Choose your own adventure: Vocal jazz improvisation, conceptual metaphor, and cognitive embodiment

Creativity in the form of musical improvisation has received growing attention from researchers informed by the literature on embodiment. To date, this research has focused on the embodied experiences of improvising instrumentalists rather than those of improvising singers. This article investigates the experience of embodiment during improvisation through a systematic analysis of the metaphorical language used by an artist-level jazz singer in her reflections on practice. Extensive interview data with the participant were analyzed to identify and reconstruct metaphorical expressions into conceptual metaphors. In this process, the metaphor of IMPROVISATION IS AN ADVENTURE was identified as the overarching conceptual structure that the participant used to make sense of her experiences of improvisation. This metaphor and its mappings illuminate the cognitively embodied dimension of vocal jazz improvisation. These findings will be of interest to jazz singers and vocal jazz educators who are encouraged to explore more fully the role of the body–mind’s interactions with its environment in order to establish expertise in improvisational ways of knowing. This research illuminates the multidimensional nature of an expert singer’s experiences of improvisation and is presented as a provocation for future research to include singers as participants when investigating musical improvisation and cognitive embodiment.

Giving voice to jazz singers’ experiences of flow in improvisation

Jazz instrumentalists’ experiences of improvisation have informed psychological research on a range of topics including flow in improvisation, yet there is scant evidence of jazz singers’ improvising experiences. Using interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA), this study investigated the experiences of three professional Australian jazz singers who improvise extensively in their performance practice: How do these singers experience improvisation? IPA of semi-structured interviews with the singers resulted in two superordinate themes which both related to the flow state: (a) singers experienced flow when improvisation “went well”; (b) singers experienced flow as meaningful—flow provided singers with both the freedom to express the self and the opportunity to contribute to something beyond the self. These findings reveal a new context for flow experiences. Implications for vocal jazz education and practice are discussed.

Jazz zingen, hoe doe je dat? Stijl, klank en stemgebruik in Vocal Jazz / Singing jazz: how do you go about that? Style, sound and the use of voice in Vocal Jazz

Jazz zingen, hoe doe je dat? Letterlijk. Tot enkele jaren terug was het vormen en kiezen van mijn klank gebaseerd op luisteren, imitatie en intuïtie. Vaak had ik het gevoel dat mijn klank voor een groot stuk afhing van toeval. Maar toen leerde ik mijn stem begrijpen, voelen en kennen. Vele jazzvocalisten zijn gretig op zoek naar antwoorden rond stemgebruik binnen jazz. Het combineren van spectrografie en anatomie verschaft helderheid. Singing jazz: how do you go about that? Literally. Until a few years ago, I mainly used imitation and intuition to shape and select my own sound. I used to listen a lot, too. I often felt that my sound relied quite heavily on coincidence. But then I learned to understand, feel and know my voice. A lot of jazz vocalists are eager to know how to use their voice in jazz. A combination of spectroscopy and anatomy provides clarification.

Three studies in the philosophy of jazz

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] This dissertation comprises three studies which in turn discuss jazz ontology, jazz improvisation, and the question of whether jazz has ended as an artform. The first study discusses Andrew Kania's work on jazz ontology and attempts to clarify and extend his position regarding the principled exclusion of vocal jazz and jazz Fusion from his jazz ontology. Further, it introduces a quasi-realist strategy for making sense of jazz-work ontological discourse. The second study is a unique, comprehensive discussion of the jazz drummer's history and role in jazz improvisational contexts, in which the full range of instrumental performance practice (timekeeping, comping, and soloing) is explored. The third study is a provocative investigation of the possibility that the artform of jazz has "ended." Here, the end-of-art theses of Hegel and Danto are recalled and examined for their relevance in determining whether jazz has become a closed concept. The conclusion reached is that it is plausible to affirm that jazz has ended, even if it has not died.

Jazz Composition

Music composition is an art of courage and thoroughness. After nearly four years of playing jazz with Queen’s music professor Greg Runions (winner of the 2006-07 Queens Music Department Teaching Award) and studying music theory and analysis, I have recently delved into the fascinating art of writing original music in the broadly defined jazz idiom. The opportunity to give something back to the creative music community has been both humbling and inspiring. Through Prof. Runions impressive experience as a prolific local composer, I have learned about the challenges of connecting melodic ideas with music harmony that both pleases and challenges the listener. In two semesters of study, we have explored jazz arranging for a variety of instrument groups, the complex art of chord extensions and modulation, and writing melodies over chord progressions that are memorable and enjoyable. I have produced a dozen songs in lead sheet format, similar to the way music is found in jazz performance fake books. Some of these pieces have been fleshed out to cover a wide range of instrumental performance, including solo piano, jazz combo, vocal jazz ensemble, and full jazz ensemble. I plan to continue this process throughout my life as new inspiration and musical situations arise, seeking to grasp the expressivity and enjoyment that music instills in us all.