Introduction

Jazz improvisation is an art and craft in which the development of skills is both time-consuming and difficult. The ensemble demands made upon instrumental and choral music educators leave little time in their busy days to devote to this area as well. Often students are then left with little or no direction for improvisation–though ability in it is crucial to the overall quality of a jazz group's sound.

Even when students have time to practice, they may lack the motivation to devote time to jazz improvisation–despite the almost overwhelming quantity and variety of materials available concerning it, and even with the regular encouragement and practice opportunities directors may make available to them. From a pragmatic viewpoint, it may not be hard to see why: what, after all, is the incentive?

In a jazz big band, for example, how many solo opportunities are there? Even for parts traditionally high in numbers of solos (i.e., first tenor saxophone, second or fourth trumpet, piano), the opportunities may still be quite limited. And what director in his or her right mind would build a program exclusively around one talented soloist (other than the occasional feature)? Budgets are limited, and band boosters will have only so much patience for one student's exclusive success and promotion.

Individuals familiar with the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition (TMIJC) as well as the Great American Jazz Piano Competition (GAJPC) will notice several differences. First, The Solo Contest for Jazz Improvisation is not instrument-specific, while the TMIJC focuses on a different instrument each year and the GAJPC is exclusively for piano. Additionally, The Solo Contest is not necessarily oriented toward a recording contract or other form of national/international recognition. It is instead designed to offer a local performance and/or competition venue in which all musicians could participate. For years vocal and instrumental solo and small-ensemble contests have existed apart from other larger-ensemble contests. Perhaps it is now appropriate to consider the need for a jazz solo contest as well.

Advantages

The single greatest advantage of a contest such as this is that it would be open to all instrumentalists and vocalists rather than only those normally found in a jazz ensemble. For parents who have shelled out a huge amount of money for a flute–and whose child wants to play in the jazz band but does not "fit" the instrumentation–this could be a program-saving outlet. Band boosters might be more willing to support a jazz program that was open to everyone rather than an "elitist" organization which only allowed for participation by twenty per cent (or less) of the school's total student music population.

A contest such as this goes a long way toward achieving recognition of one of my personal beliefs: that jazz is a music which is not instrument-specific. History certainly supports this: a partial listing of jazz artists who are well-known and highly respected but who don't play "typical" jazz instruments would have to include Stuff Smith, Jean-Luc Ponty, and Stéphane Grappelli, violin; Toots Thielemans, harmonica; Paul McCandless, oboe; David Baker, violoncello; and Hubert Laws, Eric Dixon, Eric Dolphy, and Joe Farrell, flute–and bassoon, viola, accordion, bagpipes, celesta, harpsichord, french horn, and piccolo have also found their way onto jazz albums. Vocalists as well have a long and respected history of improvisation in jazz and can and should be encouraged to participate in a musical activity such as this.

It is difficult to imagine a better way to provide a rationale for the learning of scales, patterns, and so forth than by encouraging skills in improvisation. Jazz is an art that requires and fosters excellence in technical skill as a means to the successful execution of its aesthetic requirements. This is certainly no different than any other area of the music enterprise, and the transfer of skills from one genre to another should enhance all areas in which one's students participate. "Chops are chops," after all.

Furthermore, jazz is in one sense applied music theory. Successful performance requires that the artist at the very least fully understands and has internalized chord symbol and scale relationships. In my own experience teaching university music theory and sight-singing, students with a background in jazz improvisation generally do quite well in these related academic areas.

The repertory available to jazz musicians is huge. For those of us who play instruments without much of a "classical" repertory, involvement in jazz can be a revitalizing experience. Further, as one's jazz theory knowledge and instrumental skills increase, one's approach to works already learned can change dramatically: so even simple pieces can provide greater and greater possibilities for improvising over the years.

Finally, lifelong learning in music is certainly worth pursuing. Performing outlets for non-students within the adult community can unfortunately be limited. Though thankfully there are community bands, orchestras, choral societies, and musical theater groups, the jazz soloist may have just come into her or his own immediately prior to graduation from college and may later feel at a loss as to how to continue. The jazz solo contest could well provide an outlet for these individuals and could therefore motivate them to greater musical involvement and achievement.

The Contest Scenario

One could operate a contest for jazz soloists by several different methods.

The individual solo contest. Solo and ensemble festivals have been around for quite some time; so running one devoted to jazz soloists requires only a shift in emphasis. Individual scores could be posted (or not); and appropriate awards could be given out by instrument/voice as well as for overall winners, allowing for more recognition of talent. Not using a rating system (I, II, III, IV, V) might help prevent score inflation and allow for a wider variance of scores than in many contests with ratings.

The procedure for such a contest might be as follows: the performer comes in, sets up, and tunes. Then, s/he performs, beginning with a statement of the theme (twice through if the form is short, the tempo fast, and the performer wishes); then the improvisation (the length of which could be governed by such factors as the length of the recording, the amount of time available, or the relative inspiration of the soloist in a live accompaniment situation); and finally a restatement (partial or whole) of the theme.

The head-to-head competition. In this scenario, contestants are grouped by ability and then paired against one another. Choosing literature may present a problem: for example, if memorization is required, a list of the piece or pieces to be performed must be published well in advance and to be fair must include commonly available and reasonably priced editions. If a recording is used for accompaniment, it should also be commonly available.

A variety of procedures could be used: both contestants could play the theme at the beginning and the end, or one could play at the beginning and the other at the end. In the interest of fairness, solo lengths would probably have to be specified. Contestants could perform individually in succession (as outlined in the previous section), after which a victor would be chosen.

Since this latter type of competition would result in the elimination of one contestant while the other advances to the next round, consolation contests could be provided if the contest director wished to administrate them and the number of contestants was not prohibitive.

Combination approach. Both methods outlined above could be used if desired. For example, daytime competition could be done on an individual basis. In the evening (or after the individual contests have been completed), paired head-to-head competitions could take place.

The Form

Included in this article is the Jazz Improvisation Adjudication Form I developed in 1989 and revised in 1995. All of the items on the front of the form are discussed in the explanatory notes found on the back side; but some further discussion and possible adaptations to various specific needs follow.

Memorization. The rationale for this is based on my personal perception that memorization always seemed a good first step to learning a piece in the jazz repertory. By memorization I mean the ability to play the written theme accurately (and/or with embellishments) from memory–and at some point to be able to write out the chord progression from memory. While it is impractical and unnecessary to do the latter in a contest situation, writing out the chords seems to be of some benefit as a self-test in the learning process.

Difficulty of piece. For example, "So What" at a tempo of m.m. = 120 might be worth 3 points (easy theme and chord progression); but at a tempo of m.m. = 240 it might be re-classified as being worth 4 points (easy theme and medium chord progression). In the spirit of the contest, the thought (though true) that there really are no easy chord progressions is probably not pertinent here.

At the other end of the spectrum, "Donna Lee" at a tempo of m.m. = 240 could well be worth 10 points (difficult theme and chord progression) but at a tempo of m.m. = 120 could be re-evaluated at 7 (medium theme and chord progression).

Jazz Soloist. Since jazz artists often reinterpret melodic lines in an effort to make them swing more or to personalize them (paraphrase improvisation), this area may need to be considered in a judge's evaluation of the performance.

Overall Effect. A variety of media can be used to support the soloist: i.e., live accompaniment (keyboard, bass, guitar, small group); sequenced materials on an electronic (or acoustic/electronic) keyboard; computer-assisted accompaniment; or recorded play-along materials (either of the commercially available variety or constructed in some other way). In the interest of a smooth-running event in which students enter in 7 to 10-minute intervals (setting up, performing, and leaving), it may be a bit much to expect the availability of more than a CD/cassette sound system plus some sort of keyboard (two keyboards perhaps required in the rooms where keyboard players perform with the potential accompaniment of another keyboard).

Other Considerations

Bass players. Is it important for bass players to know and play the themes of pieces? If so, then it would probably be appropriate to state this in the pre-contest mailing. If not, then perhaps the accompanist could play the theme and then comp during the bass player's solo; or the bass part could be eliminated (if possible) from the play-along recording.

Drum set players. Drummers should of course be required to play with accompaniment. Accompanying the theme is also an important skill for drum set players to acquire; so part III.A. of the form should not pose any particular problems for the purposes of judging. But since these musicians do not deal with chords in the same way that those who play pitched instruments or sing do, part III.B.2. may well have to be changed or overlooked on the contest form. Does this give drummers an unfair advantage? Not necessarily: keeping the time and the appropriate style going during a drum solo is quite difficult.

Vocalists. Vocal improvisation has a rich history in jazz but is an area which has seen substantial neglect in recent years. Special attention needs to be given to jazz vocalists in the areas of scat syllables and jazz theory: scat syllables should reflect some study of great jazz vocalists, past and present; and pieces with easier chord progressions can often be successfully negotiated by ear–hardly a reliable indicator of the jazz theory knowledge-base of the improviser (although it would be easy to justify a case for the mind and ear informing each other). Attention to the lyric import of a piece can add much to its interpretation as well.

Creating Inspiration & Opportunity

By staging The Solo Contest for Jazz Improvisation, a director can provide members of his or her community with additional opportunities not only to improvise solos but to receive critiques on their progress and inspiration from their peers. Should you decide to host such an event, I invite you to contact me in advance for additional discussion—as well as after the contest to share any new insights obtained from the experience.

Karel A. Lidral is Director of Jazz Studies and Assistant Professor of Music at the University of Maine in Orono. He performs on soprano and tenor saxophones with keyboardist Terry Lidral in a jazz duo (adding Arthur Lidral on drums in the Lidral Trio) and has performed and recorded with drummer Jeff Stitely, organist Jack McDuff, and the acclaimed University of Illinois Jazz Band (under the direction of John Garvey). He earned his Doctor of Education in Music Education from the University of Illinois.

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Jazz Improvisation Adjudication Form

Name _________________________________________________ Date __________________

School/Address _________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________ ___________

Director ______________________________________________________________________

Piece (title) ____________________________________________________________________

Event/Location _________________________________________________________________

Instrument ___________________________________________ Grade _______ Age ________

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I. Memorization: 0-5 pts. _____

II. Difficulty of piece: 3-10 pts. _____

III. Jazz Soloist: 0-75 pts. _____

A. Theme (0-15 pts.)

1. Accuracy (0-5 pts.)

2. Interpretation (0-5 pts.)

3. Transitions to/from solo (0-5 pts.)

B. Solo Improvisation (0-60 pts.)

1. Development (0-15 pts.)

2. Accuracy of pitches related to chords (25 pts.)

3. Stylistic originality (0-10 pts.)

4. Awareness of form (0-10 pts.)

IV. Overall effect: 0-10 pts. _____

A. Balance with accompaniment (0-3 pts.)

B. Intonation (0-3 pts.)

C. Overall effect (0-2 pts.)

D. Tone quality (0-2 pts.)

TOTAL SCORE: _____

__________________________

Judge

© 1995 Karel Lidral. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

The author grants permission for photocopying for contest use
so long as this © statement remains clearly visible.

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Explanatory Notes for Form

I. Memorization—This is entirely optional, but musicians who have their music memorized will be rewarded in this area. One would generally expect either 0 or all 5 points.

II. Difficulty of piece—Several aspects could be assessed here: the tempo, the difficulty of the theme, and the difficulty of the chord progression. One possible way to view this might be:

• easy theme & chord progression: 3 points

• medium theme & easy chord progression: 4 points

• easy theme & medium chord progression: 5 points

• difficult theme & easy chord progression: 6 points

• medium theme & chord progression: 7 points

• easy theme & difficult chord progression: 8 points

• difficult theme & medium chord progression: 8 points

• medium theme & difficult chord progression: 9 points

• difficult theme & chord progression: 10 points

III. Jazz Soloist

Theme–Accuracy: a paraphrase treatment, if appropriate, should be considered. Interpretation: tempo, mood of piece, and liberties with the line. Were the transitions to and from the solo smooth, well set-up? Did they make sense?

Solo Improvisation–Assess the development: length, pacing, and appropriateness of interpretation. Did it have a beginning, middle, and end? Were the pitches related to chords; and if not, was there integrity in the "outside" playing? Did the soloist demonstrate good theoretical knowledge? Regarding stylistic originality: emulation is fine, but is there a spark of originality as well? How was the soloist's awareness of form: did the performer always know where s/he was in the form; were transitions between sections handled competently?

IV. Overall effect–Accompaniment may be either live or recorded (in which case stereo equipment and a keyboard will need to be available).

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