What is the philosophy of jazz? In a sort of order of strength of the foundational questions philosophers of jazz often research and pursue we have: What is jazz? Can it be defined?  Does it have a musical essence? Are there necessary and sufficient conditions for a musical performance to be jazz? How does one determine if free jazz, or jazz-rock fusion is jazz?  Was the movement to free jazz inevitable? Could Martians who know nothing about music on planet Earth play jazz? Why or why not? What is improvisation? Why is improvisation important to jazz?  Can improvisation be taught?  Are improvised (spontaneously composed) works inherently inferior aesthetically to pre-composed ones? What is a musical work? Does jazz have musical works?  Can an improvised jazz performance be a musical work? What does the ideal jazz musician need to know? Why? How does the brain and mind work when playing and … Continue reading →