And if we (i.e. Huizinga) have defined improvisation as the keyword, then it is very easy to figure out the next link of this logical chain, namely – jazz.Homo ludens: Thinking about Bobby McFerrin
'Musicians play for a living. Remember
that, to think of that word, play. We play
our instruments. We play music'.
Bobby McFerrin
Well, my dear reader - we shall maintain a dialogical form of narration, typical of the XIX century novels - let's assume you are a classical music lover and first heard about Bobby McFerrin's conducting sessions at 'La Scala'. Or, maybe you are a jazz pianist and have come across his collaborations with Chick Corea. Or maybe, which is most likely, you are just a happy-go-lucky guy smiling at passers-by, enjoying whistling as you walk, and at some point a 'Don't worry' tune entwined with your whistling, as if you composed it yourself right now without noticing it. Any which way, the fact remains the same - you are familiar with Bobby and are eager to know more. Well, off we go!
There is not much information available, and it repeats itself almost word for word in every article about this artist. Let's try to summarize: he is vocalist-virtuoso, improviser, composer, and conductor, equally well-known in the field of jazz, pop-, folk- and classical music. The picture is confusing enough, isn't it? Let's try to complete it by adding some more facts: a four-octave vocal range, a talent of imitator, notorious definition 'human-orchestra', ability to sing several parts simultaneously, and, yes, let's not forget about Tibetan monks - just to make it more mysterious. In the end, we'll crown this pile of facts with ten Grammy awards. Have you imagined all that? Now it is better to step back and watch the pyramid collapse and turn into a rubble of stones. For it is impossible to build a whole entity with these dissociated elements. Otherwise we will end up with a photo robot compared to which even faces on Picasso's cubist canvas will amaze us with their flowing lines...
Shall we give it another try? Let's assume you have been to Bobby's concert (this is a better start, don't you think?) somewhere in the United States or in Canada. Or perhaps, in Moscow, Prague, San-Sebastian, Rotterdam - you can just walk up to the map and poke your finger into any spot at random, it doesn't matter. You haven't come 'to watch'. And not even 'to listen'. Or rather, not only to watch and to listen. You follow the action on stage with most focused attention, trying to foresee its progress, to anticipate the next turn and you applaud if your guess was right. You don't really applaud to the artist, but to your own shrewdness. Your happiness is all the more special when you have a chance to make the next move on your own, to take part in this fascinating play, to rediscover the child in the grown-up and serious you and forget about 'what people will think'. And here you are, instead of your respectful silence, you react with wild shouts, hopping and dancing in your seat. Putting it in fine words, you resemble your ancestors from archaic times. Putting it bluntly - savages. Bobby himself behaves the same way. In short, you understand that dead silence is no better than a deafening scream when you want to express your pure rapture. Or not at all worse. The thing is, for some time you managed to disconnect from the prose of life and plunge into its poetry, feeling a sheer pleasure of being the way children, poets and savages feel it. And now, in your mind's eye, you get to see an integral picture, not a confusing pile of facts, where every new episode is a colourful thread. Once all these threads are woven together, they make a fabric so striking and bright that it might as well be used for an Arlecchino's costume.
It is not easy to put your impressions to words, even if you are a professional musicologist - there are no appropriate terms in the musicological lexicon. And Bobby's concerts are not exactly, rather not only about music. Well if you are not a professional musician but just a music-lover (sounds funny, as if professionalism excludes love for music), then there is no need to make use of words - it is clear without any! However, there does exist such a word, just a short word - but with a whole world behind it. In fact we usually use it in its common down-to-earth meaning. Have you guessed? You know, the association with Arleccchino is not accidental. Let me remind you that he is a character from comedia dell'arte , a form of improvisational theatre-on-wheels from the times of Italian Renaissance. Think of theatricality of McFerrin's performance, its festive mood, the improvised show in which the artist and his audience are part of the PLAY. Yes, this is the very word - spirit of play embraces and determines everything that happens on stage. You come to Bobby's concert in order to play, to make a trip to the land of 'children, savages and poets' - this is how play was described by Johan Huizinga himself in his study 'Homo Ludens' ('Man the Player'). Indeed, any of McFerrin's act on stage can be seen as 'playing', and this is what sets him apart from most musicians and brings close with a few others.
Let's come back to the book by Huizinga mentioned above, a study of nature of play. Do not be put off by the serious word 'study' - remember, it is about play, that very play which is inseparable from a joyful exultant mood. According to Huizinga, 'play' is one of the most powerful creative factors which lies in the core of any culture, Culture in general. He proves that culture took its root in play and as a play, and it is all the more viable, the stronger playing element it possesses. Concept of play adapts itself virtually to all kinds of activities. Latin word 'ludus, ludere' embraces child play, recreation time, competition, liturgical and scenic doings, gambling games. In the word-combination 'lares ludentes' it means 'to dance'. And since the author in his study has outlined the basic characteristics of 'play', we also can play researchers for a while and try to apply them to McFerrin, just to see whether the 'homo ludens' costume suits him.
To begin with, the first and very fundamental feature of the play is that it is free. In other words, it is impromptu. It is impossible to predict the outcome of the play, and indeed this is what makes us get fully involved in the process of play, trying not to miss even a single move. And if we (i.e. Huizinga) have defined improvisation as the keyword, then it is very easy to figure out the next link of this logical chain, namely - jazz.
A precise definition of jazz will lead us into a much deeper examination of this cultural phenomenon than is possible here for me and for jazz. We shall not repeat tiresome banalities about the African origin of jazz. Why not have a little fun and imagine the birth of jazz as a cosmogonical saga when the confluence of two divine elements (here - European and African cultures) brought into this world a whole new divine entity. We shall leave behind all the twists and turns in jazz history and point out the most important fact - both the European and African cultures were going through absolutely different evolutionary phases at that time. As we mentioned above (referring to J. Huizinga's study), any culture takes its roots in play, with freedom and improvisation being its main characteristics. While the European culture had already gone past its improvisational phase, African folklore still possessed a strong primordial element of play. It is owing to this unique spirit of play that we fail to give a precise definition to jazz as a style. Just like a bacterium, this playful mood does not let stereotypes take a fixed form, preserving freshness, fragrance and spontaneity of folklore. I still remember well how amazed I was to make one of my first conscious musical observations - jazz and folk musicians are the only ones who smile on stage....
Let's imagine a chess session: with the same initial disposition, the game can have multiple outcomes depending on the players' virtuosity and inventiveness - checkmate might happen on the twentieth or the hundred and twentieth move. Or let's leave chess behind and take some other game with a larger set of participants - in this case the development of the game will be even more intricate. Let me note that any jazz composition swings around along similar guidelines. For instance, 'Spain' performed by McFerrin and Chick Corea is a dialogue. The more they converse on this topic (or rather play this music theme), the more distinctly we hear in it a 'Do you remember' motive, a certain event turns into a remembrance, or even a recollection of that remembrance. Later this reminiscence pulls into its orbit more and more themes, analogies and associations which seem to have little in common with the initial impulse. In fact, it is no longer an improvisation on a theme, but on a theme's variation. We can compare it to a spoken forms of folklore where a story adds on more and more details and twists as it is passed from one story-teller to another. A play can involve a bigger number of participants - when, say, McFerrin and Chick Corea invite a percussionist, a saxophonist and a guitarist. Then the same play 'Spain' lends itself to a different scenario, maybe losing a bit of its intimacy and affection and becoming more democratic and representative - as each player has something to say on the topic and each of them has the right of giving his personal input. And what if the audience also joins into the game?...
Now let's turn to the composition 'Autumn leaves', so often performed by McFerrin (here I mean the version from the album 'Play'). In fact playing starts even before the music, as a game with the audience. We have an impression that Bobby still does not know what to sing and even doubts whether he should sing at all. Then he seems to make up his mind and invites the audience to take a guess as to what he is going to sing, while talking to Corea 'about nature'. Chick gives neutral answers, saying 'You start and I will play up to you'. McFerrin begins and the audience instantly recognizes the song - looks like the game is over. But it only means that a new game is about to start - the main character is chosen, but what will the story be about? People in the auditorium try to literally grasp every sound and Bobby doesn't let them relax, taking meaningful pauses, as if any moment he might change his mind. The audience waits impatiently for continuation, fascinated by the spontaneity of the performance. One can have very individual associations, but there will be a common moment - expectation of the unexpected, because the composition unfolds like a short story with an unpredictable outcome (for example, O.Henry's short story 'The Last Leaf'). In reality the singer's narrative form of performance and the initial 'autumn mood' of the story are similar in both the cases. But knowing McFerrin and, I must add, knowing O.Henry one can clearly understand that it is only a preamble. Indeed, in no time a melancholic theme of a fading life - no, it doesn't step back - plunges headlong into the freaky play of this life, transforming into its own opposite, an indefatigable craving for that very life. The composition ends with the original theme, in perfect unison with O.Henry's ending - the painter did pass away, you see... I am sure that neither Bobby McFerrin nor Chick Corea actually had it in mind to follow O.Henry's story when improvising on 'Autumn leaves'. It is the logic of play that commands the plot in both the works, it is the spirit of play which was poetically called by Huizinga as 'immersion in nature and life'. The same lay in the heart of Patch Adams' life philosophy - the character of this famous doctor and clown was brilliantly portrayed on screen by Robin Williams, Bobby's long-time friend and collaborator. And this is indeed missing in Trchaikovsky's 'Autumn song' (the analogy literally springs to one's mind): immersion in nature - yes, but not in life...
Apparently one can not write about play and not submit to its rules. I was going to single out the basic features of play, corraborate my conclusions with examples and arrive at a serious, or rather, scientific inference. But instead of this, I got carried away by improvisations. Oh well, I did mention that freedom was an indispensable condition of any play, so I don't think I should look for excuses. Let's return to jazz which is maybe the only musical style today (not even style but a type of music-making) where the laws of play are fundamental and essential. Following the rules, we'll give a chance to an opponent's riposte and hear out considerations of Theodor W. Adorno, a prominent music critic and the author of 'Sociology of music'. I will evoke one of his very true observations which I really enjoyed as it sounds if not in unison then in consonance to the idea of play (maybe somewhat imperfect, but it is all right). It goes like this: jazz throws the listener back to 'the barbarian, primeval, pre-art epoch which is vainly advertised as a debacle of archaic emotions' (the citation is loose). Well if we change the value of this statement from minus to plus, I will whole-heartedly agree with it.
Categorizing jazz as a kind of light entertaining music, Adorno stresses out its insularity within an intimate circle of musical means which are limited to an expanded impressionistic harmony and primitively-standardized forms. According to him, the nature of jazz is determined by 'an amateurish inability to describe music with precise musical terms - inability which vainly tries to make up a rational excuse for itself alluding to difficulty to give a material record of the 'mystery' of jazz irregularities - whereas serious music learnt to fix in notations even far more complicated digressions a long time ago'. Here arises a question directly linked to the concept of freedom, namely, the freedom of interpretation of a musical text. The fact that 'jazz irregularities' are impossible to record is beside the point. Anything can be written down. But the very fact of fixation is a full stop. A musical text puts an end to the game. And this is a starting point for what I would term as musical fanaticism and intolerance, when text becomes a value in itself and is fiercely guarded from any attempt of interpretation. As a matter of fact, it is not only true for music. Christian history entered the same phase with the appearance of the Bible...
It is easy to understand why there are so many disciples ready to fight for the text till their last breath - the truth is simple. One can easily hide behind the text using the composer's authority as a shield, which can not be done by a jazz musician. He can not say he followed the notations and it is not his fault if it was not to someone's liking. If one looks at music as a way of communication, fixing it in notation is no longer relevant. Who would want to have a record of a conversation that is over - isn't it more interesting to discuss something new? Perhaps this is what Linda Goldstein (McFerrin's producer) had in mind when pointing at his almost superstitious avoidance of recording or even photograpghy.
We can go even further by making a much more daring statement - not just a text but any spoken word can be a lie. Any word can be articulated in a way that will give it its opposite meaning (for example, think of something unpleasant and then, curving your lips, say 'darling'). Maybe this is the reason why Bobby so often sings in an improvised language making us focus on the modulation of his voice, understand the true meaning carried by the intonation and not the words (remarkably, the name of his last album is 'Beyond Words'). It resembles the way kids learn the language before they start talking. They begin by imitating the exact intonation and even if their speech hardly contains a 'normal' word, it becomes quite understandable.
Play is an improvisation, but everything stated above inevitably leads us to two interrelated conclusions. Firstly: play is a way of communication. And secondly, as a sequel: play should be at least dialogical. Whether it involves two individuals or two groups, every question needs an answer, every thesis leads to an antithesis. You can find analogical antiphonic forms of singing in any folklore. Not just in folklore - as the 'call-response' pattern is a simplest canon, and polyphonic music abounds in such examples, there is no need to go far. Or one may recall variations 'II Maestro е lo scolare' by Haydn, where the 'call-response' pattern lies in the base of composition. This manner of communication looks very natural in McFerrin's performances. One could think that considering his perfect vocal technique Bobby would be able to sing anything alone, with no partner. But in this case there would be no play, and McFerrin's art is unthinkable outside the play. Even if there is no partner then the singer has to play a double-role. It is like he wears a mask, and we have a complete illusion of a dialogue. If I remember right, William Somerset Maugham's novel 'Theater' has a scene between the main heroine Julia, a splendid actress, and her son who tells her something like this: 'Mother, you have so many faces that I don't know where I can find the real you. It seems to me that if I open the door to the room where you are alone I will not see anyone there.'. But in McFerrin's case I guess we are in for a completely different picture - open the door to the room where he is alone and you will face a crowd.
It won't be too difficult to foresee the next move in our 'research' game, especially since we have actually named the most characteristic aspects of the phenomenon in question: firstly, the dialogical nature of play can be easily replaced with the term 'polyphonic'; secondly, it is in relation to this phenomenon that one speaks of music-making as a way of communication; and lastly it is in this connection that we consider the interpretation of a musical text. Quite right, it is a musical culture of Baroque.
Commonness of composition methods in jazz and baroque (that is, their improvisational nature) is stated so often that this assertion can not be looked upon as an original idea and its repetition is indecently boring. But just like every banality this statement holds a deep truth; we just need to look at it with fresh eyes. Let's start from the beginning. First of all, it is just as difficult to define the term 'baroque' as the term 'jazz'. Like jazz, the baroque period embraces a great many musical styles: it can be
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