Support - relational function

Support, The active underlayment to support other higher profile “voice(s)”.

When a solo, duo or trio becomes dominant (obvious), the other players in the group might cease playing, or provide accompaniment which supports the musical direction of the Flow as determined by a Solo or Dialogue. An obvious example of Support is drumming that sustains a tempo and punctuates the phrases of other instruments. Indeed, the function of Support is to enhance not only rhythm and phrasing but other aspects of a lead voice such as timbre (articulation, register, dynamic) and, if appropriate, pitch (harmonically, melodically).

source: Nunn (1998) Wisdom of The Impulse. On the Nature of Musical Free Improvisation. pdf part 1 page 26 of 50 url link 1 [1]

source: Nunn (1998) quoted & discussed in Free Ensemble Improvisation, Harald Stenström, page 90 url link 1 [2] link 2 [3]