The View from within: correlations between my composition and improvisation

In this thesis I have used my own compositions and transcriptions of my improvisations as artistic/conceptual mirrors to reflect my musical psyche. I have tried to observe these reflections objectively with no real desire to change my approach in the future. During the course of selection, transcription and subsequent analyses I was often faced with tasks which required a mindset that was antithetic to what I consider to be my main musical preoccupations. Originally, the main concern of this thesis began with a simple question I have often been asked by people from all walks of life, “How do you do it?” A simple answer would be “I can do it because I have had thirty five years of frequent and consistent practice, listening and study.” But this gross generalisation is still only a small part of the answer so I decided that a more useful question to ask was “What do I do and why?” There have been few, if any, studies of Australian Jazz musicians which have penetrated the musical fabric to the act of creating music through the application of various formal musical analytical techniques. It is hoped that in this thesis, the correlations between my compositions and my improvisations, will be clearly observed. Whether the processes involved in the writing of the thesis lead to further changes, developments or revaluation in the future remains to be seen.