstances in which they find themselves. As saxophonist John Butcher explains in the film, “It wasn’t an idiomatic choice you were making. It was a life choice, about how you wanted to approach life, and how you wanted to approach creativity, and how you wanted to approach music.”
Instrumental outtakes from Manafon provide the score, but the documentary eschews that project to focus on the musicians, and the almost fifty years of history and discovery that they represent.
Free improvisation is a field that is rarely documented and often misunderstood. This gorgeously-filmed and quietly intriguing documentary will lure in new listeners, while rewarding fans with new insights and rare glimpses into the hearts and minds of these musicians – the pioneers who commit to improv as a form, a challenge, and a lifelong journey