August 22

Ever play a tune or a classical piece and notice that there is a spot in the music that you always feel kind of uncomfortable? During your improvisation you ever feel there are a few measures that you always feel awkward or confined? But, you've been playing this song for months or even years. Why are you still feeling restricted in the same place? Have you avoided isolating that spot and spending days or weeks working that spot out? Technical studies could easily be created and practiced to eliminate the awkwardness. My real question is why do we avoid the problem areas? Even when we are completely aware (and most likely everyone around us knows as well) of the problem area, we continue to avoid it. Why don't we attack that area? That small place in the music seems to take on a power of it's own. Maybe we completely avoid playing the whole piece of music just because of a few measures. How can fear be created like this in our heads?

August 21

Noticing that there is a major distinction between creating ideas and doing the necessary execution to bring the idea into reality.

I'm wondering if there could be a right-brain left-brain connection problem. People that are great creating ideas seem to have trouble sometimes with the step by step methodical execution of the idea/plan. The "grunt" work involved in making the idea into a real thing appears to be boring for some.

There's really nothing creative about sitting in a room [for hours, days, weeks, months, years] and practicing scales/chords and technical studies. That is a very left-brain kind of activity. However, it's quite necessary if one has any hope of being able to do the execution required to bring out that idea that's floating around in the inner ear.

August 8

"When you play jazz, you have to live it. You know, those notes mean something. They don't just come from your brain, they come from your heart and soul too. So I think in order to have that heart and soul, you have to experience life. So I relate my music to my life and my lifestyle. You can't separate the two."

Woody Shaw interviewed by Louise Gilbreth 106.7 Jazz Masters WRVR

Listen to the Woody Shaw interview here

August 7

Can't say enough but, don't want to say too much about this interview. Lawrence says some priceless things. I would put some quotes here but, there are simply too many. Young creators really should listen to this (many times) and older creators should listen to get "re-grounded" into the things that drew them into the creative world in the beginning.

Lawrence Williams Interview (video

Art of Lawrence Williams

August 4

Lightning in a Bottle: Creating, Presenting, and Preserving Jazz

A great performance by Odean Pope and his Trio followed by an hour of discussion about the creative process and improvisation. Odean makes some special comments about inspiration and the role that plays in his improvisations and compositions.

Philoctetes

"The Philoctetes Center for the Multidisciplinary Study of the Imagination was established to promote an integrated, interdisciplinary approach to the understanding of creativity and the imaginative process."

Philoctetes - Home

At 1:34:00, Shoenberg and Pope talking about the composition process.
__________________________________________________________

Listening to Pope's band, I'm reminded of my experiences teaching at summer jazz camps and/or beginning improvisation classes. Over the years, I noticed time and time again young students of improvisation become paralyzed and unable to play because of their fear of chord changes. Some of the most successful ensembles I've had were started by playing "free." I might have the bass player play a pedal note or ask the drummer to start playing some kind of a groove. It's always amazing to see/hear how creative these young people are. I want them to get a taste of creating, to get the experience (without limitations) of improvising. It's possible later to slowly introduce songs that incorporate chord changes/scales and more complex harmonic language.

That being said, I often play with musicians who've been playing for years and dislike or feel uncomfortable with "free" improvised music or "free jazz." I think that is part of the reason that young players are afraid to enter the world of improvisation. The "educational system" in the world of improvisation seems to throw a lot of rules and complex ideas at young people that don't have a clue. The result: fear.

Recently, taught an ensemble of young players. They are a few years into the "indoctrination process of chords/scales and learning the bebop language. I happened to have a book of some of M.C. Escher's works in my horn case. We spent a few minutes looking at some of Escher's work and I asked them to improvise one of his designs. They seemed a little apprehensive. So, I asked them to imagine that we are in the studio and doing a soundtrack for a documentary on Escher's life and work. We have been handed a copy of this design and the producers want us to come up with some music to put behind this scene....NOW. It was amazing how creative this ensemble became. I was in shock. In that class we played some standard jazz and funk tunes but, when they created this free improvisation of a design by Escher, it was by far the most beautiful and sensitive playing they had done in weeks!

August 2

The Power of Nightmares
(parts 1-3)

Another documentary presenting more ideas on the process in which "the system" has guided our thinking and perceptions of society and the world around us. With this constant attack on our senses and thinking, I wonder how the growth of creativity is stunted and/or limited?




http://www.archive.org/details/ThePowerOfNightmares

August 1

"Trumpet player Clark Terry summarizes the creative process as "imitate, assimilate, innovate". Listening to other musicians can give you ideas you may wish to develop further, and being able to successfully duplicate what they are doing is one step toward being able to express yourself. Next, you must understand why the things you are playing sound the way they do, so that when you want to create a particular sound, you will know how to achieve it. The theory presented in the following sections can help you structure your thoughts, and can also help you identify the sounds you hear. However, analytic processes are an aid to the creative process, not a replacement for it. Two analogies, one with language and one with mathematics, should help make this clear.Trumpet player Clark Terry summarizes the creative process as "imitate, assimilate, innovate". Listening to other musicians can give you ideas you may wish to develop further, and being able to successfully duplicate what they are doing is one step toward being able to express yourself. Next, you must understand why the things you are playing sound the way they do, so that when you want to create a particular sound, you will know how to achieve it. The theory presented in the following sections can help you structure your thoughts, and can also help you identify the sounds you hear. However, analytic processes are an aid to the creative process, not a replacement for it. Two analogies, one with language and one with mathematics, should help make this clear."

Jazz Fundamentals - Marc Sabatella
http://www.outsideshore.com/primer/primer/ms-primer-3.html

July 31

After listening to the first tune, you'll here some interesting comments from Hargrove about creativity and where the music comes from.

Roy Hargrove on Music

July 29

Saw this amazing site today riding along in the bus from Tokyo to Karuizawa. Fortunately, I had my camera on the seat beside me and was able to grab a quick shot of this beautiful green valley.

I had been feeling really stressed for days before this trip. As soon as I saw this site and was able to get a photo, all of the tension and stress left my body. Amazing. It was such a simple thing that brought transformation. and it happened so quickly and effortlessly.

As I dig deeper into this "creative process" project, the more I find it's really the uncomplicated, effortless things that seem to create and/or bring me back to a state of "flow."

July 28

The Future of Music on NPR
Great interview with David Kusek (Berklee College of Music)
Click on the above link and listen/download the interview.

As independent musicians, should we make CD's in the future? Just record tracks and sell them online? How to build a base of people interested in our music? Record deals? Do we need the major labels anymore? Just use the recording as a promotional tool, as a business card? Wondering where the creative process plays a part in all of this. Branding?

July 19

Today

Couple of hours of trumpet in the morning (SLOW-SLOW-SLOW)
Singing tunes..Strayhorn, Monk, Ellington..and some standards

Long walk

Movie
Dark Knight-Batman
Started watching the dvd (about half). Friend of mine told me that the propaganda and "predictive programming" is so up in your face. Try to finish it tonight (7/20).

June 26

Quote

"The painter passes through states of fullness and of emptying. That is the whole secret of art. I take a walk in the forest of Fontainebleau. There I get an indigestion of greenness, I must empty this sensation into a picture. Green dominates in it. The painter paints as if in urgent need to discharge himself of his sensations and his visions."

Christian Zervos and Pablo Picasso, "Conversations with Picasso"
Cathiers d'Art, 1935
The Creative Process, pg 59

Interview
Jon Hassell | Ambassador From the Fourth World

June 1

New issue of LENSWORK arrived! I love to get these magazines in the mail every 2 months. Brooks Jensen has created one of the most beautiful and thought provoking magazines I've ever seen. It really is a great publication/website/bonus dvd/pdf/mp3 package.

Lenswork Website
Lenswork Current Issue

Brooks Jensen Website


Someone told me once that a good creativity exercise is to go to a magazine shop and buy a few magazines. Buy magazines that I would NEVER think of buying. The reults can really be surprising! I remember buying a tattoo magazine once. Wow! That design and artwork was beautiful! I'm not into having a tattoo myself but, that magazine really caused some inspiration at the moment.

Went to Saitama today to sit at an outdoor cafe that I enjoy. While enjoying the outdoors, i took a few photos. Looked up at 3pm and noticed the moon was just above me...in the afternoon! Also, seemed like there was a military exercise happening nearby. I saw at least 20 helicopters! I thought it was a little scary...kind of a serious tone. There were a lot of people on the street and the amazing thing to me (more than all the aircraft overhead) was that nobody looked up. The sound was ENORMOUS! It was like everyone was sleep-walking or zombie-like. Anyway a few samples: