JAZZ
IMPROVISATION
I
believe the most difficult
adjustments humans make
are those which require
flexibility and change.
We are a species of habit.
One which prefers to return
daily to the sanctity of
it's own preserved environment
and one which prefers to
sidestep perceived conflict.
As we age this becomes more
apparent.
We
are apprehensive when asked
to taste, hear, touch, and
view the unfamiliar . Exploring
the unknown requires a certain
amount of faith and a willingness
to improvise. You must abandon
preconceived notions concerning
the eventual outcome.
Musicians
for eternity have been improvising.
Whether it's an object chosen
to transmit sound or a combination
of tones arranged to communicate
a thought, they have been
at the fore front of innovation.
Bach, Beethoven and Chopin
were great impovisationalist.
In many instances they played
from a basic sketch or as
we do in contemporary music,
a chart. Bach utilised a
melody underlined by a figured
bass leaving the inner details
open for interpretation,
including a series of Roman
numerals as guidelines.
Chopin developed a reputation
as a master of improvisation
as he travelled the Polish
countryside dazzling audiences
with his penchant for spontaneity.
Still, other composers left
some of their most acclaimed
compositions incomplete,
eventually pieced together
by musicologists.
We
think of jazz as being the
greatest ambassador of improvisation
because it proudly identifies
this aspect as being a key
ingredient in it's make
up. In the late 1800's,
trumpeter Buddy Bolden frequented
the brothel district of
Storyville and the notorious
communities known as "The
Swamp" and " Smoky Row"
in New Orleans, playing
a new form of music of his
own creation that relied
heavily on improvisation.
It was only in 1917 when
an all white group calling
itself the Original Dixieland
Jass Band released a recording
called "Livery Stable Blues"
did the public begin to
hear jazz. The ODJB copied
the original sounds black
musicians were bringing
northward attempting to
put a personal stamp on
it for themselves. This
was hard to do.
The
white and black experience
had been born and shaped
in entirely different cultural
spheres. Blacks could look
to West Africa and the Caribbean
and the Yoruba traditions
for their heritage. Rhythm,
dance, and dialogue were
an essential part of life's
fabric. Sound and movement
were spontaneous with all
in the community willing
participants. Whites relied
mainly on European composers
who in many cases composed
in isolation and were subsidised
by the state. It was the
combination of these divergent
histories that make jazz
the ultimate expression
of two distinctly different
peoples.Black musicians
can claim exclusive rights
to patent the term, but
it's growth as an art form
has been a joint partnership
between both cultures.
Rock
embraced improvisation during
the sixties. Up until then
consise guitar solos were
usually injected in the
framework of the two and
a half minute song , enough
to add a little spice to
the recording. The sixties
found jazz musicians like
Miles Davis, Chick Corea,
Joe Zwainul, Cannonball
Adderly, and Ramsey Lewis
integrating rock rhythms
in their free flowing compositions.
The Grateful Dead, Quicksilver
and the Messenger Service,
Jimi Hendricks, The Cream,
Buddy Miles,Carlos Santana,
Iron Butterfly among many
others introduced a young
audience to long , unending
improvisational sections
which could last forty minutes
or more. This was the era
of progressive rock. Much
of the improvisation came
from two schools, the blues
or East Indian scales, introduced
by guitarist Mike Bloomfield
of the Blues Project and
Paul Butterfield Blues Band.
I
once taught an introductory
class at Northern Illinois
University on improvisation.
To get the students, who
age ranged from fourteen
to fifty, to abandon the
riggidity of relying entirely
on written music , I encouraged
them to speak through their
instruments as if they were
involved in a engrossing
conversation. Express what
was on the mind , listen,
and communicate . With eight
people weaving in and out
the group began to sound
like an avant garde band
at moments dissonant at
others in harmony. As they
played a composition arose
of their own creation. The
greatest thing about the
whole experience was witnessing
the freedom of thought each
shared with one another.
Few situations in life encourage
this. Try it, you'll revel
in it!
Written by : Bill King
