The chaos theory suggests that any and all actions will have a reaction somewhere in the world. One of the most frequent suggestions you hear is that a butterfly's wings flapping in Japan will cause a hurricane somewhere else. How much validity there is to that statement is debatable, but it is used as an extreme example to demonstrate the idea of the interconnectedness of all things.

Now you can believe what you want about butterflies and their wings but the idea of the chaos theory makes a lot of sense when you listen to Joseph Jarman's 1968 recording of As If It Were The Seasons. It's just been re-released and digitally remastered by Delmark Records allowing a whole new generation to take flight along side the men and one woman who recorded the two pieces of music performed on this recording.

Referring to this music as Jazz is not a good idea. The word Jazz immediately brings to mind a definition, and an expectation of what it is you are about to hear.  It's true many of the same instruments are utilized in the performance of this work as are employed in the music known as Jazz, but then again both Rembrandt and Jackson Pollack used paint and canvass to create their art and there are some noticeable differences between the finished work of each man.

I don't know how much Jazz music any of you know but if you're familiar with the music of Charlie Parker, Charles Mingus, and the later work of John Coltrane you'll know there was quite a change in styles from the first two men to the third. I think it is probably safe to say it is at least an equivalent jump from Coltrane to the music that Jarman was performing in 1968.

Although chronologically the latter three men were roughly contemporary, and some of Coltrane's soloing was moving in a similar direction, Jarman and company were musically on a different plane of existence. Does that sound unnecessarily spacey and trippy to you? Well perhaps it is, but in some ways it's the truth.

In spite of earning a deserved reputation for wild improvisations on his tenor saxophone, Coltrane was still working within the structure of a recognizable tune. Much like a classical composer or musician, he would do variations on a theme and have that as his foundation. A friend of mine once said, " you can't help but respect a man who took a song as nauseating as "A Few Of My Favourite Things" and turned it into something interesting". He was brilliant at improvising around something and creating magic, but there was mostly always a tune. (I qualified that statement because I've not heard all of Coltrane's music so I can't be 100% of the statement)

But when you listen to Joseph Jarman and his band, you know that's not the case. On the first pass through of the first track "As If It Were The Seasons" and "Song To Make The Sun Come Up" it appears to be complete chaos – no tune, no theme, and definitely no structure. Listen a second time and you start to get an inkling of what could be happening here but you might not be listening in the right way.