One of the paradoxes of music seems to be that composed music sounds best when the players infuse that music with so much of the spirit of the composer's intention that it sounds fresh to the listener, as if he had been transported back through time and, as he listens, seems to be sitting with the composer himself, observing the event in real time. Conversely, the best improvised music is so full of the player's intention, and that intention is emblazoned so large and clear, that the music emerges full-blown, complete with its own organic, logical structure. The music then appears as if it could not have emerged in any other arrangement or order, as if the improviser had been reading the notes from some chart hidden behind his eyes, written in the ink and bearing the unmistakable handwriting of his music soul. It is precisely this sort of improvised music which Paul Bley has spontaneously composed for our delight and our contemplation on Synth Thesis.

-- RS