Improvisation and our musical soundscape

> Although improvisation may be a skill helpful to the
> mastery of a particular musical instrument I am not convinced that in
> itself it adds anything to ultimate musical experience. Nor do I feel
> that improvisational skill leads to more creative musical expression. In
> fact it much more readily falls into the realm of noodling than much of
> the so-called Western classical repertoire.

Ever heard Derek Bailey's album "Aida"? What about the Indian greats like
N. Rajam, Nikhil Banerjee, and Debashish Bhattacharya? How about Stephan
Grapelli, Miles Davis, Alan Holdsworth, etc? Each of these improvisors has
improved the quality of my life.

Yes, I am defensive because I love improvised music! I think that some of
the highest art comes from improvisation. There's a certain candidness, an
honesty in improvisation that I just don't get from composed music.
Granted, you can achieve a much higher level of complexity in a composed
piece, but otherwise, the process is basically the same, and the results are
just as valid.

One must make allowances for the fact that only a very small percentage of
available recordings have really good improvisation on them. I think that
if you lived in India, the situation might be reversed! The very foundation
of western musical culture is written music, so it makes sense that our
improvisation is a little shaky.

Imagine the volume of written music that has existed in the WORLD, EVER.
The best composers from EVERY generation are there. For the most part, the
better pieces have survived and much of the junk has been tossed generations
ago. Now imagine next to it, a MUCH smaller pile, the volume of recorded,
improvised music sitting next to it. Only one or 2 generations of
performers have made this music, and from this, one generation of record
company executives have selected what they thought would SELL THE BEST and
released it on record. Now, if you were to take a random sampling of these
two selected pools of music, where are you more likely to find a great work
of art?

I am not surprised that you said this, but it makes me REALLY want to share
some GOOD improvised music with you. Drop me your address and I'll mail you
a tape.


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