(Transnational Studies in Jazz) 1st Edition
by Floris Schuiling (Author)
The Instant Composers Pool and Improvisation Beyond Jazz
contributes to the expansion and diversification of our understanding
of the jazz tradition by describing the history and practice of one of
the most important non-American jazz groups: The Instant Composers Pool,
founded in Amsterdam in 1967.
The Instant Composers Pool describes
the meaning of "instant composition" from both a historical and
ethnographic perspective. Historically, it details instant composition’s
emergence from the encounter between various overlapping transnational
avant-gardes, including free jazz, serialism, experimental music,
electronic music, and Fluxus. The author shows how the improvising
musicians not only engaged with the cultural politics of ethnicity and
race involved in the negotiation of the boundaries of jazz as a cultural
practice, but transformed the meaning of music in society―particularly
the nature of improvisation and performance. Ethnographically, The Instant Composers Pool
encourages readers to reconsider the conceptual tools we use to
describe music performance, improvisation, and creativity. It takes the
practice of "instant composition" as an opportunity to reflect on music
performance as a social practice, which is crucial not only for jazz
studies, but for general music scholarship.
