Jon Irabagon Confronts AI with Jazz

Cover of the album being discussed

Tomorrow will see the release of Server Farm, the latest album from Jon Irabagon, who is both saxophonist and composer. As is often the case, Bandcamp has already created a Web page for pre-ordering both the compact disc and a digital download. For better of worse, this is an “album with a mission.” In the advance material I received, that mission is to explore “the threat and promise of A.I.” (artificial intelligence). Writing about this album requires that I first account for an aspect of my background that I seldom mention on this site.

Let me begin with the fact that I was awarded a Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in September of 1971. However, my thesis advisor was Marvin Minsky, who ran the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, which he had founded. For several years I had been interested in applying my knowledge of information technology to music. Since Minsky himself had been a composer in his younger days, he seemed to be a perfect fit for my interests. As a result, I ended up writing a doctoral dissertation entitled A Parallel Processing Model of Musical Structures.

Now, to be fair, I pretty much divorced myself from the Information Technology world about twenty years ago. I have never had any regrets, since I have more fun writing these articles than about worrying to raise funding for technology research and development! Nevertheless, when I encounter a professional musician that wants to apply his skills to “taking on” the assets and liabilities of a sophisticated technology, it is virtually impossible to keep my “spidey sense” from tingling!

Server Farm is clearly the product of an ambitious undertaking. There are only five tracks, but three of them are each roughly a quarter-hour in duration. Irabagon leads on both tenor and sopranino saxophones, augmented by “effects.” He is joined on the front line by violinist (with occasional vocal work) Mazz Swift and Peter Evans alternating between trumpet and flugelhorn. Rhythm includes two guitarists, Miles Okazaki and Wendy Eisenberg, Matt Mitchell alternating among piano, Fender Rhodes, and electronics, two bass players, Michael Formanek (acoustic) and Chris Lightcap (electric), and Dan Weiss on drums. Levy Lorenzo rounds out the ensemble with his laptop, electronics, vibraphone, and kulintang (a collection of suspended gongs).

While I am willing to give Irabagon points for trying, I must confess that, as I worked my way through those five tracks, I kept hearing in my head the voice of my (now deceased) composition professor, who always knew when to accuse even the most promising of students of “noodling.” Granted that there is a fine line between “imaginative invention” and “noodling,” it would be honest for me to say that I am not yet sure which side of the coin comes up. What I can say is that, because I received this content over a month ago, there was a fair amount of time between my “first encounter” and my “return,” timed in accordance with the release date.

In the context of that “first encounter,” I have found it difficult in my return to avoid here-we-go-again feelings. In other words, where my own listening is concerned, “points for trying” is not enough. There may be much to mine in theoretical studies of the relationship between artificial intelligence and making music; but, when theory runs into practice, I am afraid this new album does not make the grade.