I played for an awesome birthday party tonight for actress Tanna Frederick, held at the home of film director Henry Jaglom.

I recently attended the opening night of Henry’s recent movie, “Irene in time,” and stayed for the question and answer with the cast after the film. A point of interest was a few of the scenes were totally improvised. As the cast grew into their roles they “became” the parts so completely that a few scenes ended up being more effective when improvised then when following the script. The actors knew the story line, purpose of the film and just lived the parts. It was so “real” that it superseded the script and became part of the film. (Or something new evolved and was added–I don’t remember which.) I recall a few “4077 M.A.S.H.” episodes that were totally improvised as well.

Film: Topic ~ Story Line ~ Actors ~ Script ~ Improv

Music: Song ~ Song Style ~ Musicians ~ Melody ~ Improv

In the early part of the gig we played a lot of jazz. We’d pick a song, play it in whatever style we did, then improvise on it. The song stated the main idea, concept and form, then we would play around with it–making it our own creation. That’s what I like about jazz!

A “commercial” song has a set format and arrangement; verses are so long, a solo goes in a certain spot, etc. Though jazz can be that way, it lends itself to being more spontaneous. We’ll shift through whatever sections we want at which ever moments feel the best.

As the cast in a film can interact improvisationally once the characters are fully established, the more comfortable the musicians are with each others style and feel, the more fluid the improv is.

All art forms have similarities and it’s cool to inspect them. I’ve had a few enlightening conversations with my artist brother, Ed, about the similarities between art and music.

Any views on this topic to share?

Marty B.
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Tags: film, gigs, Harriet Schock, Henry Jaglom, improvisation, jazz, Marc Bosserman, movies, Music, Tanna Frederick