ABSTRACT
How do improvising musicians form ideas? Through identification and analysis of theories of ideation in psychology, religion, science and philosophy, law, ethics and politics we position art as a major player in the field. Of note is Keith Sawyer’s Explaining Creativity (2011) in which he proposes (with due acknowledgement of those who came before) an eight-stage model. Interviews with leading jazz musicians, including Paul Grabowsky, Nick Haywood, Stephen Magnusson and Tony Mallaby, among others, form the basis of our discussions. We argue that within a free jazz performance ideas are shaped reflexively rather than reflectively, and finding a voice of your own is part of developing the means of articulating new ideas as you have them. We suggest that there is a discernible, albeit small, editorial step between having an idea and articulating it. That step is an essential aspect of expertise and reflects the ability to anticipate the value of an idea to the musical product as a whole before it is executed. Finally, the notion of having something new to say, being able to say it and choosing to say it, contribute to an idea’s coherence.
