This work will explore the musical ideas and philosophy discussed by George Russell in his book “The Lydian Chromatic Concept of Tonal Organization” (2001). Through the lens of a performing musician, improviser and composer/arranger, it will explore how the ideas of unity (vertical) and duality (horizontal), interact with each other through Tonal Gravity, and how they can be practically implemented as tools used to expand the scope of vertical (harmonic) consciousness and individual expression.

Through my studies of the LCC, I have composed new music, in addition to contextualizing familiar jazz repertoire, in new and refreshing ways. Russell describes the Lydian Chromatic scale and its eleven member scales, as well as three different coexistent levels of Tonal Gravity in his River Trip analogy (Vertical, Horizontal and Supra-Vertical), which together opens up both ingoing and outgoing tonal resources. I have been exploring ways of integrating these elements in my expression.

George Russell’s 50 years of work on The Concept was explicitly made to inspire future innovators to develop “[…] intellectual brilliance, intuitive perception, emotional fire, and spiritual depth.” (Russell, 2001, p. 98). Studying the Concept has helped me find my own expression more believable. By avoiding mechanical playing and rather developing my ears and fluency on the instrument, it allows for harmonic color and expression to be felt and created, instead of prepared licks and patterns.