Karl Berger's Creative Music Studio

LEGENDARY RECORDINGS OF
CREATIVE MUSIC STUDIO TO BE PRESERVED:
More than 400 performances by ground-breaking composer/performers of the World Jazz and New Music genre (1972-1986).

INNOVATIVE PROJECT WITH PLANET ARTS IGNITES
NEW PHASE OF KARL BERGER'S CREATIVE MUSIC FOUNDATION

The Creative Music Foundation (CMF), in collaboration with Planet Arts, has launched a new project to preserve the recorded archive of the legendary Creative Music Studio (CMS). The CMS Archive contains more than 400 audio and video tapes of live performances by some of the world's greatest musical innovators, recorded from 1972 to 1986 at the CMS facilities in Woodstock NY. as well as other concert sites in the US.

The collection of recordings is unique in its artistic scope and depth, capturing spontaneous performances by some of the most outstanding and ground-breaking composers/performers in World Jazz, World Music and New Music. CMS served as an incubator for new music for nearly 15 years, providing a musical laboratory for contemporary masters, guiding ensembles of highly motivated emerging artists and expanding the language of contemporary improvised music.

Among the artists leading ensembles on these archive recordings are Don Cherry, Anthony Braxton, Leo Smith, Foday Suso, Abdullah Ibrahim, Roscoe Mitchell, Joseph Jarman, Cecil Taylor, Jimmy Giuffre, Frederic Rzewski, Carla Bley, Dave Holland, Paulo Moura, Nana Vasconcelos, Pauline Oliveros, Karl Berger, Ingrid Sertso, Baikida Carroll, Trilok Gurtu, Steve Gorn, Ismet Siral, Jack DeJohnette, Fred Frith, Oliver Lake, Lee Konitz, Leroy Jenkins, George Lewis, and others (a complete list is available at: www.CreativeMusicStudio.org).

The CMS/Planet Arts project is considered revolutionary in that the re-mastered recordings will be returned to the contributing artists for their unrestricted use. Selected tracks of these recordings will be made available by participating artists to be included in a special CMS series of CD/DVD compilations.

CMF is partnering with Planet Arts to create an imprint label (Planet Arts/CMS records) that will jointly promote the project and disseminate the recorded packages through the Planet Arts International network and to the CMS network of artists, contributors and members, as well as to educational institutions and dedicated radio hosts. Planet Arts Recordings GRAMMY Award winning, not-for-profit, 501(c) 3 Label.

Founded in 1971 by Karl Berger, Ingrid Sertso and Ornette Coleman, the Creative Music Studio (CMS) brought together leading innovators in the jazz and world music communities. During the '70's and '80's, the Woodstock-based Creative Music Studio was considered the premier study center for contemporary creative music. Unprecedented in its range and diversity, CMS was an acknowledged phenomenon in the international music world, providing participants with the rare opportunity to interact personally with the musical giants of improvisation and musical thought on a daily basis.

CMS is credited as the birthplace of Worldjazz - the improvisational and compositional expansion of the world's musical traditions. Now one of the main driving forces in many styles of music, this concept was pioneered very early at CMS, guided by authentic leaders.

A popular book about the Creative Music Studio, "Music Universe, Music Mind: Revisiting the Creative Music Studio, Woodstock NY", written by Robert E. Sweet, was published in 1996 by Arborville Publishing.