MELODIC ILLUSIONS - Toward A New Topography Of Melodic Orientation In Contemporary Jazz by Kasper Tranberg

The project seeks to explore how improvising musicians can expand their understanding and practice of melody beyond traditional linear and tonal frameworks. Specifically, I investigate: · How can melodic orientation in improvisation be re-conceptualized to include multidirectional, spatial, temporal, and illusory dimensions? · What compositional and improvisational methods can support such expanded melodic approaches in both individual and collective performance contexts? · How can these methods challenge and reshape conventional jazz ensemble roles and pedagogies? The aim of the project was to develop methods that open up multidirectional connections and pathways in improvisers’ melodic perceptions, directions, and orientations. This serves both to challenge and shift the traditional roles melodic instruments have occupied, and to disrupt the underlying habitual musical structures that characterize conventional jazz ensemble practice. At the same time, the project offers an alternative to traditional jazz pedagogy, aiming to develop both individual and collective improvisational strategies within ensemble formats that use melodic orientation as a conceptual and methodological framework.  Furthermore, the project seeks to map out this conceptual and methodological framework as a resource for improvising musicians in both professional and educational settings. It was important to me that this work and experimentation be grounded in a performative practice. The work centered around two improvising ensembles made up of acoustic and electroacoustic instrumentalists and vocalists:  – One ensemble consisting of professional improvisers, and – One ensemble made up of students from the Rhythmic Music Conservatory (RMC), placing the research within a practice-based educational context.

Outroduction

Looking back, the intentions that initiated this project, to expand my melodic approaches, rethink my orientation toward melody, and open new pathways, have taken root more fully than I could have imagined. The concepts I developed early on Melodology, Melodography, the Melodological Society, and Phenomelodology, gradually became flexible frameworks rather than fixed definitions, guiding the work in multidirectional and often unexpected ways.

My research questions centered on how a reconceptualized melodic orientation could be supported by new improvisational and compositional methods, individually and collectively. These questions found shape in two ensembles: one of students at the Rhythmic Music Conservatory and one of professional improvisers. Working iteratively with clearly staged phases allowed the Four Strands and the four melodic concepts to unfold naturally. The presence of younger musicians played an essential role, fueling the work with curiosity and fresh insights and considerations.

Throughout the project, I returned repeatedly to my own sense of melodicity, not as a technique but as a sensibility. I sought to retain my jazz-improvisational phrasing while avoiding anything resembling “licks”; instead, I aimed for evolving, adaptable approaches to melody. Teaching became a powerful mirror for my own learning, as I attempted to share abstract melodic ideas with clarity while keeping them open. Some students incorporated these methods into their own practices, which affirmed the strength of this approach.

A significant part of the process involved deliberate delimitation. I set aside predetermined structures, certain sonic materialities, electroacoustic work, and strongly metric rhythmic frameworks. This opened space for exploring multidirectionality, spatiality, and illusion within melody. Work with Pulsations allowed rhythmic energy without relying on metrical regularity. My solo trumpet recordings became central in this regard, revealing tangible changes in my improvisational expression, new pathways, new starting points, and a heightened sense of melodic divergence and reorientation.

As the work progressed, I envisioned a publication, Melodography for Improvisers containing hybrid scores and a range of melodic approaches such as Melodic Illusion, Shadowing, IDP, Dream Melody, and Micro-Melodic textures. These will serve as both maps and invitations for improvisers to develop their own melodologies.

The Process Notes chapter functions like an archive box, documenting the chronological unfolding of the project. Revisiting these notes shows how the Four Strands emerged gradually, how contextual explorations shaped the work, and how ensemble practice repeatedly returned as a crucial site of inquiry. The notes also reveal parallel tracks: solitary exploration and ensemble collaboration, each feeding into the other.

Several detours, including attempts at classical-style graphic notation, proved unproductive but contributed to clarifying the direction of the work. Listening with pen and paper remained essential, as did returning to recordings of my student ensemble, the professional ensemble, and my own solo work. Influences from Ivar Grydeland and Ingrid Laubrock were especially significant, alongside artistic symposia and collegial exchanges.

By spring 2025, new melodic directions emerged in my solo playing, feeding directly into the sextet work. Reworking the sextet scores clarified my intention that scores should not be puzzles but doorways: accessible, inspiring, and oriented toward oral guidance in line with jazz traditions. By early summer, I felt the work gaining strong momentum, something clearly reflected in the artistic results of the project.

This project has opened a wider field of melodicity for me, one where I can articulate, experience, and absorb new elements with clarity and purpose. I look forward to continuing the work through future solo performances, sextet projects, and the development of a tangible melodography that others can use to shape their own melodic journeys.

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Kasper Tranberg - MELODIC ILLUSIONS - Toward A New Topography Of Melodic Orientation In Contemporary Jazz - 2025