Articles by Katie Bull

Jazz Is Obama

by Katie Bull
December 6, 2008

The musicians I am drawn to are players who “open up." They carry the torch for the freedom of infinite possibility. They have unbounded imagination. They see a musical chart as a map into unknown territory. Not unlike healthy law, the form of a jazz vocal chart can make or break the democracy of an improvisation. It can liberate a community dialogue with firm, clear, yet spacious structure or it can lock everyone in the band into pre-meditated isolation. The ...