While it's impossible to go to an Oregon Festival of American Music concert without running into at least a few instances of straight up improvising on the featured song, Ken Peplowski has dedicated two of our matinees this first weekend--My Favorite Things on Thursday, August 2, and My Funny Valentine on Saturday, August 4--specifically to jazz and, more specifically, to improvising on the songs of Richard Rodgers.
Ken will get in some good discussion of what standards-based jazz is all about, especially during My Favorite Things. But if you want a more formal discussion of the nature of improvisation as it has developed in the West generally and about standards-based improvisation in particular, take in this talk by Shedd Institute Jazz Studies program director, improvisor and sax-man Jesse Cloninger who will walk you through the basics and beyond.