Bruce Wands Comments Class 2 – Improvisation

Bruce Wands Comments Class 2 – Improvisation

I found this class to be very enlightening. The readings were interesting, as they traced the history of improvisation from the classical music era to the present. I also found the final part of the readings on the different types of improvisation helpful. Lewis’s playing of the recordings really helped me to expand my musical viewpoint. His approach to talk about jazz in the different countries and regions, and then follow it up with reference to jazz musicians who used that type of music also provided me with insight and some future directions for my listening and research. I have spent a lot of time listening to Indian music and getting more history and perspective was good. I went to musicindiaonline.com and found it to be a wonderful resource. It took a minute or two to get it working, but I will use it a lot in the future. I also plan to purchase the “Raga Guide”. Lewis is definitely knowledgeable in this area and I found it one of the better parts of the class, due to my own interest, as well. The sections on Flamenco and Latin music were also good and, all in all, I came away from the class session with a much deeper appreciation of improvisation, world music, and how it relates to jazz.