The Chafe Impett Parra Trio, in partnership with Ravello Records, has released their newest album, TIME CRYSTAL. TIME CRYSTAL is a musical project like nothing you’ve ever heard before—born at the nexus of art and science, this collection of improvisational “experiments” tests the interactions between musical inputs and computer-generated responses.
Today, The Chafe Impett Parra Trio are our featured artists in “The Inside Story,” a blog series exploring the inner workings and personalities of our composers and performers. Read on to discover the voices behind this unique collaboration…
Who was your first favorite artist(s) growing up?
Chris: Cecil Taylor, Frank Zappa, Paul Desmond, Mstislav Rostropovich
Juan: King Crimson, Bernard Parmegiani, Victor Jara
Jonathan: Monteverdi, Stockhausen, Miles. Couldn’t choose, still can’t.
When did you realize that you wanted to be an artist?
Chris: Probably around 16 years of age.
Juan: At about 15, after the soccer did not pan out…
Jonathan: 12
What was your most unusual performance, or the most embarrassing thing that happened to you during a performance?
Chris: I had to explain to an audience in Italy the name I coined for the electric cello I had created, the “celletto”. It did not translate well, actually it did translate well but not as anyone going out on stage would have intended.
Juan: I took the good part of three hours to set up amplifiers, pedals, tape recorders, for an experimental guitar performance, only to find out that I brought an empty guitar case…
Jonathan: Being in the band for the Miss World contest, 1978
What is your guilty pleasure?
Chris: Buying a year’s worth of green coffee beans (50lbs.)!
Juan: Hamburgers at “wrong” times of the day
Jonathan: A minor coffee/chocolate/film noir/Tom & Jerry dependency
If you could instantly have expertise performing one instrument, what instrument would that be?
Chris: Saxophone
Juan: Vibraphone
Jonathan: Well, actually the trumpet. There’s a beautiful interview with Dizzy Gillespie where he looks at his trumpet in its case: “Look at it there, lying in luxury, waiting to mess up someone’s day.” It is a bit like that…
What does this album mean to you personally?
Chris: The album is pure collaboration. It works for me because of the trio.
Juan: The opportunity to share the happy musical accidents that happen when you are busy making other plans…
Jonathan: A moment of focused listening and co-imagining that stands as an important reference memory for me.
Is there a specific feeling that you would like communicated to audiences in this work?
Jonathan: Many writers have pointed to the ways in which the cult of individualism we inhabit can, counterintuitively, impede the potential of culture. For music to do its work, resonances must emerge more locally between different voices, imaginations and listenings. That’s what I think happens here, and what I hope we can share with listeners.
Chris Chafe is a composer, improvisor, and cellist, developing much of his music alongside computer-based research. He is Director of Stanford University's Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA). At IRCAM (Paris) and The Banff Centre (Alberta), he pursued methods for digital synthesis, music performance, and real-time internet collaboration. CCRMA's SoundWIRE project involves live concertizing with musicians the world over. Online collaboration software including jacktrip and research into latency factors continue to evolve. An active performer either on the net or physically present, his music reaches audiences in dozens of countries and sometimes at novel venues.