Of Poetry and Improvisation...

Mastery masters

Translucent path dissolving

Schism near complete

 

I don’t think I’ve written a poem in 15 years, which leads me to inquire about the nature of creativity and the human spirit.  What is it about creativity that is so effortless to access in childhood, yet eludes so many of us in adulthood? 

Improvisation can be free, conditional, contingent, and/or institutionalized.  Improvisation manifests in many ways, from intentional invention (fabricating something of meaning or utility from various materials, sometimes related, sometimes not) to spontaneous invention.  Often it stands on the shoulders of prior creative endeavors, as David Elliott claims. As a musician, I view improvisation as a powerful means of music making and a conduit for human engagement. Well, at least, what I think improvisation SHOULD be.  Truthfully, when I think of what improvisation means within the realm of my own musical upbringing (and probably that of most American music conservatories), I think about pressure to “make all of the changes” and show that I understand the stylistic nuances of the genres that I am playing in.  It’s very challenging to be creative in such an environment, where everyone’s improvisation exists as an effort to convince other musicians, our peers, of our competence. 

In an article entitled “Culture as Disability,” McDermott and Varenne explore the notion that disability is, itself, a cultural fabrication.  They suggest that people who are labeled as disabled are only so in relation to the context of which the prevailing culture is disabling. I find this fascinating, and see many parallels to musicians and barriers to improvisation.

When I was eight years old, I learned the melody to “Angel Eyes” from a recording, because I was inspired by it. I was so excited to play it for my band teacher in school.  After I played, he was horrified and admonished me, telling me “From now on, I only want to hear music that’s written on the page.”  While this incident didn’t completely deter me from improvisation, I still approach the task with great trepidation. There are many phenomenal musicians walking this earth who would react with terror if asked to improvise.  Many classically-trained musicians, in a sense, may be "culturally disabled".  It’s time to reshape the culture and unlock some doors.

On that note, I would highly recommend this track from Janelle Monae’s new album, Electric Lady, “Dorothy Dandridge Eyes” (song starts at 0:58:28, improvised solo starts at 1:01:02).  It is a pop/r&b/1970s soul-inspired tune with a very impressive vocal improvisation in the middle from Esperanza Spalding.  I am very taken with Janelle Monae’s innovative, expansive approach to music and plan to talk about her more this semester.