Instructing the ImproviserAuthor(s): Charles AlexanderSource: Fontes Artis Musicae, Vol. 36, No. 3 (Juli-September 1989), pp. 220-223Published by: International Association of Music Libraries, Archives, and Documentation Centres(IAML)Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/23507424 .

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220 Ch. Alexander: Instructing the Impiovisei

recordings from a concert of his Quartet in Amsterdam, 1961), "Italian jazz graffiti"

(a selection of rare 78s by Italian groups from the first modern jazz phase during the

forties and fifties), Lennie Tristano, Charlie Parker (original tunes as they were before

their utilization in the movie "Bird") and Charles Mingus. So far, in 1989, we have Ben

Webster, James P. Johnson, Lester Young and Pee Wee Russell.

Each month, the subject of the LP ties in with and enhances the main feature of the

magazine. These main features run from twelve to twenty pages and are well

illustrated. The rest of each issue contains news from around the world, reviews of con

certs and festivals in Italy and abroad, many pages of LP, CD and book reviews, a press

review summarising the most important activities on the jazz scene in North America

and Europe, and, of course, articles, interviews, biographies and discographies covering

the history of jazz music to the present day.

Every year, since 1982, Musica jazz organizes a poll —

"Top jazz" —

inviting about

eighty Italian jazz writers to order their preferences for the best musicians, groups,

recordings and new talents from Italy and abroad.

The current editor, since 1984, is Pino Candini. Previous editors were Giancarlo

Testoni (1945—1965) and Arrigo Polillo, the greatest writer on jazz from this country,

from 1965 until his premature death in 1984.

Musica Jazz: via Napo Torriani 19, 20124 Milano, Italy. Tel: 392 67561.

Rusconi Editoie: via Vitruvio 43, 20124 Milano, Italy. Tel: 39267561.

Musica Jazz sells for 10,000 Italian lire at the newsagents (just over £4, just over US$7).

Subscription for 12 issues — 96,000 lire (national rate), 180,000 lire (surface mail

abroad), 202,000 (air mail Europe), 245,000 (air mail Africa), 265,000 (America and

Asia).

Instructing the Improviser Charles Alexander (London)'

In 1983 the author invited two leading American jazz educators, Jamey Aebersold and David

Baker, to present a seminar for jazz musicians in London. Using a methodology for teaching jazz

improvisation which they had begun to develop two decades previously, they showed a class of

50 musicians of varying standards how to develop the musical skills and knowledge required by the contemporary jazz improviser.

This led to an annual Combo Improvisation Clinic in London under the direction of Jamey Aebersold and to the founding by the author of Jazzwise Publications, a firm specialising in the

supply to musicians, schools, colleges, libraries and music shops of jazz instructional books and

"Play-a-Long" record-and-book sets. In spite of the effectiveness and proven value of the approach to jazz teaching developed by

Aebersold, Baker and others, many jazz teachers have failed to update their methods. There is a

lack of training for jazz educators and many have a low level of commitment to teaching, regard

ing it purely as a source of income when performance opportunities are scarce. A growing number

of colleges are introducing jazz studies courses, but the demand for places exceeds the provision and many students are obliged to teach themselves. The author encourages music libraries to

respond to this situation by making available a range of jazz instruction books and Play-a-Long record-and-book sets.

* Charles Alexander plays and teaches jazz guitar. He heads Jazzwise Publications and is a Vice-President of the International Jazz Federation.

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Ch. Alexander: Instructing the Improviser 221

In 1983 I invited Jamey Aebersold and David Baker, two of the most prominent Ameri

can jazz educators, to present a three-day seminar at Goldsmith's College entitled

"Contemporary Jazz Techniques". Through their books and through Aebersold's series

of "Play-a-Long" record-and-book sets, I had been aware of the pioneering work of these

two musicians, together with their colleague Jerry Coker, in developing a methodology for teaching jazz improvisation in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Their abilities as

authors were already established, but their sheer expertise and commitment as teachers

were fully confirmed for me when I attended one of their Improvisation Clinics during the convention of the National Association of Jazz Educators in Kansas City that year.

The seminar in London was attended by 50 musicians, representing a wide range of

musical experience and background. Among these students were self-taught jazz saxo

phonists, guitarists who had transferred from rock music to jazz, classically-trained

pianists who were inspired by Bill Evans, Oscar Peterson or Keith Jarrett, and a pro fessional cellist who had recently graduated from one of the London music colleges. While they were united by their determination to become skilled jazz improvisers, they

also shared a common uncertainty about what to study and practice in order to achieve

this goal. At the end of the seminar the young professional cellist announced that she had learnt

more about music in these three days than she had in three years at music college!

Aebersold and Baker had identified the primary musical knowledge and skills that a jazz

improviser must have and had demonstrated practical ways of developing these. Ear

training exercises were introduced and recorded solos of the jazz greats were analysed.

Students learnt how to select the appropriate scales for each chord in a progression. The

innovatory ideas and devices of the bebop era and of John Coltrane were examined.

These and other topics were presented in a practical manner, constantly involving the

student in playing, singing and answering questions —

theory converted into practice.

Concepts and principles were explained with clarity, dissipating that alchemistic aura

of mystery which so often cloaks the process of jazz improvisation and acts as a barrier

to a deeper understanding and appreciation of the music.

For me this seminar proved conclusively that jazz improvisation can be taught — that

there is a way of guiding students towards the skills and knowledge which will help

them to become effective jazz improvisers. This led me to invite Jamey Aebersold to

return to London the next summer with a faculty of fourteen educators to present a full

scale Combo Improvisation Clinic, offering small-group classes and instrumental

master classes in addition to improvisation instruction. This Clinic has become an

annual event, with an enrolment averaging around 100.

That seminar in 1983 also revealed that many excellent instructional books and aids

in the field of jazz improvisation by American authors were not readily available in

Great Britain. The following year I launched Jazzwise Publications with the aim of

supplying such materials to musicians by direct mail. Its catalogue has grown steadily

and includes instrumental tutors, transcriptions of recorded jazz solos, texts on

arranging and composing, repertoire for jazz ensembles, improvisation guides by David

Baker and Jerry Coker, books on jazz appreciation and the Jamey Aebersold series of

"Play-a-Long" record-and-book sets. Jazzwise Publications also supplies to schools,

colleges, libraries and to music shops.

Jamey Aebersold's Play-a-Long series which forms the backbone of the Jazzwise Pub

lications catalogue, has transformed the practice methods of jazz musicians — students

and professionals —

throughout the world. Each record contains compositions or

exercises performed by a first-rate rhythm section of piano, bass and drums, so that the

musician can play along with them and practice improvising in a near-live situation.

The corresponding book sets out melodies, chord progressions, appropriate scales and

practice suggestions. Stereo separation enables the musician to eliminate the piano

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222 Ch. Alexander: Instructing the Improviser

track or the bass track, making the series ideal for pianists and bassists as well as "front

line" players. Volume 1 of the series — A New Approach to Jazz Improvisation

— was published by Aebersold in 1967 in response to a need that he had identified from his own teaching

experience for a systematic approach to developing jazz skills in a "live" situation with

a rhythm section. With a mixture of improvisation exercises on simple progressions

including the 12-bar blues and sound advice on developing jazz skills, this remains an

essential aid for the beginning jazz musician. There are now 43 volumes in the series

ranging from sets devoted to particular jazz composers (Duke Ellington, John Coltrane,

Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, etc.) through sets dealing with technical topics (e.g. Volume 16 Turnarounds, Cycles StII/Vs), to collections of "standards" which are per formed by jazz artists.

In spite of the innovatory work of Aebersold, Baker, Coker and other pioneering jazz educators in establishing a methodology for the teaching of jazz improvisation, the

overall situation for jazz education is still far from ideal. In the United Kingdom, for

example, training for jazz improvisation teachers does not exist. The level of commit

ment on the part of teachers is generally low and few have absorbed the ideas and

techniques developed in the United States. Many professional jazz musicians turn to

teaching only to compensate for a shortage of income from performing, but brilliance on

the bandstand does not guarantee expertise in the classroom.

One encouraging development, however, is the establishment of jazz courses by certain music colleges such as the Royal Academy of Music, the Guildhall School of

Music and Drama, both in London, and by further education colleges and polytechnics such as Mabel Fletcher College in Liverpool and the City of Newcastle Polytechnic. The

focus of most of these courses, however, tends towards ensemble playing rather than on

improvisation instruction and there are too few places to satisfy the growing demand.

Thus the only option for many aspiring jazz musicians is to organise their own pro

grammes of study. Music libraries can fulfil an important role here by ensuring that

they provide an appropriate range of jazz instmction books and records.

Care in selection is vital. There are, for example, many books of pieces for piano and

other instruments whose titles include the word "jazz", but which are merely perform ance pieces containing a sprinkling of supposed jazz inflections and intended for young classical players. These are devoid of educational value. Collections of jazz repertoire are worthwhile provided that they are carefully edited and that they are not simply an

attempt by publishers to exploit redundant catalogue items by including only a handful

of good jazz themes within several hundred titles. The best collections currently avail

able are The New Real Book and The World's Greatest Fake Book, (both published by the Sher Music Co., USA).

A section for improvisation instmction should ideally include David Baker's classic

text Jazz improvisation, his 3-volume series How to play bebop plus his four volumes

of Improvisational Patterns: The Bebop Era and Jerry Coker's book Patterns for Jazz. Useful introductory guides for beginners are Practical Jazz by Lionel Grigson (published by Stainer & Bell, England) and Improvising Jazz by Jerry Coker (Prentice Hall, USA).

The five volumes of the Jamey Aebersold series of "Play-a-Long" record-and-books

that provide improvisation instmction should be included. These are: Volume 1: A New

Approach to Jazz Improvisation; Volume 2: Nothin' but Blues-, Volume 3: The II/V/1

Progression; Volume 16: Turnarounds, Cycles & II/Vs and Volume 21: Gettin' it to

gether. In addition, a number of the volumes from this series featuring important jazz

composers and jazz standards could be included.

Transcribed jazz solos are a useful learning source for jazz musicians and the Charlie

Parker Omnibook (available in Concert, Bb, Eb or bass clef) and Jazz Tenor Solos — The

Blues (transcribed by Trent Kynaston, published by Jamey Aebersold) are recom

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E. Kolleiitsch : Das Institut für Jazzforschung und die Abteilung für Jazz in Graz 223

mended. Other categories to consider are instrumental tutors, particularly those writ

ten for jazz musicians and arranging and composition. With regard to jazz appreciation,

many histories and biographies have been published in the past decade, but the book

that most effectively combines the history and development of jazz music with musical

analysis is Jazz Styles: History and Analysis by Mark C. Gridley (published by Prentice Hall, USA).

Ein neuer Zweig der Musikwissenschaft, des

praktischen Musikstudiums und der Musikpädagogik: Das Institut für Jazzforschung und die Abteilung für Jazz an der Hochschule für Musik und darstellende Kunst in Graz

Elisabeth Kolleritsch (Graz)'

The Institute for Jazz at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Graz (Austria) was founded in 1965. In the following years one branch became specialized in research only and has

been called "Institute for Jazz Research". The second branch of this institute is a department for

jazz, which provides students with practical training in jazz-music. This training takes six years and culminates with a diploma and the degree of "Magister artium", which is the equivalent of

a "Master of Arts". In order to get this degree the student has to write a thesis in addition to

the practical training as a musician.

As a department for research, the Institute undertakes systematically the historical and com

parative investigation into jazz and related music, thus working in a new field of musicology. Several other disciplines are drawn into this work, such as transcription, bibliography, historio

graphy, theory of musical instruments, ethnology, sociology, psychology, aesthetics, education

and theory of mass media. Methods used are analytical and historical research, bibliography and

discography, archive work. Congresses, meetings, lectures and publications make the results of this work known. So far four meetings on jazz research have been organized together with the

International Society for Jazz Research (IGJ), which was founded in 1969 and which is seated at the

Institute. Two periodicals have been published jointly with the IGJ since 1969: the yearbook

Jazzfoischung/Jazz Research, which reached its 20th volume in 1988, and the Beiträge zur Jazz

forschung/Studies in Jazz Research, which comes out at irregular intervals and consists of eight volumes so far.

In Österreich gibt es seit dem Jahre 1965 mit der Errichtung eines Institutes für Jazz an

der damaligen Akademie für Musik und darstellende Kunst in Graz eine selbständige

Ausbildungsstätte für dieses Fachgebiet auf Universitätsebene. Infolge der Umstruktu

rierung der Akademie zur Hochschule für Musik und darstellende Kunst in Graz im Jah

re 1971 wurde das Institut für Jazz geteilt: Für die praktische Jazzausbildung war ab nun

die sogenannte Abteilung für Jazz (Abteilung VIII an der Hochschule) zuständig, die

schon seit dem Jahre 1969/70 als „Seminar für Jazzpraxis" eine gewisse Selbständig

keit innerhalb des Institutes für Jazz innehatte und im Laufe der Jahre zu einem Zen

trum der europäischen Jazzausbildung geworden war. Auch machte die Intensivierung

* Elisabeth Kolleritsch ist Assistentin am Institut für Jazzforschung an der Hochschule für Musik und darstellende Kunst in Graz.

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