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The Jazz Manifesto

PRESENTED BY Andrew Coote and featuringAlan Cameron on KeyboardsChris Tokalon on Saxophone

Wesley Rustin on Double BassRicardo Simon on Drums

2The Jazz Manifesto

Highly Skilled

• We know our instruments• We know the Jazz repertoire – the “Standards”• In each song we all know

– Head– Chord structure– Form– Groove– Key

3The Jazz Manifesto

Self Managing

• Know the Rules and Permutations:– Tempo– Style– Form

• Pace the delivery (for us and the audience)• Manage our own input/output• Maintain the continuity

4The Jazz Manifesto

Specialized

• Subject experts - Aim to master main instrument• But we understand each others instruments

• Diverse backgrounds• Defined roles• No one Leader• People/Role interchange

5The Jazz Manifesto

Collaborative

• Listen• Build on others’ ideas• Communicate our intentions• Provide feedback• Shared sense of purpose/vision

6The Jazz Manifesto

FourMiles Davis

1926 -1991

Skills

Self Management

Specialization

Collaboration

7The Jazz Manifesto

Adaptation

• Ready for change• Adapt to what colleagues are doing • Compliment the flow• Ready to move into the lead • Turn mistakes into innovation• Experience allows us to anticipate change

8The Jazz Manifesto

Innovation

• Incremental/Spontaneous innovations – Use our Creativity to extend the theme– Natural creative exploration – influences/inspiration

• Systemic innovations– Modal Scales, Substitute Chords, new instruments/sounds

• Radical innovations – Unusual instrumentation, playing “outside” the chords– Disruptive vs Sustaining Innovations

9The Jazz Manifesto

Improvisation

• Reset the canvas• Create the space to extend the theme• Express ourselves• Challenge ourselves• Build on others’ ideas• Use previous musical references• Keep it fresh

10The Jazz Manifesto

Take Risks

• Break new ground• Push the boundaries when it feels right• Take calculated risks • Be willing to make mistakes• Be Remarkable

11The Jazz Manifesto

All BluesMiles Davis

1926 -1991

Skills

Self Management

Specialization

Collaboration

Adaptation

Innovation

Improvisation

Risk Taking

12The Jazz Manifesto

Supportive

• Encourage others to take the spotlight• Provide solid support for the risk taker• Build Respect for innovation• Create a trusted environment• Acknowledge Efforts and Results

13The Jazz Manifesto

Deliver Value, Sustain Pace

• Build an Incremental Performance • Don’t over-commit and burn out• Adapt Repertoire to the mood of the audience• Flexibility to capture the momentum• Build to a Crescendo and finish in style

14The Jazz Manifesto

Passionate Commitment

• Doing what we love and excel at• Constantly learning through

– Study and Analysis– Practice– Performance– Teaching

• Giving it everything we have

15The Jazz Manifesto

Skills

Self Management

Specialization

Collaboration

Adaptation

Innovation

Improvisation

Risk Taking

Supporting

Delivering Value

Sustaining Pace

Passionate Commitment

evolution

1945

19591969

1984

16The Jazz Manifesto

Complex Adaptive Systems• Evolutionary – Variation, Heredity, Selection• General – Systems characterized by interactions• Dynamic – Stability, States, Attractors• Chaotic – Strange Attractors • Cybernetic – Vision, Act, Measure, Adapt• Social Network – growth through connections• Genetic – Adaptive evolution.. and more..• “All models are wrong, some are useful” – Box/Draper

17The Jazz Manifesto

Miles Davis – evolution of complexity• 1944 - joined Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie aged 18

– Swing Jazz – Structured rules define “good”/”bad” notes– Early Bebop Jazz – Chromatic notes, fast rhythms

• 1949 - Birth of the Cool (only released 1957) – West Coast Cool Jazz sound

• 1957 – Miles Ahead – Gil Evans Orchestra– Lush Orchestral Jazz arrangements

• 1958 – Milestones – John Coltrane– Chordal Hard Bop Jazz Improvisation

• 1959 - Kind of Blue - 2 million copies– Modal Jazz improvisation

• 1969 - In a Silent Way– Electronic Ambient Jazz precursor to Jazz-rock

• 1970 - Bitches Brew – Jazz-rock – 3 drummers– Atonal Jazz, pushing the edge of discomfort

• 1984-6 – Decoy, You’re Under Arrest, Tutu – R&B, Techno-funk Jazz

• 1991 – Retrospective concert in Paris

Simple

Complicated

Complex

Chaotic

Sense/Categorize/Respond

Sense/Analyze/Respond

Probe/Sense/Respond

Act/Sense/Respond

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Classical Orchestral Structures• Rigid adherence to written notes • Hierarchical organizational structures within sections• Increased control results in increased order for conductor• Creativity is tightly regulated by Conductor• Orchestras are rigid, static hierarchies• Orchestral musicians are interchangeable “parts” in the

“machine”• Risk of mistakes is mitigated by rehearsal

19The Jazz Manifesto

What can we learn from Jazz?

• Encourage self-organisation• Increase connections to enrich growth• Recognise the limits of external control• Change is unavoidable – Limit up-front planning • Everyone needs to lead when the time is right• Develop characteristics that make us most likely to evolve,

innovate, create and deliver• To move to a new state and learn you must traverse the Edge of

Chaos • To recognize and harness creativity in anarchy (on the Edge of

Chaos) requires Vision

20The Jazz Manifesto

Skills

Self Management

Specialization

Collaboration

Adaptation

Innovation

Improvisation

Risk Taking

Supporting

Delivering Value

Sustaining Pace

Passionate Commitment

“The complexity of a living system is the result of individuals freely deciding how best to

interpret a few simple principles or patterns that are the heart of that system.”

Margaret Wheatley – Bringing Life to Organisational Change

1945

19591969

1984

21The Jazz Manifesto

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