Episode
Sam Ospovat: From Cecil Taylor to Blight Music
- Podcast
- Close Enough for Jazz
- Published
- May 14, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 3928
- Processing state
not_requested
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Summary
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 York 01:13 - Formative years at UC Santa Cruz 04:16 - Mills College: An incubator for the avant-garde 05:32 - Two weeks with Cecil Taylor: Focus and improvisation 08:12 - Moving to NYC and the influence of mentors 11:46 - Relocating to Finland and the Nordic scene 19:07 - Classical music as a Finnish national identity 26:19 - Rhythmic ratios: Composing with prime numbers 29:39 - Virtuosity and the feeling of total abandon 32:11 - The "Blight Music" concept and the warehouse scene 39:51 - Writing for non-specialists in complex structures 44:19 - Timbre and the intellectual component of music 50:13 - The Brooklyn warehouse and the Blight Music festival 56:10 - Identifying the true originals in the current era 1:03:59 - How to find Sam Ospovat’s music BIRCH GROVE MEDIA Web: birchgrove.io Follow us: @birch.grove.media on Instagram. Watch on YouTube: youtube.com/@BirchGroveMedia Get 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.