“Living Time”: Time as an Agent in Contemporary Creative Musical Performance

Abstract This article explores the temporal dimensions of musical improvisation in contemporary creative performance, centered around George Russell’s Lydian Chromatic Concept of Tonal Organization and its application by composer and pianist Ben Schwendener. Schwendener delineates three primary modes of engaging time in jazz improvisation – Horizontal Tonal Gravity, Vertical Tonal Gravity, and Supra Vertical Tonal Gravity – each representing distinct relationships between melody, harmony, and the perception of time. Drawing from historical jazz recordings (e.g., by Jimmy Forrest, John Coltrane, and Ornette Coleman), the author demonstrates how these temporal modes shape musical narrative, emotional expressiveness, and structural coherence. He further extends Russell’s theory into Applied Modal Analysis , using polyphonic compositions by J.S. Bach as a platform for supra-vertical improvisation, thereby collapsing traditional genre boundaries between classical music and jazz. Through theoretical exposition, musical analysis, and performative reflection, the article advocates for an elastic, relational understanding of time in music – termed “Living Time” – as a transformative and integrative force in both performance and pedagogy.