The Observer Effect is a scientific concept suggesting that the act of observation can influence
the properties of light at the quantum level, altering a photon’s characteristics from that of a
particle to a wave and that these effects can act backward in time, rewriting the past. What does this have to do with our music? Our ensemble was conceived a few months before the Covid lockdown. Driven by careful attention, hard work, and outside pressures our concept evolved from a standard jazz quartet to an
acoustic duo to the present electro-acoustic improvisational ensemble. Using our time over the
past two years for rehearsal, writing, listening, incorporating new technology, and analyzing our development, we have forged a new musical identity. Our forms are open,
built on our own unique shared musical experiences in jazz, popular, and world music, and on the incorporation of the techniques of musique concrete, sound collage, and sampling. We collect and create soundscapes, musical
figures, and sonic environments. We juxtapose ideas and sounds, and we listen, react, and
respond anew in each performance.
Over the past year, we have acted as observers, closely listening, watching, reacting, and
interacting with our own curated soundscapes, samples, and each other’s musical qualities, rewriting our past and shaping our future.