Jazz Improvisation

Jazz is at the cutting edge of the eternal now. The word "jazz" means "innovation in music". The great trumpet player Clark Terry said the way to learn to play jazz is through "imitation, assimilation, and innovation".

To innovate means to introduce something new. It means making changes to something already established. What makes the music of Louis Armstrong, Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, Art Blakey, Miles Davis so appealing and vibrant?

For many listeners it's the new ideas, and the changes these great players brought to the music.

Louis Armstrong paraphrasing melodies, infusing them with the blues, articulating around the pulse, decorating the tunes. Art Blakey, one of the inventors of modern bebop drumming.

Charlie Parker, with his great technique, emphasized the upper extensions of chords. John Coltrane longing to play his saxophone like a harp, creating his"sheets of sound" approach. Miles Davis performing some of the 20th Century's most challenging and influential music.

So we stand here today with the sounds of the masters echoing in our minds. But, as we are jazz musicians, we turn our faces away from the past and see what the future holds.

Three key trends in jazz improvisation-trends which indicate where jazz is heading-are expressionism, postmodernism, and freebop.

The first trend is expressionism. Musicians playing expressionism strive to express themselves as fully as possible. This style is noted for its intensity. It is sometimes called 'energy music'. Musicians known for playing in an expressionist style include Pharaoh Sanders, McCoy Tyner, Elvin Jones.

The second important trend to think about is postmoderninsm. Postmodern jazz musicians borrow from one idiom and transform it. Fragments and signifiers are relocated. Players are interested in developing their own voice, without regard for any direction that jazz as a whole might be taking.

For example, a performance may consist of suites that move from style to style during the course of performance, rather than taking on any particular style of their own.

The third trend is freebop. Free bop is a cross between bebop and so-called modal jazz. It's the stuff between hard bop and free jazz. Miles Davis's second quartet was free bop. In freebop, musicians play free, without the regimentation of the changes demanded in bebop. Yet the rhythmic pulse of the music is clearly bebop and blues based. Atonality is used sparingly. While it has many new elements, this music is still recognizably part of the blues tradition.

Clark G. Baldwin is a saxophonist, improviser, composer, educator, and author. His books include Seven Steps To A Great Jazz Solo, Etudes For Jazz Volume I, and Saxophone One: The Beginner's Guide To The Saxophone. Visit http://learnjazzfast.com to learn more about taking your music to a higher level--and download a free mini-course in Jazz Improvisation.

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