Photo credit, www.revive-music.com
By Deanne Savage
I recently received an email from local teacher, Laura Spehar. We are working on a Manieri/APLJC sponsored Swing Dance to be held at Fidalgo Elementary School on May 29th. Laura said something in her email that delighted me and I want to share it with you:
“Jazz music inspires so much, peace, unity, intercultural dialogue, cooperation and of course teamwork. I think this could be a very positive and inspiring evening for our Fidalgo students/families”. – Laura Spehar
Now, I thought, this is why the jazz committee here at the library is working so hard to bring jazz to kids. This is why the Manieri family created the jazz and swing endowment and why I love this music so much – it is inspired, collaborative and, as Laura so wisely realized, creates a dialogue.
And that’s what led me to researching the dialogue of jazz…
In his book, “The Improvisation of Musical Dialogue: A Phenomenology of Music – Author, Bruce Ellis Benson makes this thought filled observation:
“…if we are all partners in dialogue – none of us who can profess any absolute priority over any others – then the task of each participant is a dialogical task, one that is defined by that dialogue – or even the ability to control it. Instead, we are simply members who attempt to respond to one another with respect. While that participation clearly calls for the responsibility to the dialogical others, it likewise puts that responsibility into perspective. If I cannot control the dialogue, then I can only be expected to contribute to the best of my ability. And the same goes for all the other participants.
Naturally, there are different ways in which this dialogue takes place. In a small group (such as a string quartet), there is a good degree of room for a genuine dialogue among all of the participants. This is even more the case in a small jazz group. Dave Brubeck has gone so far as to argue that, ‘jazz is about the only form of art existing today in which there is freedom of the individual without the loss of group contact.’
Ellis goes on to state, “Whether a symphonic orchestra, a choir or a big jazz band, such groups require a different kind of dialogue, one in which the members voluntarily give up some (perhaps much) of the control of their voices to the conductor, who in effect turns them into a unified voice. But that is not to say that there is no dialogue in such cases; it is just that its dynamics have changed.”
It appears that jazz improvisation is a perfect metaphor for dialogue. Each musician must build on what the others are already doing. The jazz musician can’t just begin playing his favorite riff. He must listen to what others are playing, and then build on it. The result is something unique — no one person controls the musical direction. They improvise and initiate, but always in relationship to what others are doing. It is the beauty of the individual effort encased in the support of others.
Wow. No wonder, students who participate in music, do better scholastically – and I will wager, are also good at working independently and in groups.
Something to think about…
Resources:
The Improvisation of Musical Dialogue: A Phenomenology of Music
By, Bruce Ellis Benson. 2003, Cambridge University Press. Pages 23 – 25
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