Music and the Creative Spirit: Innovators in Jazz, Improvisation, and the Avant Garde

by Lloyd Peterson

Overview

Like most ground-breaking art forms, contemporary creative music is rarely understood or accepted in its own time, and for those reasons, can largely go unheard. Music and the Creative Spirit: Innovators in Jazz, Improvisation, and the Avant Garde aims to give today's brightest music innovators due recognition and respect, celebrating their work and creativity. Through personal interviews, artists such as Pat Metheny, Regina Carter, Joshua Redman, Fred Anderson, Dave Holland, Bill Frisell, David Murray, and John Zorn—to name just a few—offer clear, frank discussions about music, creativity, work, society, culture, current events, and more.

Author Lloyd Peterson has hand picked these artists specifically for their ability to express themselves through their own creative voices and transcend their art form through the strength of their own ingenious spirit. Their music eschews categorization, genre, or style, and the book necessarily takes a broader view of jazz, tapping into the inventive aspect that is difficult to describe or teach, and is rarely discussed. By allowing the innovators an opportunity to speak for themselves, readers are afforded a clearer sense of their attitudes and approaches, their ways of working, and their views of contemporary music and society.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780810852846
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	07/27/2006
Series:	Studies in Jazz , #52
Pages:	368
Product dimensions:	7.22(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.93(d)

About the Author

Lloyd Peterson is a contributor to Downbeat and Earshot magazines.

Table of Contents

Part 1 Editor's Foreword Part 2 Preface Part 3 Acknowledgments Part 4 Introduction Chapter 5 1. Fred Anderson Chapter 6 2. Derek Bailey Chapter 7 3. Joey Baron Chapter 8 4. Tim Berne Chapter 9 5. Peter Brotzmann Chapter 10 6. Regina Carter Chapter 11 7. Chicago Roundtable Chapter 12 8. Marilyn Crispell Chapter 13 9. Jack DeJohnette Chapter 14 10. Dave Douglas Chapter 15 11. Hamid Drake Chapter 16 12. Bill Frisell Chapter 17 13. Fred Frith Chapter 18 14. Annie Gosfield Chapter 19 15. Mats Gustafsson Chapter 20 16. Barry Guy Chapter 21 17. Dave Holland Chapter 22 18. Susie Ibarra Chapter 23 19. Eyvind Kang Chapter 24 20. Steve Lacy Chapter 25 21. George Lewis Chapter 26 22. Pat Martino Chapter 27 23. Christian McBride Chapter 28 24. Brad Mehldau Chapter 29 25. Myra Melford Chapter 30 26. Pat Metheny Chapter 31 27. Jason Moran Chapter 32 28. Ikue Mori Chapter 33 29. David Murray Chapter 34 30. Paal Nilssen-Love Chapter 35 31. Greg 'sby Chapter 36 32. Evan Parker Chapter 37 33. William Parker Chapter 38 34. Joshua Redman Chapter 39 35. Maria Schneider Chapter 40 36. Wadada Leo Smith Chapter 41 37. Ken Vandermark Chapter 42 38. Cuong Vu Chapter 43 39. David S. Ware Chapter 44 40. Otomo Yoshihide Chapter 45 41. John Zorn Chapter 46 42. Pat Metheny Part 47 Index Part 48 About the Author

Editorial Reviews

Lloyd Peterson brought a lifetime of loving jazz-its offshoots, and music of all sorts-to bear on his Music And The Creative Spirit. His earnest desire to understand its motivating spirit radiates from the questions he poses to the 41 musicians interviewed in the book like a neon sign on a dark night....invaluable.

DownBeat Magazine

Elicits frank, fascinating answers. Music and the Creative Spirit is unfiltered, gut-level jazz oral history....penetrating...

JazzTimes Magazine

One of the best and most complete portraits on the state of jazz as it really is right now that has come along in, well....ever.

Pat Metheny

This book goes a long way to opening up the door for people to better understand the artists, and therefore, to hopefully better understand the music and develop a deeper appreciation from some of the most brilliant musicians creating today.

Jazzto.Ca

Focusing on music innovators, this book contains interviews with 41 jazz artists who discuss their ideas about music, gender, audiences, composition and inspiration, musical and social influences, philosophy, teaching students, improvisation, and other subjects. Artists interviewed include Regina Carter, Marilyn Crispell, Bill Frisell, Christian McBride, Brad Mehldau, Pat Metheny, Joshua Redman, Maria Schneider, and Derek Bailey. Some b&w photos are incorporated. There is no bibliography. Peterson is a contributor to Downbeat and Earshot magazines.

Reference and Research Book News

What makes the book work is that the different answers to the same question often add up to an understanding that transcends any individual response and, consequently, succeeds at getting closer to the heart of the matter....Peterson has created a wonderfully unbiased exploration of what it is to make music. Because it's a series of interviews it's a book that you can read in dribs and drabs; but by the time you've read the last interview...you'll have a greater insight into what the process is. And, perhaps, a more open mind to check out areas to which you've yet to be exposed. For that alone Music and the Creative Spirit is a resounding success.

All About Jazz

It provides important material...Thanks to Lloyd Peterson, these particular artists got the opportunity to define their music, so it was all worth it.

Jazz Notes

Adds insight to a musical activity that is many times overlooked, but arguably crucial to all music regardless of style, genre, or era. It captures moments in time that, like an improvisation, are lost once they are played.

CAML Review

I found all of the interviews to be illuminating and incisive...Bravo to Lloyd Peterson for his hard work and the great outcome....Highly Recommended!

Downtown Music Gallery

[A] wonderfully rich collection of interviews...Highly recommended for any students of the relationship between creativity and society.

Reclaim The Media

At Peterson's urging, the musicians tackle all the favourite esthetic questions. Peterson is certainly steeped in the issues and his interviewees respond with great candor.

Jazzblog.Ca On The Ottawa Citizen Website - Peter Hum

An interesting study...

Music Works - No. 98

A fascinating book.

Earshot Jazz

A fascinating book.

July 2006 Earshot Jazz

An interesting study...

From the Publisher

Lloyd Peterson brought a lifetime of loving jazz-its offshoots, and music of all sorts-to bear on his Music And The Creative Spirit. His earnest desire to understand its motivating spirit radiates from the questions he poses to the 41 musicians interviewed in the book like a neon sign on a dark night....invaluable.

February 2007 DownBeat Magazine

Focusing on music innovators, this book contains interviews with 41 jazz artists who discuss their ideas about music, gender, audiences, composition and inspiration, musical and social influences, philosophy, teaching students, improvisation, and other subjects. Artists interviewed include Regina Carter, Marilyn Crispell, Bill Frisell, Christian McBride, Brad Mehldau, Pat Metheny, Joshua Redman, Maria Schneider, and Derek Bailey. Some b&w photos are incorporated. There is no bibliography. Peterson is a contributor to Downbeat and Earshot magazines.

November 2006 Reference and Research Book News

An interesting study... No. 98

Music Works

Lloyd Peterson brought a lifetime of loving jazz-its offshoots, and music of all sorts-to bear on his Music And The Creative Spirit. His earnest desire to understand its motivating spirit radiates from the questions he poses to the 41 musicians interviewed in the book like a neon sign on a dark night....invaluable.

February 2007 Downbeat Magazine

Adds insight to a musical activity that is many times overlooked, but arguably crucial to all music regardless of style, genre, or era. It captures moments in time that, like an improvisation, are lost once they are played.

CAML Review (Canadian Association of Music Libraries)

Elicits frank, fascinating answers. Music and the Creative Spirit is unfiltered, gut-level jazz oral history....penetrating...

JazzTimes