Summer, 1998 

Improvisation
 
Solos! Improvisations! What are they? How is it done? What are you thinking about when you play a solo? What makes you do what you do? These are questions I am asked  frequently. To most people, what I do as a Jazz improviser is mysterious, and sometimes,
even magical. Without taking any of that away, maybe I can shed some light both on the
mystery of improvisation and the process of doing it.

In truth, improvisation is really a musical language with which Jazz musicians converse with each other. They learn this language just as anyone learns to speak any language; not from books, but BY EAR!

How did you learn to speak your native tongue? Did someone teach you to speak? No, of course not! You learned by hearing that language spoken by the people around you, usually family members. By the time you were a year or more old, you were beginning to speak that language, and, by the time you actually studied the grammar, the theory,  of that language, at approximately age eight, you had been fluent in the language for about six years!

How many of you have studied a foreign language in school for three or four years but are still unable to speak that language? Yet, if for a period of time you were placed among those to whom that language is native and had to speak that language, your ears would become attuned to it, you would develop a vocabulary and learn how to put words and phrases together in order to speak it with some fluency. The longer you remained immersed in that situation, the more fluent and sophisticated your skills in that language.

How does this apply to Jazz improvisation? What motivates one to start? Some young musicians early on will hear something on a CD, record or tape and feel they MUST go to their instruments in order to try to play what they heard. Initially, it takes a good bit of time to relate what they hear to their instruments as their ears are not accustomed this process. But as they continue this ear-training process, they improve rather quickly. In the course
of learning to do this, they constantly find themselves hearing new things that they want to  try to play further developing their ear and adding to their vocabulary. All the while, they are learning from the source, those that have come before and established their own individual musical voices. (Let me point out that , in my experience, no player who has not gone through this process has ever developed as an improviser!)

This process develops one's ear, and, like learning to talk, the player copies other people's style, articulation and phrasing all the while exercising his or her technical skills without focusing on doing so, just playing the music, not the instrument!  Meanwhile, they also are developing a vocabulary and learning the syntax of the language, the phrasing, articulations, rhythms and harmonic approaches in order to be more able to express themselves in the
genre. The more they apply themselves, the broader their skills, the greater their vocabulary and the more fluent they become in the language. As they tire of imitating others, they begin to use their newly acquired skills to put forth their own ideas and to express their own feelings.  Sound familiar? Just like learning to talk and developing one's speaking skills! Over a period of time, the fledgling develops into a full-blown Jazz linguist,
and, if perceptive, realizes this is a life-long task in which one will forever strive to become more fluent, develop a broader vocabulary and find their own voice, their own individuality in the music. This is the road one must travel to become a Jazz improviser.

So, what happens when four or five musicians come together to play; what is this conversation? It really is a "call and response" to each other. What each musician plays elicits, in a millisecond, a response which then elicits a further response from the others, each in his own way, and on and on. All this is based on one's knowledge of the subject upon which one is speaking(or, in this case, the tune one is playing). Apply this to our clearer picture of people talking together, that which makes for a meaningful conversation in which they exchange thoughts and ideas based upon their knowledge of a specific subject. In conversation, the more one speaks with others, the more they ingest and absorb the knowledge and ideas of others. As they try to educate themselves and refine their own skills of communication, they, in turn, become better speakers with greater abilities to both listen and respond...........to converse. This is the same process we use to become fine improvisers except that we use our instruments! And, of course, we can only
improvise to the level of mastery we have acquired on our instruments, a step not required in conversation.

So, now having developed into a skilled improviser, one who has trained his or her ear and learned the theories of harmony and rhythm, how does one develop a solo? Speaking for myself, I first listen to the style and context of the music, then immerse myself into the feel of the rhythm and harmony and try to let that elicit a response from me. In a big band context, I listen to how the arranger has structured the setting into which I am being placed, the textures of the sounds around me, and then, based on the harmonies and rhythms, try to create my own melodic lines initiating a conversation with the orchestra while always striving, if possible, to find something original and new. In the process, I respond to all that surrounds me, the manner in which the rhythm section "comps" for me, the backgrounds the arranger has written to accompany me and what the tempo, rhythm and style of the composition suggest to me. I try to create a discourse with the group I am within and say something expressive and musically appropriate.

In a small group, one is less restrained, free of written frameworks where one can be more spontaneous in style, tempo, rhythm and harmonies, even, if one desires, changing the "feel" and setting of the piece. One can play a composition in one style one evening, say a Bossa Nova, and the next evening play it in a "swing" style. Even while continuing to play a  specific piece in the same style, creative Jazz musicians strive not to be repetitive. They are always searching for new ways to express themselves and expand their ideas and
skills of communicating.

In closing, it is difficult to put into words what causes one to play in a specific way at a specific time because one is prompted to play extemporaneously, just as we talk extemporaneously. Do we think about speaking? Or, is our speaking, prompted by the situation at hand, based on our need to respond to that situation by expressing our own ideas and thoughts, letting loose our own feelings and emotions thereby creating a dialogue with those who elicited that response. Jazz improvisation, like speaking, is just that, but even more. It is the eternal search for the holy grail of creating and creativity!