Bob Reynolds

Saxophonist. Composer. Melody Architect.

Jazz Pianist Bill Evans on the Creative Process and Self-Teaching

by Bob Reynolds Get exclusive music

Jazz is not a style, it’s a process. It’s one minute’s music in one minute’s time.
— Bill Evans

This is one of the most important things I’ve seen, read, or heard, on the creative process in general and jazz improvisation in particular.

Part 1: Master fundamentals

A few things to note:

[Bill Evans believes it’s necessary to] master fundamentals…theory and musical muscles…not just technical facility but the brain connection with the arm muscles. The goal is to allow the subconscious mind to take over basic mechanical tasks, freeing the conscious mind to concentrate on the spontaneous creative elements that distinguish the best jazz.”
— Steve Allen

“It is true of any subject that the person that succeeds in anything has the realistic viewpoint at the beginning in knowing that the problem is large and that he has to take it a step at a time and he has to enjoy the step-by-step learning procedure.”
— Bill Evans

“All [most young folks, in any field] see is the end result, rather than [the journey; the process] and what it can offer them.”
— Harry Evans

Part 2: Simplify

What Bill says (demonstrates) here about “approximating”, overplaying and simplicity is heavy.

Hilarious moment @ 5:25 when Bill’s brother Harry asks him to add the “basic” harmony to the “Star Eyes” melody. (Umm…that’s the basic harmony?)

About Bob Reynolds

Bob Reynolds is a jazz saxophonist and 3x GRAMMY Award-winning member of the instrumental supergroup Snarky Puppy. He's toured and recorded with John Mayer and released 11 albums as a solo artist. Bob teaches jazz improvisation and saxophone lessons through his Virtual Studio and an annual retreat for saxophonists.

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Comments

  2. Colton Crawford says

    I first saw this 5 or 6 years ago and has remained one of my favorites. This is a great insight into the mind of one of the greatest jazz pianists of that period. My only issue is how he skirts around the fact that jazz was developed in the BLACK culture. He should have been clear about that.

    • Bob Reynolds says

      I hear ya. Not to discount the obvious ‘style’ developed in black culture in America, but what he says about 17th century improvisation speaks to his point of [jazz] being a process, not a style. In some ways, I think they’re two different discussions.

  3. Mark Foster says

    Good stuff…Love how he´s basically saying,¨Take your time and build your (artistic) house from the ground up-don´t bullshit-and enjoy the process of construction¨ Thanks-again 🙂