Improvisation “Improvisation is a way of achieving identity” ~ Alfred Nieman (composer) I have often described my different roles as a drummer as being like a painter. When I work in a cover band, I need to play the hit songs, accurately, as they were originally recorded to truthfully entertain a crowd. So, there are rules and guidelines to follow without room for my personal ideas (or improvisation) – much like a contracted house painter. Now when I get together with Soulstorm (an improvisation jam band) I am now more like a freeform Picasso-like painter that defies rules and tries new techniques that are non-conventional. In this band we do have various songs or themes that we have developed but play them differently every time we get together. We also create many new ideas, I think, because we are wide open to reacting to whatever happens at that moment. We record every time that we are plugged in to capture that spontaneity of what jamming brings. It is very edu...
FIND ARTICLES, INTERVIEWS, PRODUCT REVIEWS, AMUSING STORIES, HELPFUL ADVICE AND RESOURCES