ABSTRACT
This chapter proposes the musical domain and especially the field of improvised music, as a playground where, through listening, interactions between musicians take place that could be investigated in terms of their ethicality. The origins of music may be lost in obscurity but, from its earliest beginnings, it seems to have played an essential part in social interaction. With a wink at Peter Kivy we could call jazz and improvised music the fine art of interaction. We will restrict ourselves here to jazz and improvised music, we are very well aware that improvisation is an inextricable part of all music making. Most texts on improvisation are pervaded with ethical considerations made operational through such concepts as respect, openness, responsibility, hospitality, attentive listening and receptivity. Of course, all music-making is imbued with interaction between the participating musicians; one could even state for sound reasons that interaction is a prerequisite for real or true music-making.
