Thinking in Jazz: The Infinite Art of Improvisation(Chicago Studies in Ethnomusicology CSE)

A landmark in jazz studies, Thinking in Jazz reveals as never before how musicians, both individually and collectively, learn to improvise. Chronicling leading musicians from their first encounters with jazz to the development of a unique improvisatory voice, Paul Berliner documents the lifetime of preparation that lies behind the skilled improviser's every idea. The product of more than fifteen years of immersion in the jazz world, Thinking in Jazz combines participant observation with detailed musicological analysis, the author's experience as a jazz trumpeter, interpretations of published material by scholars and performers, and, above all, original data from interviews with more than fifty professional musicians: bassists George Duvivier and Rufus Reid; drummers Max Roach, Ronald Shannon Jackson, and Akira Tana; guitarist Emily Remler; pianists Tommy Flanagan and Barry Harris; saxophonists Lou Donaldson, Lee Konitz, and James Moody; trombonist Curtis Fuller; trumpeters Doc Cheatham, Art Farmer, Wynton Marsalis, and Red Rodney; vocalists Carmen Lundy and Vea Williams; and others. Together, the interviews provide insight into the production of jazz by great artists like Betty Carter, Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Coleman Hawkins, and Charlie Parker. Thinking in Jazz overflows with musical examples from the 1920s to the present, including original transcriptions (keyed to commercial recordings) of collective improvisations by Miles Davis's and John Coltrane's groups. These transcriptions provide additional insight into the structure and creativity of jazz improvisation and represent a remarkable resource for jazz musicians as well as students and educators. Berliner explores the alternative ways—aural, visual, kinetic, verbal, emotional, theoretical, associative—in which these performers conceptualize their music and describes the delicate interplay of soloist and ensemble in collective improvisation. Berliner's skillful integration of data concerning musical development, the rigorous practice and thought artists devote to jazz outside of performance, and the complexities of composing in the moment leads to a new understanding of jazz improvisation as a language, an aesthetic, and a tradition. This unprecedented journey to the heart of the jazz tradition will fascinate and enlighten musicians, musicologists, and jazz fans alike.

Table of Contents:
List of Figures List of Music Texts Acknowledgments Introduction: Picking Notes out of Thin Air? Improvisation and Its Study Ch. 1: Love at First Sound: Early Musical Environment Ch. 2: Hangin' Out and Jammin': The Jazz Community as an Educational System Ch. 3: A Very Structured Thing: Jazz Compositions as Vehicles for Improvisation Ch. 4: Getting Your Vocabulary Straight: Learning Models for Solo Formulation Ch. 5: Seeing Out a Bit: Expanding upon Early Influences Ch. 6: The More Ways You Have of Thinking: Conventional Rhythmic and Theoretical Improvisation Approaches Ch. 7: Conversing with the Piece: Initial Routines Applying Improvisation Approaches to Form Ch. 8: Composing in the Moment: The Inner Dialogue and the Tale Ch. 9: Improvisation and Precomposition: The Eternal Cycle Ch. 10: The Never-ending State of Getting There: Soloing Ability, Ideals, and Evaluations Ch. 11: Arranging Pieces: Decisions in Rehearsal Ch. 12: Adding to Arrangements: Conventions Guiding the Rhythm Section Ch. 13: Give and Take: The Collective Conversation and Musical Journey Ch. 14: When the Music's Happening and When It's Not: Evaluating Group Performances Ch. 15: The Lives of Bands: Conflict Resolution and Artistic Development Ch. 16: Vibes and Venues: Interacting with Different Audiences in Different Settings Epilogue: Jazz as a Way of Life Music Texts Appendix A: House Congressional Resolution 57 Appendix B: List of Artists Interviewed Sources Notes Discography Videography Bibliography

About the Author :
Paul F. Berliner is professor of ethnomusicology at Northwestern University. He is the author of The Soul of Mbira, also published by the University of Chicago Press, and is the recipient of an ASCAP-Deems Taylor award for outstanding writing in music.