[Tradjazz] Soloing - was - Dixieland overview.

[Steve Barbone]

"Bruce McNichols" <muskrat at bestweb.net> wrote about the Bix/Armstrong
relationship to soloing in jazz. (polite snip)

> Steve,
> And that doesn't even mention
> that the concept that soloing, isn't automatically a good. That's because so
> many bands always seem to have EVERYONE take one, or more solos on each
> tune. That seems to be so even when so many players "have nothing to say,"
> even with one solo.

Hear hear. I'm not sure why that is true but I do agree. Perhaps it is
because we think we can teach jazz in schools. The kids learn facility on
the instrument, but not creativity. Can we teach creativity?

I think creativity comes from within, like motivation. The only guy I can
think of whose creativity came from the outside was Coltrane. His through
constant practice with all sorts of scales. He was the only one who made any
sense of scalular improv. Those who attempt to copy him today, are just
running their pentatonics etc. and sound as if they are practicing.  (All of
the above IMO of course.)

I remember Thelonious Monk talking about Trane in the late 1950s after Trane
left the Monk quartet to go on in further search of creativity. Monk would
say, John keeps looking outside himself for creativity and so he immerses
himself in learning all the known scales in all of the known music in the
world. Maybe he should step back for a moment and search from within.

I may not be a big Keith Jarrett fan, but do admire what he said about jazz:

"Jazz is one of the least learnable at forms." - Jazz Times, May 1999

Cheers,
Steve Barbone