Austin Improv

Here are some nice quotes I found while reading about the effects of jazz improvisation earlier today. I'm actually writing my senior thesis about improvisation, and I've got a ton of really, really good quotes from various sources. I've just never thought to put them up here before.

David T. Bastien and Todd J. Hostager wrote:An overemphasis on individual expression and creativity occurred during the past 25 years or so in the jazz profession, an emphasis that leads us to forget the extent to which jazz is inherently and fundamentally a collective activity. The present study emphasizes a more balanced approach to understanding a managing organizational innovation, one in which individual invention is embedded in a collective context and is inseparable from the inventive and integrative activity of the entire group. Great jazz and great advances in the art have not been achieved by stars against a placid background. Rather, greatness in jazz resulted from a constellation of cooperatively improvising artists, each of whom has a chance to shine as a star.

Keith Sawyer wrote:The verb “listenâ€

Keith Jarrett, jazz pianist wrote:I think the fear of failure is why I try things… if I see there’s some value in something and I’m not sure whether I deserve to attempt it, I want to find out.

Steve Lacy, jazz saxophonist wrote:I’m attracted to improvisation because of something I value. There is a freshness, a certain quality, which can only be obtained by improvisation, something you cannot possibly get from writing. It is something to do with the “edge.â€

Brad, what were you reading? These are great.

ratliff wrote:Brad, what were you reading? These are great.

A whole lot of stuff. A lot. After I finish stuff up, I'd be glad to pass on my bibliography. I found the following two sources most helpful:

Organization Science - Vol. 9,No. 5, September-October 1998 [a special issue entirely about jazz improv]

Organizational Improvisation - edited by Ken. K. Kamoche, Miguel Pina E Cunha and Joao Vieria da Cunha [you can find this book in the Perry-Castaneda Library on UT's campus... call number HD 58.8 O738 2002. I've got it checked out for a while, though.]