Sam Ospovat: From Cecil Taylor to Blight Music

Drummer Sam Ospovat discusses his technical evolution and the historical weight of performing with masters like Cecil Taylor. He breaks down the differences between the New York and Nordic music communities, the creation of his project Blight Music in a Brooklyn warehouse, and the discipline required to maintain a creative voice across different continents.Timestamps:00:00 - Intro: The difficulty of moving to New York01:13 - Formative years at UC Santa Cruz04:16 - Mills College: An incubator for the avant-garde05:32 - Two weeks with Cecil Taylor: Focus and improvisation08:12 - Moving to NYC and the influence of mentors11:46 - Relocating to Finland and the Nordic scene19:07 - Classical music as a Finnish national identity26:19 - Rhythmic ratios: Composing with prime numbers29:39 - Virtuosity and the feeling of total abandon32:11 - The "Blight Music" concept and the warehouse scene39:51 - Writing for non-specialists in complex structures44:19 - Timbre and the intellectual component of music50:13 - The Brooklyn warehouse and the Blight Music festival56:10 - Identifying the true originals in the current era1:03:59 - How to find Sam Ospovat’s musicBIRCH GROVE MEDIAWeb: birchgrove.ioFollow us: @birch.grove.media on Instagram.Watch on YouTube: youtube.com/@BirchGroveMediaGet the Record: Shop our current 180g LP and digital releases on our website. Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.