[Dixielandjazz] The importance of Improvisation

[Steve barbone]

>From the Palm Beach Newspaper:

Natural Hazards Center director Kathleen Tierney said emergency planners in
the Gulf states should have taken a tip from the jazz legends that made New
Orleans famous.

"Organizational improvisation" is essential to cope with unpredictable
events such as Katrina, Tierney said. "Research on jazz musicians shows that
people don't just pull stuff out of the air when they're improvising. These
are people with an extremely wide knowledge of musical genres. They have
always practiced and practiced and practiced. Similarly, improvising
involves a deep understanding of the resources you have at hand in your
community."

Local officials, she said, "could have listened to researchers. . . . They
could have approached this improvisational task with imagination."

Cheers,
Steve