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ASPECTS OF JAZZ:
THE HEALING POWER OF CREATIVITY IN COLLABORATION
By
Sandra E. Harris, MA
November 15, 2002
Introduction
“Do you see yourself as a rebel?”“Naw. Cause the music asks for people to expand what has been done. That’s what the jazz thing is. It’s a tumultuous tearing open.” (Kurt Elling, personal communication, February 10, 2001)
A tumultuous tearing open. That is what the jazz thing is. That is what jazz has
been to me in my life. That is what music has been to me in my life. And continues to
be.
Why Music?
The composer Aaron Copland (1952) described music as a catalyst that awakens a
spirit waiting to be aroused. Yes, yes, yes. Spiritual longings that lay dormant awaiting
some sign or signal in order to awaken.
Pianist Madeline Bruser describes the powerful draw of music as follows:
One of the Chinese symbols for the word “joy” also means “music”. The pictograph shows two drums and a bell on a stand. The synonym rings true with everyone who loves music. Even if a piece is extremely sad we feel joy in the ability to experience and express such powerful emotion. We have a profound need to share these feelings with other people, and such communication gives our lives meaning. (1997, p. 13)
We feel joy because music gives us the opportunity to experience many different
emotions. They pierce our soul. But it does not stop there. Having experienced these
emotions, we need to share them with others. We need to create in collaboration with
others.
Why Jazz?
“It’s a drug, man, to go back to that.” (Randy Halberstadt, personal communication, February 2, 2001)
“The music is what sustains the player from beginning to end. That’s where you get your life from. That’s why you play jazz” – Art Farmer (Berliner, 1994, p. 485).
It is like a drug. It sustains you. Jazz intrigues because of its short life and how it is
created in the moment. It can be recorded yet it is not the same as hearing it live. And
once that live performance is over, the notes are gone.
Music is an entry into an emotional realm. Music stirs up emotions. Vancouver
jazz pianist Bob Murphy says, “I think music is emotion. I think harmony is like
emotional flavours. This happens in the emotional centre. For me to be harmonically
connected to the music, to be harmonically connected to someone else IS an emotional
connection” (personal communication, February 9, 2001). Not only does it arouse
emotion, it allows for emotional connection to the other musicians in the jazz combo.
One creates in relationship, in collaboration with others.
Why Creativity in Collaboration?
Much research has been done on creativity itself – its sources, how it is expressed,
how it can be enhanced, and how it can be measured. Not much research has been done
on creativity that occurs in collaboration with others. It is an area that is ripe for research
as the emotional content and the depth of relationships that result is vital to our
development.
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In addition, as a clinician in the field of psychology, healing experiences outside
of the consulting room fascinate me. Many experience something therapeutic in their
day-to-day lives. I am curious about what those experiences could be. And I suspect that
creative collaboration could be one of those experiences.
Why a Multidisciplinary Approach?
Historically, psychological research in the area of creativity and the arts has been
a one way street. There has been little reciprocity of any kind. Psychologist Martin S.
Lindauer believes that “psychology takes more from the arts (e.g. its materials) than it
gives back (i.e., illuminating scholarly and artistic concerns)” (1998, p. 1). Psychology
sometimes describes creativity in pathological terms (the troubled artist) while ignoring
any contribution that the arts could make to the field of psychology.
With this in mind I chose to look outside of psychology to see what new insights
the arts has for this topic of creative collaboration. My literature review comprised
psychologists but also included leading jazz ethnomusicologists such as Howard Becker
(2000), Keith Sawyer (1992, 1997, 1998, 2000), and Ingrid Monson (1991, 1996, 1997).
And of course one could not write about jazz without including Paul Berliner who wrote
Thinking in Jazz (1994).
I also interviewed jazz musicians to gain their insights. These interviews included
Vancouver jazz pianist Bob Murphy, Seattle jazz pianist Randy Halberstadt, jazz pianist
Kenny Werner, and jazz vocalist Kurt Elling.
Aspects of Jazz
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This article is drawn from a published thesis. With the limits of space and words,
I cannot go into either the depth or the breadth that my thesis afforded me. As a result, I
have plucked certain topics from my thesis that I felt would be relevant to the audience of
the IAJE.
My first steps towards understanding the healing power of jazz begin with
examining certain aspects that are particular to jazz. If jazz is healing, there must be
something particular to jazz that accounts for this. The aspects of jazz that I will discuss
in this article comprise:
Transformational Power of the AudienceCollaboration Genealogical TransmissionMusical Saves
Note that I am not claiming that other types of music cannot claim ownership of
any of these traits. I am not claiming the primacy of jazz over all other types of music. I
am merely claiming jazz as one healing path. And extrapolating that creativity in
collaboration, no matter what the form, can be a healing path for others.
Transformational Power of the Audience
Jazz is a medium that is best experienced live. By live I mean that there is a jazz
combo and there is an audience. What is the nature of a jazz audience? How can we
describe their experience? Initially one might believe that all of the action is occurring
with the musicians while the audience passively observes, that there is no interaction
between the two. This could not be further from the truth. In fact, we shall see that the
audience plays a critical role in a jazz performance.
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What is an audience? It is someone who beholds rather than observes. James
Joyce describes “the aesthetic experience as one of the ‘simple acts of beholding’. Joyce
says that in beholding we put a frame around the object and see it first as one thing,
and…we become aware of the relationship, part to part, each part to the whole, and the
whole to each of its parts (Kenny, 1996, online). The audience beholds the live, in-the-
moment creation of music. They see the combo; they see each musician; and they see
how the group relates to each individual and how each individual relates to the group.
In addition to beholding, an audience also has a certain power. Part of that power
arises from the physical proximity of the audience and the musicians. In a small club they
are within eye contact. They see each other. They interact. This “eye contact between
performers and audience…signals the partial breakdown of ritual identity, and establishes
the players’ aesthetic kinship with the audience” (Scholl, online). The audience and the
players become partners in the music making. They form an aesthetic kinship. We, as the
audience, and the musicians are in this together.
Physical closeness results in another aspect of the power of the audience in the
jazz performance. When one has that eye contact, one can deliver messages. And these
messages are between equals – there is no hierarchy between audience and musician. In a
chapter written for psychologist Glenn D. Wilson’s book Psychology and Performing
Arts (1991), N. Arnold characterised the relationship between the audience and actor as
“a constantly shifting relationship between equals, signalled and sustained by a
continuous interchange of messages between the two parties, which readjusts the
relationship as the performance is developed in time and space” (p. 76). There is a lively
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interplay going on between audience and players. The relationship between the two
develops and grows throughout the performance.
Jazz pianist Kenny Werner describes this mutual relationship with the audience as
“letting something form while you witness it…first of all it’s a very old concept…it is to
me the psychotherapy of pre-B.C.” (personal communication, September 10, 2000). You
are creating the music and that creation is being observed. Without an audience there is
no music, there is no creative act. Without the relationship between the audience and the
musicians, there is no transformative experience.
Much has been written about the healing power of the relationship between
therapist and client. Therapeutic techniques aside, it is the relationship that heals. This
same healing relationship is literally played out between musician and audience, a place
of change and magic. “For artists and audience alike, it can be a profound
transformational experience when the normal boundaries between them melts away, and
they seem, as Danny Zeitlin puts it, to merge with the music, in effect, to ‘become the
music’” (Berliner, 1994, p. 470).
The audience is an active participant in the music making up on the stage. The
audience who in turn is fed by the musicians feeds the jazz musicians. It is the
collaboration between the two that results in the magical experience. It is the witnessing
of the creative act of the musicians by the beholding audience that heals.
Collaboration
In addition to the collaboration between audience and musician, there is
collaboration between the musicians. Jazz is an art form created in the moment by
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individual musicians working together. This musical collaboration is not only certain
instruments playing in certain combinations and rhythms, but between personalities and
individuals. The group members are more than just faceless and nameless beings. It is an
interpersonal process. And because it is an interpersonal process, there is the possibility
of an emotional transformation of the individuals participating in the creative
collaboration.
Although it is collaboration between individuals, it cannot be reduced or broken
down to individual contributions. The individual aspects cannot stand alone nor would
they have been created on their own. Something new emerges from the collaboration that
is beyond the individual contributions. It is greater than the sum of its parts.
Ethnomusicologist Keith Sawyer speaks of the performance emerging from the
collaboration.
In an ensemble improvisation, we can’t identify the creativity of the performance of any single performer; the performance is collaboratively created. Although each member of the group contributes creative material, a musician’s contributions only make sense in the way they are heard, absorbed, and elaborated on by other musicians. The performance that results emerges from the interactions of the group. (2000, p. 182)
It is not merely an additive process or “take one rhythm section plus two horn players”.
Something new develops. Something greater than the sum of its parts is created. An
alchemical or transformational process occurs resulting in Sawyer’s emerging
performance.
This alchemical process transforms the individual musicians as well. Creativity
researcher Vera John-Steiner describes how musicians are changed when they transcend
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their individuality through collaboration. “Collaboration offers partners an opportunity to
transcend their individuality and to overcome the limitations of habit, and of biological
and temporal constraints…Collaborators redefine their own personal boundaries as they
strive towards mutuality and deep understanding” (2000, p. 57). The individuals who
come together are changed. The ones who come apart after the creative collaboration are
different than the ones who came together.
John-Steiner describes further that “developing children, as well as developing
adults, expand their affective resources by appropriating the consequences of shared
experience” (2000, p. 128). We develop our affective resources through collaborative
experience. Not only do we expand our musical abilities; we expand our emotional
resources as well.
Genealogical Transmission
The collaborative experience of jazz musicians is not only one of individuals
working together today. It is also an historic collaboration between the musicians and
their respected predecessors. A critical component of a jazz musician’s training is the
ability to reference past performers and performances. This reference can be in a style of
another performer, in a rhythm, in a particular tune that is played in a particular place in
another tune. Through this referencing there is a genealogical transmission of past jazz
masters.
Kurt Elling speaks of this when describing his ‘apprenticeship’ with Von
Freeman:
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Well, Von Freeman was always great. And he’s a…I don’t know if you know Von’s work, he’s a tenor player from Chicago and he’s got a session and he’s an original link. He played with Bird. You know, he played with Prez. All the cats who would come to town. He played with Dexter Gordon a bunch of times. I mean like he’s an original link in the chain. And it’s very encouraging to have the elder…because you know you wanna have the progress of life. (personal communication, February 10, 2001)
Kurt’s experience with Von encouraged him to be the musician that he is today. So the
tip of the hat to the elders and the referential licks and harmonies are not an attempt to
copy. They simultaneously show the historical context of the music being created while
also showing the individuality inherent in the musician. There is no vacuum in creative
pursuits. Nothing and everything is new under the sun.
Child psychologist and psychoanalyst D. W. Winnicott noted that “in any cultural
field, it is not possible to be original except in the basis of tradition” (1971, p.99). He
made this comment in the context of his premise that creativity, which he described as
play, is needed by all of us in order to develop emotionally as well as maintain our sense
of self and mental health.
We do not live and act in isolation from our forebears, whether they are in
community or by bloodlines. The genealogical transmission of jazz reminds one of the
genealogical transmission of all aspects of our psyche. As jazz exists within a context
rather than a vacuum, so we all exist within our own historical context. Our forebears
influence who we are. As jazz references the old while creating something new, we also
honor our ancestors while expressing our individuality in our day-to-day lives.
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Musical Saves
How paradoxical that jazz demands that you demonstrate a high level of technical
mastery earned over years of work while also taking musical risks in the moment. You
can have all the technical mastery in the world but if you are not playing with some level
of vulnerability, it will not be grooving. Creativity researcher Patricia Nardone notes that
“musical passivity, indecisiveness, and performing ‘safely’ will not assist in executing
spontaneous musical expression” (1997, p. 119). Playing it safe means no juice or drama
or music. It means the right notes but no soul. Classical pianist Madeline Bruser describes
this need of vulnerability as literally meaning “‘able to be wounded’, which includes
letting yourself be pierced emotionally by things” (1997, p. 9).
When you make yourself vulnerable, you take chances. And when you take
chances, you make mistakes. According to jazz pianist Kenny Barron, “part of the act of
performing jazz is taking chances, and sometimes the chances you take don’t work. But
the craft is taking an idea that doesn’t work and turning it into something that does work”
(Berliner, 1994, p. 210). Mistakes become musical saves.
I love the term musical saves. How powerful a view of what is more commonly
seen as mistakes and errors. Musical saves are commonplace in jazz. There is not one
musician alive who would expect to play without encountering a mistake. Brad Mehldau
sees mistakes as opportunities. “You have the ability to edit yourself right then, change
something or turn what might have been a mistake into something that works in a
different context” (Morrow, 2001, R3).
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That is the gift of a musical save, the chance to take a mistake and turn it into
something new. We can use this view when playing jazz and also apply it to our lives.
Rather than living constricted and small lives, fearing and avoiding mistakes, we can live
large and expansive lives. And when we encounter mistakes, see them as opportunities.
What is that old saying? Mistakes are the dues that one pays for living a full, authentic
life. You cannot have authenticity without mistakes along the way.
What is important is how one navigates after a mistake, how creatively one takes
the mistake and turns it into something beautiful. It is not the mistake that is the focus
but rather what occurs after it happens. How healing for those who learned that to be
accepted meant to be perfect.
Along with a unique voice and authentic performance, musical saves result in an
emotional bond between the musicians. Jazz ethnomusicologist Ingrid Monson describes
how these bonds develop through “musical risk, vulnerability and trust during the course
of performance (1996, p. 9). It is not only a cognitive sense of trust or reliance but rather
an emotional relationship. And within this emotional relationship mistakes are accepted
and expected and responded to without shame. We accept our mistakes and learn to
accept those of others. Out of that results a collaborative solution, or group musical save,
to an individual’s mistakes.
Conclusion
I began this article by wondering about what it is about jazz, about creative
collaboration that is healing. I discussed certain aspects of jazz in order to determine what
one can draw from those experiences and apply to our lives. From the Transformational
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Power of the Audience we learn that the relationship between the audience and the
musician is intimate and interactive. We discovered that part of its healing powers are the
acts of both beholding and being beheld. Creative Collaboration between musicians
allows us to expand our emotional resources when we transcend our individuality when
working in a group. Something greater than the sum of its parts emerges. The
Genealogical Transmission of jazz reminds one of the genealogical transmission of all
aspects of our psyche. Both the good and the bad are transmitted and both can be
transformed by creative collaboration. And finally, there is not a musician alive who does
not make mistakes playing jazz. What is paramount is how one recovers from it rather
than the mistake itself. Rather than an error, it is a Musical Save, an opportunity to create
something new.
With my research I have discovered and described some reasons why creative
collaboration attracts us. And speculated about the benefits of an experience that is both
enriching artistically as well as healing. Creative collaboration is something that calls to
us innately, whether in the context of a jazz combo, or another form. Not only are we
drawn to creative pursuits for their aesthetic value but are also drawn to them for their
emotional and relational healing powers. It hits us at a soulful level. And it is something
we need to return to again and again throughout our lives.
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REFERENCES
Arnold, N. (1991). The manipulation of the audience by the director and actor. In G.D. Wilson (Ed.), Psychology and performing arts (pp. 75-81). Amsterdam: Swets and Zeitlander.
Berliner, P. (1994). Thinking in jazz: The infinite art of improvisation. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
Bruser, M. (1997). The art of practicing: A guide to making music from the heart. New York: Bell Tower.
Copland, A. (1952). Music and imagination. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
John-Steiner, V. (2000). Creative collaboration. New York: Oxford University Press.
Kenny, C. B. (1996). The dilemma of uniqueness: An essay on consciousness and qualities. [Online] available: http://www.hisf.no/njmt/kenny. First published in Nordic Journal of Music Therapy, 5(2), 87-96.
Lindauer, M. (1998). Interdisciplinarity, the psychology of art, and creativity: an introduction. Creativity Research Journal, 11(1), 1-10.
Monson, I. (1991). Musical interaction in modern jazz. Dissertation, New York University, New York City.
Monson, I. (1996). Saying something: Jazz improvisation and interaction. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Monson, I. (1997). What’s sound got to do with it?: Jazz, post-structuralism, and the construction of cultural meaning. In R.K. Sawyer (Ed.), Creativity in performance (pp. 95-112). Greenwich, CT: Ablex.
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Morrow, M. (2001, November 26). Enter Prince Hamlet. The Globe and Mail, p. R3.
Nardone, P.l. (1997). The experience of improvisation in music: A phenomenological analysis. Dissertation, Saybrook Graduate School, San Francisco, CA.
Sawyer, R. K. (1992). Improvisation creativity: An analysis of a jazz performance. Çreativity Research Journal, 5, 253-263.
Sawyer, R.K. (1997). Creativity in performance. Greenwich, CT: Ablex.
Sawyer, R.K. (1998). The interdisciplinary study of creativity in performance. Creativity Research Journal, 11(1), 11-19.
Sawyer, R.K. (2000). Improvisation culture: Collaborative emergence and creativity in improvisation. Mind, Culture and Activity 7(3), 180-185.\
Scholl, S.L. String quartet performance as ritual. [Online] available: http://www.uoregon.edu/~ucurrent/2-ritual. Jacksonville University.
Winnicott, D.W. (1971). Playing and reality. London, U.K.: Routledge.
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NUMINOUS DISCOGRAPHY
The term numinous is a synonym for spiritual or soulful. What follows are some recordings that have been a numinous experience for the author.
Alexander, M. (1977). Nite Mist Blues. The Monty Alexander trio live! At the Montreux festival, W. Germany: MPS Records.
Bennett, T. & Evans, B. (1975). The Tony Bennett and Bill Evans album. Los Angeles: Fantasy.
Brown, R. and King, N. (1998). The Perfect Blues. Some of my best friends are the singers. New York: Telarc.
Cables, G. Trio. (1998). There Is No Greater Love; Hi Fly; In Your Own Sweet Way. Bluesology. Klaupenborg, Denmark: Steeplechase Productions.
Elling, K. (2001). You Don’t Know What Love Is. Flirting with twilight. New York: Blue Note.
Elling, K. (1999). Nightdreamer; Chicago Blues. Kurt Elling live at the Green Mill. New York: Bluenote.
Hawes, H. (1958). There Will Never Be Another You. Four. Los Angeles: Fantasy.
Hersch, F. (1998). I Mean You. Fred Hersch plays Monk. New York: Nonesuch Records.
Hersch, F. & Frissell, B. (1998). There Is No Greater Love. Songs we know. New York: Nonesuch Records.
Ibrahim, A. (1997). Chisa. Cape Town flowers. New York: Enja Records.
Keezer, G. (1997). Stompin’ at the Savoy. Turn up the quiet. New York: Sony.
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Kilgore, R. (1994). Princess. I saw stars. Florida: Arbors Records.
King, N. & Christofferson, S. (2000). Picnic/Moonglow. Dreamlands: the CBC Sessions. Oshkosh, WI: Stellar Productions.
Mehldau, B. (1995). My Romance. Introducing Brad Mehldau. New York: Warner Brothers.
Mehldau, B. (1997). Blame It On My Youth. Art of the trio, volume 1. New York: Warner Brothers.
Mehldau, B. (1998). Song Song. Art of the trio, volume 3. New York: Warner Brothers.
Mehldau, B. (1999). Sehnsucht. Art of the trio, volume 4. New York: Warner Brothers.
Murphy, M. (1998). Misty/Midnight Sun; Ask Me Now. Jazz standards. New York: 32 Jazz.
Torme, M. & Shearing, G. (1988). The Folks Who Live On The Hill. A vintage year. Saratoga, CA: Concord Jazz.
Tuck & Patti. (1988). I’ve Got Just About Everything; My Romance. Tears of joy. Stanford, CA: Windham Hill Records.
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