Jazz Improvisation

About the Book

This is a book for students and seasoned performers who want to know more about the thought processes for improvising Jazz. It is also for teachers who wish to control the subject in graduated steps. It shows promising students that it won’t do to play just anything at any time, and that there is a difference between mere self-gratification and really connecting with a much larger audience. If, as a movement, Jazz has lost its way, this book shows the way back.

About the Author

Michael G. Cunningham was born in Warren, Michigan in 1937 and holds music degrees from Wayne State University in Detroit, the University of Michigan, and Indiana University. Composition has been one of his primary lifetime activities, and since 1958 he has concentrated on creating a large music catalog of various types of music for all manner of performance combinations. From 1973 to 2006, he was professor of theory/composition at the University of Wisconsin — Eau Clare. During that time, and since, he has created a number of theory, composition and pedagogica.