The Metaphysics of Jazz

The Metaphysics of Jazz
Author(s): James O. Young and Carl Matheson

Source: The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, Vol. 58, No. 2, Improvisation in the
Arts (Spring, 2000), pp. 125-133
Published by: Wiley on behalf of The American Society for Aesthetics
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JAMES 0. YOUNG AND CARL MATHESON
The Metaphysics of Jazz
Performances of the Moonlight Sonata by Jos The works of some musical styles are easy
van Immerseel and by Vladimir Ashkenazy are enough to identify. In classical music, a work is
dramatically different, and yet both are instances a composition produced by a composer and re-
of the same sonata. They are so because both corded in a score. Handel' s Acis and Galatea, for
performances, for all their differences, share a example, is reasonably described as a score that
fidelity to Beethoven's composition. Thelonious serves as a recipe for generating patterns of sound,
Monk and Miles Davis both performed "'Round or performances.' Sometimes jazz scores exist.
Midnight." Neither of the performances conforms Such scores can exist prior to all performances
to a written score. On the contrary, both perfor- or they can exist as transcriptions of performances.
mances were improvised. This essay investigates (The transcription of classic performances for
the possibility that both performances of " Round pedagogical purposes is quite common.) There
Midnight" are, nevertheless, instances of the will be a temptation to describe these scores as
same jazz work. If they are, it is not for the same works of jazz. At best, however, an account of
reason that performances by van Immerseel and jazz works in terms of scores must be incom-
Ashkenazy can be instances of the same work. plete. It is incomplete since improvisation is a
The conclusion we reach is that two improvised common feature of many jazz performances.
jazz performances can comply with the same set It is possible to overestimate how important
of loose, tacit guidelines or instructions. When improvisation is to jazz and to say that works of
they do, both are instances of a type. jazz are essentially improvised.2 In fact, impro-
A few issues must be clarified. For a start, we visation is neither necessary nor sufficient for
need to say something about what jazz works something's being a work of jazz. It is not suffi-
are. Note the difference between giving an ac- cient since improvisation is an important part of
count of what a work of jazz is and giving a de- other styles of music, including the baroque. It
finition of jazz. We have no intention of defin- is not necessary since some jazz performances
ing a phenomenon as complex and multifarious are simply realizations of a score. As well, some
as jazz. It would be difficult, indeed, to come up jazz performances are reproductions of classic
with a definition that embraces dixieland, rag- performances that have been learned by ear. The
time, bebop, cool jazz, free jazz, and the many young Charlie Parker, for example, memorized
other styles. We will simply assume that readers and recapitulated the improvisations of Lester
have a rough-and-ready conception of jazz: They Young. The result, presumably, was jazz. Never-
know jazz when they hear it. Instead of defining theless, improvisation is a common and impor-
jazz, we wish simply to say a few words about tant feature of jazz performances, and a satis-
what a work of jazz is, without entering into the factory account of a jazz work must be able to
debates generated in the vast and varied litera- accommodate improvisation.
ture on the ontology of works of art (in general) Even if improvisation is not essential to jazz,
and works of music (in particular). Before we the existence ofjazz improvisation certainly com-
can begin to talk about how two jazz performancesplicates the effort to give an account of a work
can be instances of the same type we need some of jazz. It is possible to hold that many jazz per-
conception of a work of jazz. formances exist without corresponding to an ex-
The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 58:2 Spring 2000
126 The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism
isting jazz work. Paul Thom has argued that an performance that perfectly complies with
improvised performance is not, or is not neces- Beethoven's score. At the other end is one that
sarily, a work.3 His position follows from his ac- conforms to the score of the folk tune. Good-
count of works in the performing arts. Roughly, man's account, even when applied to classical
his view is that such works are instructions for music, is controversial. Still, two performances
executing performances. (Thom recognizes that of a classical composition could meet his crite-
a record of an improvised performance can be rion and instantiate the same work.
transformed into a set of directives for generat- By Goodman's standards, however, two jazz
ing performances; that is, into a work in his sense.) performances will seldom instantiate the same
We will not take a stance on Thom's claim that work. Goodman probably did not have jazz in
improvisations are not necessarily works. There mind when he developed his account of the in-
is something odd about saying that an improvi- stantiation of musical works. Consequently, it is
sation is not a work, but we are prepared to allow not surprising that, on his view, two jazz perfor-
that some jazz performances may exist without mances never instantiate the same work. If com-
corresponding works. Completely spontaneous plete compliance with a score is necessary for
performances by Keith Jarrett might be examples the instantiation of a work, jazz performances
of such performances. We maintain, however, will seldom be instances of the same work. The
that some improvised jazz performances have a problem is not that the two jazz performances of
corresponding work. For example, over and above some standard are never note-for-note identical.
the improvised performances given by Monk Goodman's position does not commit him to
and Davis there is the work " Round Midnight." saying that two performances are only instances
The object corresponding to both performances of the same work when they are note-for-note
of " Round Midnight"can be called a jazz stan- identical. He allows that a score can allow room
dard or a number.4 These jazz standards provide for improvisation. A baroque composition with
instructions for creating performances. In this a figured bass, for example, allows such scope.
sense, a jazz standard is a work. Not every jazz The problem is that many jazz performances do
performance has a corresponding jazz standard. not conform to a score that allows scope for im-
A complete metaphysics of jazz has to give dif- provisation. Rather, they are not realizations of
fering accounts of jazz performances that have scores at all. If we are to make sense of the claim
and do not have a corresponding jazz standard. that two jazz performances coinstantiate some
Great many jazz performances have, however, a work, we will have to come up with an alterna-
corresponding number. A large part of our pro- tive to Goodman's position.
ject is an account of these objects. We also need Although we are primarily concerned with jazz
to clarify the concept of improvisation. Only performances, we expect that our conclusions
given a satisfactory analysis of this concept can will apply to other musical genres that involve
we understand how jazz performances can be in- improvisation. In the baroque period, improvisa-
stances of the same jazz standard. tion by professional musicians was common. An
It is worth noting that our account of how two Elizabethan lutenist would improvise on a stan-
jazz performances can be instances of the same dard tune, such as "Lachrimae" or "Greensleeves."
work must be very different from one that Nel- Later, La Folia d'Espagne and other baroque
son Goodman would offer. Goodman adopts a standards were common starting points for im-
strict account of what makes two performances provisation. (Many early seventeenth-century
instances of the same work. On his view, only compositions exist in written form only because
when two performances completely comply with amateur musicians could not improvise and they
a score are they instances of the same work.5 A needed a written score. Several manuals on how
less strict criterion of the instantiation of works, to improvise were written during the baroque pe-
he believes, leaves open the possibility that per- riod, including Christopher Simpson's The Divi-
formances of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony and sion Viol.) We would hold that two performances
"Three Blind Mice" instantiate the same work. of, say, "Greensleeves" can be instances of a type.
After all, Goodman reasons, we could have a se- In this case, the type is an "Elizabethan standard."
ries of performances differing from each other
only by one note. At one end of the series is a
Young and Matheson The Metaphysics of Jazz 127
II fied in the score as a result of mistakes without

the performance being an improvisation. Such
In order to see that jazz performances can be in- inadvertent departures do not make a perfor-
stances of the same work, we need an under- mance an improvisation since the performer
standing of improvisation. Improvisation has was attempting to follow a score. Improvisation
sometimes been defined as completely sponta- occurs only when performers do not attempt to
neous performance. A completely spontaneous make the structural properties of a work con-
performance is executed without reference to di- form to a score.)
rections, such as score, a sketch, or memories of A performer who spontaneously chooses struc-
past performances. Certainly, any completely tural properties is improvising. For example, a
spontaneous performance is an improvisation. lutenist who extemporises a repeat while play-
However, a definition of improvisation in terms ing a pavan by Dowland is improvising. The
of complete spontaneity is far too restrictive. structural properties of the lutenist' s performance
The harpsichordist who realizes a figured bass were not completely determined by an attempt
is not, on this account, improvising. Neither is to follow a score. Decisions she or he made while
the violinist who extemporaneously performs a playing affected more than just the expressive
cadenza that incorporates a theme from the con- properties of the performance. Still, the perfor-
certo she or he is performing. Most importantly, mance was not completely spontaneous. Given
for present purposes, most jazz performances that the lutenist is performing, say, the Lachrimae
are not improvisations in the sense of being Pavan, the varied repeat cannot assume just any
completely spontaneous.6 form. This example demonstrates that an impro-
We suggest that an improvised performance visation need not be completely spontaneous.
is one in which the structural properties of a per- Many jazz performances are similarly impro-
formance are not completely determined by de- vised even though they are not completely spon-
cisions made prior to the time of performance. taneous. For example, when Miles Davis played
In clarifying this definition, we need to begin by " Round Midnight" the performance was not com-
explaining what we mean by "structural proper- pletely spontaneous. Davis would begin with a
ties." The structural properties of a performance statement of a standard melody. Before he began
include its melody, harmony, and length (in bars, to perform Davis was aware of this melody and
not in temporal duration). A structural property made a successful effort to state it. To this ex-
is to be understood in contrast to an expressive tent, his performance was not completely spon-
or interpretive property. The expressive proper- taneous. After playing a statement of the melody,
ties of a performance include tempo, the use of Davis would play improvised variations. His ac-
rubato, dynamics, and so on. We believe that the companists knew they were expected to play
line between expressive and structural proper- certain standard chord progressions, over which
ties is a fuzzy one, but it must be drawn if we are Davis could improvise. The accompanists could
to avoid the conclusion that virtually every mu- play what jazz musicians call "alternate" chords.
sical performance involves improvisation. For example, a C ninth chord (C, E, G, B-flat, D)
A few examples will clarify this point. A con- is an alternate for a G minor seventh chord (G,
cert pianist who performs a Beethoven sonata B-flat, D, F). Nevertheless, given that they were
does not improvise. The pianist creates a perfor- performing " Round Midnight" rather than an-
mance with the structural properties demanded other number, only certain chords could be
by Beethoven's score. The pianist is not impro- played. The musicians knew what these chords
vising since she or he follows Beethoven' s score were before they began to play. So their perfor-
and, even if a few mistakes creep in, the performance was not completely spontaneous, any
mance closely approximates what the score de- more than was Davis's. Nevertheless, the per-
mands. Even if the player spontaneously adds formance was improvised.
rubato or varies the tempo, she or he is not im-
provising. She or he is not improvising since she III
or he is simply varying the expressive properties

of the work. (The structural properties of the pi- As we have seen, jazz musicians can be impro-
anist's performance may vary from those speci- vising even when they do not start from scratch.
This account of improvisation contains the clue whether Beethoven's op. 38 and op. 20 are two
to understanding how two jazz performances can works or one. (Beethoven arranged the Septet
instantiate the same work. Two jazz performances op. 20 for clarinet, cello, and piano and gave it a
are instances of the same type when they share new opus number.) Kivy adopts the view that
a common starting point in a loose set of tacit they are not distinct works. He holds that they
instructions. Any performance that in is accord are "versions" of the same work.8 Kivy does not
with a given set of guidelines is an instance of a really give reasons for thinking that op. 38 and
jazz standard. op. 20 are not separate works. (He just says that
The mere fact that two jazz performances no musician would think they are distinct works.)
closely resemble each other does not establish Presumably, however, he thinks that the trio ver-
that they coinstantiate the same work. In a lim- sion is a recapitulation of musical ideas that were
iting case, two performances could be note-for- already present in the septet, and, for this rea-
note identical and not instantiate the same num- son, they are not a distinct work.
ber. As we have said, coinstantiation depends on Kivy's approach can be extended to cover ver-
conformity to some tacit guidelines. Imagine sions (using Kivy's word) of a jazz standard.
that some performers accept certain guidelines There are some differences between the case Kivy
and perform " Round Midnight." Some other considers and the case of two jazz performances.
performers, who are ignorant of the guidelines For a start, Kivy is concerned with two scores, and
in question, give a spontaneous and indistin- not two performances. Moreover, different ver-
guishable performance. (The performances are sions of jazz standards often have different com-
indistinguishable in the sense that someone posers, while in Kivy's case we are dealing with a
hearing recordings of both would not be able to single composer. Still, the cases seem parallel. In
tell them apart.) The performance given by the both cases, we have alternative developments of
second set of musicians does not instantiate the core musical ideas. That the ideas are worked out
" Round Midnight" Davis played. This is be- in a performance in one case and on paper in the
cause only musicians who follow a set of in- other seems inessential. The fact that jazz versions
structions (however loose) can create a perfor- of the same work can have multiple composers
mance that instantiates the work in question. seems similarly inessential. Kivy would probably
It is even possible that two sets of performers say that Mozart's keyboard concerto K. 107, No. 1
follow a set of tacit guidelines, produce indistin- is not a work distinct from J. C. Bach's sonata
guishable performances, but give performances op. 5, No. 2. Rather, Mozart's K. 107, No. 1 is simply
that do not instantiate the same work. We can the concerto version of the sonata since it essen-
see this is possible if we consider Twin Jazz Club. tially repeats Christian Bach's musical ideas.
This club is located on Twin Earth, a planet very The most significant difference between two
like earth but causally unconnected to our planet. jazz performances and the examples just can-
Some musicians in Twin Jazz Club may follow vassed remains to be examined. Two versions of
the guidelines indistinguishable from those Miles a jazz standard often differ more than Bee-
Davis followed when he performed "'Round thoven's op. 38 and op. 20 do (though they need
Midnight." Davis's doppelganger may even blow not). Jazz performers develop ideas captured in
the same notes and call the work he performs a set of tacit instructions, but they often intro-
" Round Midnight." Still, the performance in duce new ideas of their own. Performers of a
Twin Jazz Club does not instantiate " Round jazz standard allow themselves considerable free-
Midnight." The performance does not follow dom when they choose tempo, key, instrumenta-
the right set of guidelines. They are different tion, variations on the melody, duration, and so
guidelines since they originate at different times on. Performers could, say, add a piano line to a
and places. Only a performance that follows the number that never had one before and still pro-
guidelines that originated at a certain time and duce an instance of the number. At a certain point,
place can instantiate " Round Midnight" (or any however, a line is crossed and we no longer have
other jazz work).7 an instance of the original standard. In the next
The position adopted here is parallel to a po- section we will examine in some detail how per-
sition Peter Kivy has adopted on the metaphysics formances that differ quite considerably can be
of compositions in classical music. He considers instances of the same number.
IV astronomical practice. The common reliance on

The Real Book is responsible for a great deal of
As we have seen, jazz performances are fre- uniformity in jazz practice, to the extent that sev-
quently not completely spontaneous, even when eral of the errors in transcription that it contains
they involve improvisation. The spontaneity is have been perpetuated in the jazz community.
not complete since jazz musicians accept, prior Now the question is whether two musicians
to beginning to perform, a starting point. These playing from Real Book charts perform the same
starting points are loose sets of tacit guidelines work. Imagine that two performers of ordinary
and these guidelines constitute a jazz standard. ability play the same number from The Real Book
That is, a number is defined by a loose set of with no revolutionary intentions. If the canoni-
tacit instructions, and when these instructions cal model were strictly applied, they would not
are violated a performance is not an instance of be likely to generate performances that would
that number. The guidelines can be quite loose count as performances of the same work. There
and can provide musicians with a great deal of are two reasons for this. The first is that, al-
scope. They provide far more scope than is per- though our two performers would be reading the
mitted, for example, by a figured bass. Never- same melody, they would not play melodies that
theless, the performer who opts to follow the were strictly the same. The differences between
guidelines is under some constraints. If these con- the melodies would not merely be ones that we
straints are violated, the performer is no longer have labelled as expressive. In other words, the
performing a particular jazz standard. difference between them would not be confined
A complete specification of these guidelines to differences of tempo and dynamics. The play-
is difficult to provide. However, we can begin ers would also likely play different notes, where
with a discussion of what we shall call the canon- the difference in notes played goes far beyond
ical model. According to the canonical model, a matters of ornamentation. As an example of this,
jazz number has five parts. These are the intro- contrast Monk's version of " Round Midnight"
duction, the head (a section in which the melody with Davis's minimalist rendition of the melody,
is stated), the improvisations, the recapitulation which leaves out many of the notes in Monk's
of the head, and the ending. Furthermore, ac- version (and many of the notes in The Real Book
cording to the canonical model, two jazz num- chart of the number). Monk's and Davis's ver-
bers are instances of the same work just in case sions of the head are structurally different.
their heads contain the same melody and the im- However, the two versions are readily recogniz-
provisations are based on the chord changes of able as versions of the same melody.
the head. The introductions and the endings are Similarly, our two musicians will almost cer-
not relevant to work identity in canonical cases. tainly not play exactly the same chords. First,
In cases to which the canonical model applies, they will voice the chords in different ways. Dif-
the specification of the five parts of a jazz num- ferences in voicings may seem to be an inessen-
ber is the set of guidelines that defines a jazz tial difference to those who regard different voic-
work. Two performances that follow such guide- ings of the same chords as merely differences of
lines instantiate the same work. Not all jazz works inversion, that is, as reflecting different choices
can be encompassed by the canonical model. for which note is to be played on top. However,
Nevertheless, conformity to the canonical model different voicing systems actually involve dif-
illustrates how more than one jazz performance ferent notes being played, so that what is a C
can instantiate the same work. major chord according to one system may be an
Many jazz performances, including most of A minor seventh with suspended fourth on an-
those by amateurs and players in an average jazz other. Second, our musicians might add or alter
bar, conform to the canonical model. A surpris- the chords in certain ways, for instance by adding
ing number of these performances are based on flatted tenths or fifths. Third, they may engage
the charts (rudimentary scores that contain only in wholesale chord substitution, such as tritone
a melody line and chord changes) provided by substitution, where, for example, a D-flat sev-
The Real Book, a set of unauthorized but ubiqui- enth chord may be substituted for a G seventh
tous volumes, which is to current jazz practice chord.
what Ptolemy's Almagest was to pre-Copernican By listing these sources of melodic and har-
monic difference between numbers we do not he never states the melody. Of course, theories
mean to say, for instance, that Thelonious Monk that begin with our intuitions must often recon-
and Miles Davis are performing different works. struct those intuitions in the interest of consis-
Jazz musicians and listeners would all agree that tency and economy. Consequently, the mere ex-
Monk and Miles each plays the melody of istence of a clash with our everyday intuitions
" Round Midnight." That they do play the same does not give us immediate grounds for the elim-
melody in spite of the significant difference in ination of the partial-melody revision. Such
the notes they play shows that the concept of clashes with intuition, however, do impel us to
melodic equivalence is both more supple and look for other theories that enjoy the same theo-
more subtle than anything a strict Goodmanian retical virtues without forcing us to reject our
analysis could countenance. Similarly, the con- pretheoretical intuitions.
cept of harmonic equivalence is, if anything, even Furthermore, there is a way of preserving our
looser than that of melodic equivalence. There- intuition that Tristano plays "All of Me." Suppose
fore, for an analysis of work identity in the spirit we were to throw away the melodic equivalence
of the canonical model to succeed, that analysis requirement of the canonical model. Suppose,
would have to make use of a rich understanding that is, we were to say that two numbers were in-
of both melodic and harmonic equivalence. We stances of the same work just in case they had
assume that broad criterion for melodic and har- the same harmonic structure. According to this
monic equivalence can be provided. The fact of revision of the canonical model, what Tristano
the matter is that accomplished jazz musicians plays is an instance of "All of Me" because it
and discerning listeners recognize that Monk and conforms to the chord changes of "All of Me."
Davis are playing the same melody and harmonic What Rollins plays is an instance of "On Green
changes. Consequently, the canonical model is Dolphin Street" because it has the proper chord
able to provide a criterion of the identity of jazz changes, and the melodic equivalence between it
works. and other versions of "On Green Dolphin Street"
Unfortunately, the canonical model is not a is inessential icing on the cake. In addition to an
general criterion for the instantiation of identical improved fit with our intuitions (in the Tristano
works of jazz. The reason for this is that several case, at least), this reduction of work identity to
jazz works do not conform to the canonical model. harmonic structure resonates with a common
First, several performances of certain jazz works but dubious belief. According to this belief, im-
contain incomplete or even fragmentary state- provisation is the soul of most jazz, and impro-
ments of the relevant melody. For instance, Sonny visations are based on the harmonic structure of
Rollins's performance of "On Green Dolphin a song. According to this view, since the har-
Street" contains a literal statement of the first monic structure of a work is both its skeleton and
eight bars and of one phrase in the last eight bars the engine for generating new jazz versions of
of a thirty-two -bar melody line. Lenny Tristano's the work, we should recognize that the harmonic
performance of "All of Me" makes no immedi- structure of a work constitutes its essence.
ately recognizable statement at all of the melody Unfortunately, the purely harmonic view is un-
of that number.9 tenable. Although it gives the right answer in the
One may counter this objection in two ways. Tristano case it clashes horribly with our intui-
First, one may try to draw a line between Rollins tions in others. In jazz, a handful of harmonic
and Tristano by claiming that Rollins's partial patterns are multiply instantiated. For instance,
statement of the melody of "On Green Dolphin a great many jazz works are based on a twelve-
Street,"in conjunction with an appropriate har- bar-blues pattern. A great many others are based
monic equivalence, is sufficient. However, since on so-called "rhythm changes" (derived from
Tristano does not play any of the melody of "All George Gershwin's "I've Got Rhythm"). Accord-
of Me" whatsoever, the song he plays is not "All ing to the purely harmonic view, all performances
of Me," no matter what he calls it. This insis- of a twelve-bar blues are performances of the
tence on at least a partial statement of the same single work, and all performances on
melody comes at the cost of a clash with the in- rhythm changes are performances of another
tuitions most people have. Most people simply work. To say, for instance, that Nat King Cole's
accept that Tristano plays "All of Me," even though
"Route 66" and Oscar Peterson's "Night Train"
are instances of the same work because they revision of it adequately captures our intuitions
share the same chord changes would strike nearly concerning the identity of all works of jazz.
everybody as absurd. There are elements that Nevertheless, we share the intuition that Or-
distinguish these as separate works despite their nette Coleman played the same number more
harmonic equivalence. than once. That is, two performances by Cole-
The purely harmonic view also fails because man can be said to instantiate the same number.
it treats harmonic features as definitional or es- This is the case since each of these performances
sential, where those features are regarded as his- conforms to a set of instructions. These instruc-
torically contingent by many jazz players and tions do not take the form specified by the canon-
writers. In the late 1950s and 1960s, many jazz ical model, but the guidelines exist all the same.
leaders, such as Ornette Coleman, excluded the Sometimes, as on the album The Shape of Jazz to
piano from their groups precisely because the Come, numbers are organized in terms of mo-
piano imposed unwanted harmonic structure on tifs. Here, the guidelines that define a work spec-
improvisations that sought to transcend the mere ify conformity to certain motifs.
elaboration of chord changes. The numbers on Although the canonical model gives a satis-
albums such as Free Jazz were structured motivi- factory account of how many jazz performances
cally rather than harmonically, where the motifs instantiate the same work, it does not work for
suggested by one player informed the solos of sub- all cases. No completely general account of the
sequent players. Other players (for example, Rollins guidelines that define jazz works is possible. They
in "On Green Dolphin Street") had constructed vary from jazz genre to jazz genre. In some gen-
solos through the permutation of small motivic res, including free jazz, number-defining instruc-
elements, but their techniques were employed to tions may not exist. In these cases, either there is
solo on the chord changes of the relevant songs. no work at all, or we have works that are instan-
Coleman, on the other hand, employed motivic con- tiated only in a single performance. We leave this
struction as a substitute for harmonic elaboration. metaphysical issue to be debated by others.
As such, his numbers cannot be captured by any An interesting set of issues arises when we
version of the canonical model that requires har- consider the addition or omission of lyrics. When
monic equivalence, least of all the revision of the jazz musicians appropriate numbers from Tin
canonical model that places its entire weight on Pan Alley ("Summertime," "My Romance," and
harmonic equivalence. To be more precise, the so on) it seems clear enough that they perform
harmonic revision of the canonical model can instrumental versions of the original songs. The
capture Coleman's numbers only by rejecting melody, harmony, and so on remain constant. The
them as standardly repeatable works. In other addition of lyrics is a harder case. Consider, for
words, a proponent of the canonical model can example, "In Walked Bud" by Monk, to which
claim that since Coleman's numbers on Free Jon Hendricks subsequently added words. Simi-
Jazz contain no harmonic structure, and since larly, "Stoned," by saxophonist Wardell Gray, was
harmonic structure determines whether two per- originally an instrumental composition. Annie
formances are instances of the same work, one Ross put lyrics to the tune of this number and
of two consequences follows. Either Coleman' s gave the resulting song the title "Twisted." The
performances are necessarily works with only a jazz world regards performances of the vocal
single instance or all jazz performances without version of "In Walked Bud" as instances of the
harmonic structure are instances of the same original composition. Still, the question of whether
work. Although the claim that certain works are performances with and without lyrics can in-
by their nature confined to a single instance is stantiate the same standard is a puzzling one.
plausible for works that are entirely free, it is a A case can be made for both sides of this ques-
more dubious claim when applied to works, tion. On the one hand, one could argue that per-
such as Coleman's, that are elaborations on formances with lyrics cannot be instances of word-
some sort of instructions. The second claim, less numbers. It could be argued that nothing in
that all performances lacking in harmonic struc- the tacit guidelines of a wordless number guides
ture are instances of the same work, does not in any way the choice of lyrics a singer performs.
bear serious consideration. We must conclude By way of contrast, nothing in the addition of a
that neither the canonical model nor any simple piano part is completely uninfluenced by the
original instructions. Of course, a performer will of a Donne poem, which differ slightly from each
vary the melody, and fill in harmonies, but the other, belong to the same megatype. It might be
melody and harmony are both influenced by the thought that two jazz performances could simi-
starting point. This could be taken as evidence larly belong to the same megatype.
that a performance with lyrics is not an instance Alperson argues that this proposal is mistaken.
of a wordless number. (Where the introduction When a performance is improvised, he reasons,
of scat singing fits into this picture is not en- there is no notated score. An improvised perfor-
tirely clear.) On the other hand, one could argue mance, he concludes, cannot belong to a mega-
that a performance with words can follow a set type in virtue of fidelity to such a score. Neither
of guidelines sufficiently closely to count as a can an improvised performance belong to a
performance of the work defined by the guide- megatype in virtue of fidelity to a prime perfor-
lines. After all, the melody, harmony, and so on mance. (A prime performance is the one that es-
specified by the guidelines may be observed. tablishes a megatype.) By definition an impro-
vised performance, Alperson would hold, is not
V one designed to be faithful to some past perfor-
mance. He concludes that the metaphysics of im-
Philosophers have not favorably regarded the provised performances resembles the metaphysics
account of the metaphysics of jazz offered in thisof sculptures in wood or marble. On Alperson's
essay. We have argued that two jazz performances,view, both improvised performances and hewn
even when they involve improvisation, can be sculptures are sui generis.
instances of a single type. To the extent that Alperson's argument establishes only that com-
philosophers have considered this question, they pletely spontaneous improvisations do not be-
have tended to hold that jazz performances are long to a megatype. As we have seen, however,
sui generis. In this section, we will defend our most jazz performances are not completely spon-
position against some possible objections. taneous. In many cases, jazz musicians create
The few writers who have considered the ques- performances that are simultaneously improvised
tion of whether two improvised performances (in the sense identified above) and faithful to a
can be instances of a common type have held set of guidelines established by a tradition of jazz
that they cannot be. Andy Hamilton dismisses as performance. Fidelity to such guidelines makes
a pseudo-problem the question of whether two a performance an instance of some jazz standard.
jazz performances are instances of a single type.'0Moreover, two performances that are faithful to
Philip Alperson apparently thinks it makes sense a single set of guidelines will resemble each
to ask whether two improvised performances other. Consequently, they are (in Margolis's ter-
(including jazz performances) instantiate the minology) tokens of some megatype. Alperson' s
same type, but he believes they never do."I On metaphysics is, however, applicable to completely
the contrary, he thinks that each jazz performance spontaneous performances of jazz.
is a type with only a single token. Hamilton gives
no arguments for thinking that the problem ad- VI
dressed in this essay is a pseudo-problem, so we

cannot defend ourselves against his objection. Much remains to be said about the metaphysics
Alperson, however, provides arguments that need of jazz. Some important issues have been touched
to be addressed. upon here, but left for resolution by others. Still,
Alperson considers and rejects something like the basis has emerged for an account of how two
our account of the metaphysics of jazz. In par- jazz performances can instantiate the same work.
ticular, he considers the suggestion that two im- Jazz works are defined, not by scores, but by sets
provised performances can be instances of the of tacit guidelines for performance. Two perfor-
same megatype. Joseph Margolis introduced the mances, even when they involve improvisation,
concept of a megatype into the aesthetics litera- can follow these guidelines and be said to in-
ture.'2 Two artworks belong to the same mega- stantiate the same jazz standard. No completely
type just in case they share approximately the general account can be given of these guidelines,
same design. So, for example, two manuscripts which differ from one period and style of jazz to
another. Not every jazz performance conforms to York: Oxford University Press, 1988), p. 55: "The very na-
a work-defining set of guidelines. Consequently, ture of jazz demands spontaneity; were the jazz artist to ap-
proach his music in a methodical and calculated manner, he
not every jazz performance is an instance of a
would cease to be an improviser and become a composer."
jazz number. Still some do conform to a work- 3. Thom, For an Audience, p. 62.
defining set of guidelines, and performances by 4. For a related point, see Lee B. Brown, "Musical Works,
Monk and Davis can be instances of the same Improvisation, and the Principle of Continuity," The Journal
work just as surely as performances by Ashke- of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 54 (1996): 362.
5. Nelson Goodman, Languages of Art, 2nd ed., (Indi-
nazy and van Immerseel can be.
anapolis: Hackett, 1976), p. 185.
6. The article on improvisation in The New Grove Dictio-
JAMES 0. YOUNG nary of Music, vol. 9, ed. Stanley Sadie (Washington, D.C.:
Department of Philosophy Macmillan Publishing, 1980), p. 31 recognizes that some
improvisations are completely spontaneous, while others
University of Victoria
are not.
P.O. Box 3045
7. For the claim that musical compositions originate with
Victoria, British Columbia a particular composer, at a particular time and place, see Jer-
Canada V8W 3P4 rold Levinson, "What a Musical Work Is," The Journal of
Philosophy 77 (1980): 5-28.
8. Peter Kivy, Authenticities (Cornell University Press,
INTERNET: joy@uvic.ca 1995), p. 131.
9. It is worth noting that, in the seventeenth century, it was
CARL MATHESON quite common to write a set of variations on a baroque stan-
dard without stating the melody being varied. Still, contem-
Department of Philosophy
poraries would take the composition to be an instance of,
University of Manitoba
say, "Greensleeves."
Winnipeg, Manitoba 10. Andy Hamilton, "The Aesthetics of Imperfection,"
Canada R3T 2M8 Philosophy 65 (1990): 324. Since Hamilton does not indicate
why he thinks questions of identity of artworks are a pseudo -
problem, we cannot undertake to refute his position. (Hamil-
INTERNET: matheso@cc.umanitoba.ca ton seems not to have redeemed his promise to return to this
matter on "another occasion.")
1. Our view here is influenced by the account of works in 11. Philip Alperson, "On Musical Improvisation," The
the performing arts offered in Paul Thom, For an Audience Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 43 (1994): 26.
(Temple University Press, 1993). 12. Joseph Margolis, Art and Philosophy (Brighton: Har-
2. See, for example, Ted Gioia, The Imperfect Art (New vester Press, 1980), pp. 53 ff.

The Metaphysics of Jazz - James O. Young & Carl Matheson

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Author(s): James O. Young and Carl Matheson