Making music together, or improvisation and its others

Authors

  • Nicholas Cook AHRB Research Centre for the History and Analysis of Recorded Music, University of London

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1558/jazz.v1i1.5

Keywords:

jazz, jazz musicians, history of jazz, modern jazz

Abstract

I can focus my topic through two diametrically opposed quotations concerning the relationship between jazz and the music of the Western 'art' tradition. One the one hand, Ingrid Monson (1996:74) writes that 'meaningful theorizing about jazz improvisation at the level of the ensemble must take the interactive, collaborative context of musical invention as a point of departure. This context has no parallel in the musical practice of Western classical composers of the common practice period'. On the other hand, Alfred Schutz (1964:177) writes that 'there is no difference in principle between the performance of a string quartet and the improvisations at a jam session of accomplished jazz players'. Reconciliation is impossible; the standoff could hardly be more complete.

Author Biography

  • Nicholas Cook, AHRB Research Centre for the History and Analysis of Recorded Music, University of London

    Nicholas Cook is Professor of Music and Director of the AHRB Research Centre for the History and Analysis of Recorded Music (CHARM) at Royal Holloway, University of London. He has published journal articles and books on a wide range of musical topics from aesthetics and analysis to psychology and pop. He was elected a Fellow of the British Academy in 2001. Forthcoming publications include Schenker and Others: Culture, Race, and Music Theory in Fin-de-siècle Vienna, The Cambridge History of Twentieth-Century Music (co-edited with Anthony Pople), and Empirical Musicology: Aims, Methods, Prospects (co-edited with Eric Clarke).

References

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Downloads

Published

2004-03-01

Issue

The Source: Volume 1 (2004)

Section

Articles

License

© Equinox Publishing Ltd.

For information regarding our Open Access policy, click here.

How to Cite

Cook, N. (2004). Making music together, or improvisation and its others. Jazz Research Journal, 1(1), 5-26. https://doi.org/10.1558/jazz.v1i1.5