The Fierce Urgency of Now

Improvisation, Rights, and the Ethics of Cocreation

Nonfiction, Entertainment, Music, Music Styles, Jazz & Blues, Jazz
Cover of the book The Fierce Urgency of Now by Daniel Fischlin, Ajay Heble, George Lipsitz, Duke University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Daniel Fischlin, Ajay Heble, George Lipsitz ISBN: 9780822378358
Publisher: Duke University Press Publication: June 14, 2013
Imprint: Duke University Press Books Language: English
Author: Daniel Fischlin, Ajay Heble, George Lipsitz
ISBN: 9780822378358
Publisher: Duke University Press
Publication: June 14, 2013
Imprint: Duke University Press Books
Language: English

The Fierce Urgency of Now links musical improvisation to struggles for social change, focusing on the connections between the improvisation associated with jazz and the dynamics of human rights struggles and discourses. The authors acknowledge that at first glance improvisation and rights seem to belong to incommensurable areas of human endeavor. Improvisation connotes practices that are spontaneous, personal, local, immediate, expressive, ephemeral, and even accidental, while rights refer to formal standards of acceptable human conduct, rules that are permanent, impersonal, universal, abstract, and inflexible. Yet the authors not only suggest that improvisation and rights can be connected; they insist that they must be connected.

Improvisation is the creation and development of new, unexpected, and productive cocreative relations among people. It cultivates the capacity to discern elements of possibility, potential, hope, and promise where none are readily apparent. Improvisers work with the tools they have in the arenas that are open to them. Proceeding without a written score or script, they collaborate to envision and enact something new, to enrich their experience in the world by acting on it and changing it. By analyzing the dynamics of particular artistic improvisations, mostly by contemporary American jazz musicians, the authors reveal improvisation as a viable and urgently needed model for social change. In the process, they rethink politics, music, and the connections between them.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

The Fierce Urgency of Now links musical improvisation to struggles for social change, focusing on the connections between the improvisation associated with jazz and the dynamics of human rights struggles and discourses. The authors acknowledge that at first glance improvisation and rights seem to belong to incommensurable areas of human endeavor. Improvisation connotes practices that are spontaneous, personal, local, immediate, expressive, ephemeral, and even accidental, while rights refer to formal standards of acceptable human conduct, rules that are permanent, impersonal, universal, abstract, and inflexible. Yet the authors not only suggest that improvisation and rights can be connected; they insist that they must be connected.

Improvisation is the creation and development of new, unexpected, and productive cocreative relations among people. It cultivates the capacity to discern elements of possibility, potential, hope, and promise where none are readily apparent. Improvisers work with the tools they have in the arenas that are open to them. Proceeding without a written score or script, they collaborate to envision and enact something new, to enrich their experience in the world by acting on it and changing it. By analyzing the dynamics of particular artistic improvisations, mostly by contemporary American jazz musicians, the authors reveal improvisation as a viable and urgently needed model for social change. In the process, they rethink politics, music, and the connections between them.

More books from Duke University Press

Cover of the book Racial Transformations by Daniel Fischlin, Ajay Heble, George Lipsitz
Cover of the book Living Color by Daniel Fischlin, Ajay Heble, George Lipsitz
Cover of the book Across Oceans of Law by Daniel Fischlin, Ajay Heble, George Lipsitz
Cover of the book Rumba Rules by Daniel Fischlin, Ajay Heble, George Lipsitz
Cover of the book Public Reactions to Nuclear Waste by Daniel Fischlin, Ajay Heble, George Lipsitz
Cover of the book Making Freedom by Daniel Fischlin, Ajay Heble, George Lipsitz
Cover of the book Sentimental Materialism by Daniel Fischlin, Ajay Heble, George Lipsitz
Cover of the book Native Hubs by Daniel Fischlin, Ajay Heble, George Lipsitz
Cover of the book Containing the Poor by Daniel Fischlin, Ajay Heble, George Lipsitz
Cover of the book Bold! Daring! Shocking! True! by Daniel Fischlin, Ajay Heble, George Lipsitz
Cover of the book Working Difference by Daniel Fischlin, Ajay Heble, George Lipsitz
Cover of the book A Flock Divided by Daniel Fischlin, Ajay Heble, George Lipsitz
Cover of the book Wallowing in Sex by Daniel Fischlin, Ajay Heble, George Lipsitz
Cover of the book Written in Stone by Daniel Fischlin, Ajay Heble, George Lipsitz
Cover of the book Poetics of the Flesh by Daniel Fischlin, Ajay Heble, George Lipsitz
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy