Improvised & arranged jazz

Title

Language

English

Year

1945

Rights

In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted

Fulltext

·MAY A,'194.11 Improvised vs. Arranged Jazz By Max Miller, vibro,hmr>ist, piani~t, band ~eader and composer P11.ee 5 Welcome, Pre•. Oamena In gratitude upon the return t>f Presideilt Sergio 01m:.t:fia to No jazz musicians today are que.ntl_y is absent from writen good spot cornpo3er3. Rather, jazz. The free feeling ancl ex- bis native land, Prof. Hilarion the best of them re'lssemble pressiou of t'he best iazz, bow- F. Rubio, noted Filipino com· what they have hca.rd, or prac- evor, ao\tolly ean be aUained poser and conductor, dedic1Ltee ticed or pl>iyed in a jazz :iession. frownotated scores. To dC1 this, a song for him. This Marchand thflt's wht1t p..sses amoug of coltl'se, call for jazzmen who Song is based- on a Visayan jazz fans' ag improvising Today, are wmiug to forego their egos folk-wng "Dandanrny" and wnen n:rnsicians try to imprn- and interpret what someC'ne vi~e something really origi_nal, elase has writen. I thibk aost ''Philippine National Hymn", they are practically forced to of the c&nfasion between free a musical anunciation of the gllfd up iu deapa.ir. U:ither they an• writlen jazz has come from Presi<leut's tribal origin and the ooseivcs or their fellow a misunderstanding ef the im- his patriotism lt is written m113ioians know itis stale stuff portanoe of interpretation. 'Fo 1 1 f • thflt so ne instrumentalist al- interpret does not. mean dry· .compete Y 0~ a rnafie chorus re~dy bu conc~ived and pll\yed as du,!'laying. On l'be con· in- unison with band ot Orat. some time iJll the past, Just trary, life and vitaiity are es· chestra accompaniment, It will because it is not on a record senti"als of freat performances. be introduced on the stage it cana.ot be assumed that It takes a 1'-ighl:r sldllfd pla:rer soon. The wordg were written therd11>re it has never been to !nterpret a not'ated '!Core b played before. All real jazzmen with the same.expressive fe-!ling Y Mr. Jacinto R. de Leon. a.ra good on memory, and I the thing him~elf instead of The song if!: say if it's 1n their head it's being gwded by written notes the same as being on paper. Conventional jam seEsions are If thiJy do reach for s~l!llething simJ:!ly repetitions af ideas which they think: is ori~inal, whicll the musicians involved it invaria.bly t.urns out to be have played many times besur-rel.li~tic in the B!'flU that fore. I'd call that a memorit is out of t'luch with reality ized improvisation,-and, that's a ~traini•ng for an effect which a contradiction ib terms, [ iR technical raLher than lnno- 11ee no jn11tificatioo for ohjec.ting tional. to a mnt11ical notation while at Of course, plenty of jazzmen the same time applaudine a have fumbled 1tround and creat- memori.eAd notation. In short, ed spot composition~ of some the importance of free 1azz merit. Bat to collectively im· style lies in its emotional drive, pr.ivise cral~s for musicians of. its guts, the intensi~ of what hi2h and equal caliber Rntl is being saiiJ, The two to. ability and, with that, long as- 1ether make jazz much more sociatfoll to11:ether. This a rare than what it is today. combinatinn. It is uniet,UA1 t-eo, 8.) 1immy Hillard, Arraneerl!iv.ce the imp~isation is lost J-earler of WBB'Si'S Staff Jazz 11 nless it is notated so that Contineent. others can play it. Obia.usly, Mmfoia118 at s jam ses@ion this o&lls for -paper j'lzz. Or sre frequantl:v play better than they wa 11:oinr to be satisfied with do on their 1regnlR? job. Wben the hit-·or miss &>lt.husiasms of T wit"!! with the ~cr.anton ~irens our grea.t juz virtuosi? no we I rememh~r when Renny Goodnot want to O:\se on their•great- man sat in; he played_ Dinah ness to other 1teneratlons? for 4-fi minutes anrl with the Spot com-posing (l'llprovis- exaption nf the rhythm !!Pction, ation) an·i ensemhle j'l.rnrninst we all got nff the Pt,,nd and are. of ere1t 1mpol'ta~cP. to the let him e" foll hlast. With e'll'.)tion!\l intensi1y of ja·zz. It the old .Ttlan Goldkette I recnll is this qua,lity which so fre- that we faked about every third When you were in America Your wish and dream were al'\aYB to gain The liberation from sufferings Of your most beloved Motherland. And now that you have f Hived uh ore How gladt>Dfd (l.Ur 01pbanfd hearts are Oh! I ive long, you, Preeident dellt., Patriot and o'r foremost lea<ler. number. A man would ts&al solo, and we'd fake background; then another S()loist,would come in, and pretty rnon we'd built up a good ffeling - yet 1t was arranged. "Pretty Girl Stomp" was one such tnDe. That's what an arrangement @hould do - I mean it shonld sound 11s i'f it were ap.puntaniouely conceived. That e11Us for plenty of coci"peration between the musici~n and the writer. Briefly, then, en erran~en:e~t has to excite me and get. inside of me so that I wont to grab my sax and play.

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