We were listening to a jazz station on the radio as we cooked dinner. A saxophone player meandered interminably through a long dull solo without ever finding a way to extricate himself. It was like listening to a fly struggling in a spoonful of honey.
Bob went over and switched the radio off. ‘The trouble with improvisation’, he said darkly, ‘is that you can play anything you like.’
In today's Guardian I was reading about the Japanese tradition of 'listening bars', where customers have 'a deep, beautiful,...
I've been playing through Schubert's piano sonatas, starting with the early ones, which I admit I don't know very well. Like most...
The other day when I was a little early for a meeting I climbed the steps to the Old Calton Burial Ground (see photo) to go and look...
Dear Susan
The beauty of improvisation, I think liberatingly, is that you can play anything you like.
Best wishes
Philip
You’re right, of course. Maybe I should have worded my post a little more carefully to make it clear that Bob was joking. We are both jazz fans, but occasionally are reminded that not all improvisation is equally enjoyable to listen to, even if it is liberating for the player to play anything they like!
Absolutely. I can’t disagree with you there.
Perhaps you should make greater use of emoticons 🙂 or 😉 or employ the word “lol” in order to indicate jokes. ‘The trouble with improvisation’, he said darkly 😉 ‘is that you can play anything you like’ LOL
Oh yes, Maya, I’m sure the liberal use of emoticons would increase the flow and elegance of my prose, so I should start practising right away! (LOL)