Improvisation in Jazz   

Jazz is improvisational, in which players will come up with spontaneous and unique takes on a composition. Usually, a jazz composition starts with a melody, a "head," which then builds from. Musicians improvise solos from here, improvising melodically, harmonically and rhythmically. This creative license lets one freely express oneself while still being true to the structure of the piece, like chords or modal scales (Monson 2009).  

Jazz improvisation is also a mixture of method and ingenuity. It is through the application of theory and technique that musicians stretch the limits of the composition, and add their own individual voice. For Berliner (2009), jazz improvisation was ‘an instantaneous composition’ based on ability as much as talent for listening to the music.  

Cooperation and Interaction   

Jazz is about sharing and in real-time, between players. From small combos to large big bands, ensembles have to be listening and responsive. Rhythm section: (usually piano, bass, drums): the rhythm section gives a more open framework for harmonic and rhythmic accompaniment that can respond to the soloist’s playing. The mutual exchange forms a musical dialogue, where the players react to one another’s thoughts and create them in a team (Gioia 2011).  

It’s this sharing culture that gives musicians purpose. Every member makes a difference in the direction of the piece, and the result is louder than it is. You have to be able to trust each other because players need to be able to react fast to mood changes or stage change.  

- Definition: Improvisation is improvising music, rhythms, and harmonies out of nowhere. It lets players be unique and respond to the space in which they’re playing.  

- Prompt: "So What" by Miles Davis (1959)  

- Kind of Blue: this song is perfect for modal jazz because the players just improvise over some chord changes in the form of modal scales which is free and playful.  

2.  Swing Rhythm   

- Description: Swing is the groove rhythm that gives jazz its "lilt." It has syncopation and an uneven spread of eighth notes, making it a kind of danceable buoyancy.  

- Simultaneous Example: "Sing, Sing, Sing"* by Benny Goodman (1937)  

- A big band classic with a stinging swing vibe, Gene Krupa’s drums driving the beat, and horn arrangements that are on point.  

3.  Call and Response   

- Description: It’s an interplay, in which one instrument/section "calls" and another "responses". It is African American in its African American ancestors.  

- Statutory: It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing)* by Duke Ellington (1931)  

- The chorus between vocalists and the band highlights call and response method, giving it more motion.  

4.  Blue Notes   

- Instructions: Blue notes are slightly flattened notes (usually the 3rd, 5th, or 7th) which gives songs an air of soul.  

- Stock Illustration: "Basin Street Blues"* by Louis Armstrong (1928)  

- The vocal and trumpet improvisations of Armstrong are very blue-tuned, which make the work emotionally intense.  

5.  Polyrhythms   

- Fact Sheet: In jazz, we see lots of layering rhythms where different instruments play different patterns that intertwine.  

- EXAMPLE: "A Night in Tunisia" by Dizzy Gillespie (1942)  

- This bebop tune with its Afro-Cuban rhythms show how jazz can work with rich patterns of rhythm.  

6.  Complex Harmonies   

- Tip: Longer and more twisted chords, such as 9ths, 11ths, 13ths, are used in jazz to make harmonic sounds.  

- Example: "Round Midnight"* by Thelonious Monk (1944)  

- A very rich, eerie ballad with chord patterns and harmony.  

7.  Walking Bass Lines   

Synonym: Walking bass line gives a consistent, rhythmic base, laying out chord progressions and driving the music.  

- Example: "Autumn Leaves" by Bill Evans Trio (1960)  

- Bassist Scott LaFaro’s walkbass line is smooth and lyrical that anchors the harmonic foundation of this jazz standard.  

8. Minimal Combo and Big Band Modes  

- Description: Jazz is played in all sorts of ways from small trios to large ensembles, and each has its own character.  

- Examples:   

-Castle Couple: "Blue in Green" by Miles Davis Quintet (1959) demonstrates a small ensemble play.  

Big Band: Glenn Miller Orchestra ("In the Mood") (1939) – Compact structures, powerful ensemble playing.  

When jazz fuses these features, the result is an enormously diverse music. Songs such as Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue, John Coltrane’s Giant Steps, and Dave Brubeck’s Take Five are still teaching cases of the musical specialisations of jazz. 

Flanigan also runs Scott's Jazz Club , a weekly jazz club in East Belfast hosting the best Irish jazz talent. The club is known for its open-air vibes and passion for live jazz. Flanigan has played there many times and at some events they have had themed shows like Scott Flanigan Plays the Beatles, in which he interprets Beatles music as jazz, with more emphasis on improvisation and arranging.  

Flanigan’s performances are soaked in jazz improvisational ethos but, because he does this from a modern perspective, he takes ideas that never come to him expecting them. It makes for a show that pushes the boundaries of jazz, but never leaves it. But one can ask: does this trick work to entertain or does it fall into the trap of being too intellectual or too alien? Were his improvisations flashingly novel, or did they converge into the predictable, or trite, patterns of the set?  

Musicianship and Cohesion   

This concert hints of Flanigan’s technical genius, as pianist and as bandleader. His band, too, is professional in every respect, each musician adding dimension and texture. But would a discerning viewer wonder if this technical competence equated to a moving experience? Did the band’s unity heighten the energy of the music, or did it sound like a mechanical transference of thoughts without any sense of emotional resonance?  

Pushing Boundaries or Losing Focus?    

In Flanigan’s vision of jazz today, that might mean stepping outside the box, putting new harmony or rhythmic complexity or old songs into new contexts. So the question should be asked: does his experimentation make jazz more exciting, or is sometimes music which is tethered or unwieldy? People whose attention is captured by an articulate melodic line will find some of his decisions hard to swallow, others will interpret them as a bold departure.  

Audience Response   

The intimacy of the space allows for more intimacy between artists and audience, while at the same time judging the performance. Was there enthusiasm and participation in the audience, or were there points when the mood dipped? An objection would be that tempo of setlist, or shifts in style within it, could decide the intimacy between musician and audience.  

Final Thoughts  

Flanigan’s new jazz is indeed grand but it can be questioned whether it works. Was the show a celebration of his success in making jazz modern, or did it become stodgy, reserved for only the jazz connoisseurs? Those are questions to be asked when you listen to his music and ask yourself where it belongs in jazz today.  

What do you think?  Was Flanigan’s act the right mixture of creativity and participation in his approach to contemporary jazz, or too much of one thing?  

1.  Bill Evans 

- Bill Evans, who had a haunting and harmonically complex style of piano, pioneered the modern jazz trio. He may have inspired Flanigan’s arrangements and soloing through his sultry play between melody and harmony.  

2.  Herbie Hancock   

- Pioneer of the fusion of jazz, Hancock interweaves jazz with funk, fusion and electronica. Perhaps Flanigan’s experiments in modern jazz can take inspiration from Hancock’s avant-garde albums (Maiden Voyage, Head Hunters) and other ones.  

3.  Chick Corea  

- Corea’s fusion, from acoustic jazz to electric fusion, is a model for the interplay of multiple musical concepts. His music and performances – in particular, with his Elektric Band and Akoustic Band – probably inspire Flanigan’s visionary style.  

4.  Oscar Peterson 

- Peterson’s trio with its virtuosic technique and swinging rhythm was one that jazz pianists could not get any better at. Flanigan’s commingling of technical ability and emotional expression might resemble Peterson.  

5.  Brad Mehldau  

- As a young leader of jazz, Mehldau plays modern music from pop and classical influences into his playing. His style of interpretation of non-jazz music – Beatles songs, for example – is no different from Flanigan’s version of the classics.  

They offer both base-level and forward-thinking thought in keeping with Flanigan’s modern jazz vision! 

Flanigan’s work also displays a free-floating in jazz’s traditions but with new sounds and genres. We can see this in his contrasting arrangements and improvisational techniques, in which he also mixes in aspects of the modern musical landscape (popular, electronic). By stretching jazz into new territory, he pushes "normal" jazz boundaries, and in doing so implying that jazz can exist in other music worlds, not just the traditional or the avant-garde. His sets – at Scott’s Jazz Club, perhaps – are sometimes experimental with its roots, but that incorporate funk, pop and even classical. It is a method not dissimilar to the work of composers such as Herbie Hancock or Brad Mehldau, who have also experimented with more extended musical sources into their jazz forms.

Improvisation and Collaboration as the Soul of Jazz Today.  

Improvisation is at the heart of Flanigan’s concerts, which are all about jazz. His set pieces are all about the genre being a collaborative work, where everyone plays something different and changing. This culture of collaboration and improvisation not only means that there are no exact copies but it keeps jazz current and new. His improvisational style, too, is founded on cooperative communication among band members, as jazz’s classic greats, from Bill Evans to Oscar Peterson, did. When I hear him at concerts, the music is more like a dialogue where everyone has their own voice but still listens to the same sound. This sort of jazz is the kind that will forever change the future of jazz, by teaching young musicians the importance of risk-taking and band dynamics.  

Reaching New Audiences   

Flanigan’s live shows, and especially at Scott’s Jazz Club, remind us that jazz is possible and exploratory. He has also a gift for translating standard material into fresh new arrangements and yet stay connected to jazz tradition while keeping the tradition alive, which is part of what helps get new people into the jazz scene. The intimate feel of the club also helps make this a closer experience for the audience to be able to hear jazz live and in its own unique and dynamic form. If Flanigan’s attempts to re-envision jazz as something for a new and pluralistic generation, then the genre will likely remain in the control of its traditionalists but also those not afraid to push the envelope. It is only by making the music accessible and relatable that jazz can keep moving forward and expanding to greater numbers of people, so that it will stay alive and continue to develop as a cultural entity.

The Jazz of Tomorrow: Tradition and Creativity Mixed To One Sound.  

Scott Flanigan’s music epitomises jazz’s horizons as a form that will never settle. In his mix of the contemporary and group improvisation, jazz can be as fundamentally traditional as it is fluid. As jazz evolves, it will probably continue to use the tradition of its origins but add new approaches, new technologies and new ways of being. Flanigan’s vision is one that would place the future of jazz less in lockstep with old formulas and more in its capacity to morph, to experiment and survive in a changing musical world.  

Scott Flanigan’s fresh style and live sets, in short, hark to the exciting jazz of the future. Innovating and not abusing the culture of improvisation and collaboration, he stands for the genre’s ongoing development and innovation. He’s convinced us that jazz will be alive and well in the world of music, for old and young alike.  

- Berliner, P. F. (2009).  Thinking in Jazz: The Endless Art of Improvisation. University of Chicago Press.   

- Gioia, T. (2011).  The History of Jazz.  Oxford University Press.   

- Monson, I.  (2009).  Saying Something: Jazz Improvisation and Communication. University of Chicago Press. 

AllMusic Jazz Section: www.allmusic.com   

AllMusic contains artist bios, album reviews and historical sketches of the history of jazz. You can learn about classic and new jazz at this site. 

The Smithsonian Jazz: www.smithsonianjazz.org   

They have educational resources, a huge database of jazz recordings, and detailed artist profiles, and are a must for anyone interested in the vast old US jazz history. 

Spotify Jazz Playlist 
Spotify ahs a variety of jazz playlists i listened to get me in the minset, ranging from classic recordings to new releases, helping listeners discover both foundational and modern jazz artists.