SPECIFICITY OF THINKING OF THE CONTEMPORARY JAZZ SAXOPHONIST: A CASE STUDY OF CHAD LEFKOWITZ-BROWN

Abstract

The article examines the specificity of thinking of a contemporary jazz saxophonist based on the creative work of Chad Lefkowitz- Brown. The relevance of the study is determined by the need to reconsider traditional approaches to musical thinking in the context of improvisational activity, where the processes of creation and realization of musical material occur simultaneously. In contemporary scholarly discourse, improvisation is regarded as a specific type of musical activity that integrates compositional and performative principles, which makes it impossible to interpret it within their strict separation. The aim of the study is to identify the specificity of performer-improvisational thinking of a contemporary jazz saxophonist and to substantiate it as a multilevel system of musical material organization. Within this research, musical thinking is understood as a process of organization, generation, and realization of musical material in performance, which, in the case of jazz improvisation, acquires a multilevel structure. The methodological framework combines structural, performative, and cognitive approaches to the analysis of musical thinking, including D. Pressing’s concept of multilevel organization of improvisation. The research material consists of improvisational solos by Chad Lefkowitz-Brown on jazz standards presented in the collection “Standard Sessions”. The analysis reveals the main levels of improvisational thinking: harmonic-modal, intonational-melodic, motivic-phrase, as well as compositional level, manifested in the formal and dramaturgical organization of improvisation, as well as their interaction in the process of musical material formation. It is demonstrated that improvisational thinking of a contemporary jazz saxophonist has a systemic nature and is based on the interaction of pre-learned models, their variable realization, and the compositional organization of musical material in performance. The obtained results allow considering performer-improvisational thinking as a universal model of musical activity organization, which is significant both for theoretical understanding of improvisation and for pedagogical practice in jazz education.