I had seen a chemo port before, but never from the perspective of a piano bench. On my first day playing solo in the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Lobby, I noticed a woman, probably in her 40s, leaning back on the couch near the piano. Head tilted back, eyes closed, dozing, she was wearing her shirt open at the neck, exposing the bandaged bump of a port below her right collarbone where cell-killing chemicals could be infused into a central vein. Over the decades, I have played jazz piano in a variety of venues-fraternity houses smelling of stale beer, restaurants I couldn't afford to eat in, from wedding receptions, noisy street fairs-but no job compared to my gig at Dana-Farber, where I could see that improvisation, the flagship of jazz, is not just about music.1

Thus begins the story of the first day that jazz pianist Len Lyons played for the patients and visitors at the Cancer Institute. Those words, "I could see that improvisation, the flagship of jazz, is not just about music," triggered a flood of thoughts and questions. I was drawn into this story completely; I could even imagine hearing his "soft, lush cords" and feel the living connection of the listeners to him, and he to them. This is no small gift both for the pianist and the listeners. At first glance, a pianist playing for patients might seem to be an entertainment (which is important). But Lyons' wisdom and experience bring us to another level. For what is improvisation in jazz? "The creative activity of immediate (in the moment) musical composition, which combines performance with communication of emotion and instrumental techniques as well as spontaneous response to the musician."2

In the music field improvisation is the art of composing and recording in the same time, in other words, it is inventing in that time (harmony, a melody, a solo, a riff, in rhythm). This art differentiates creative music from the reproduced.3

Sony Rollins claimed that improvisation is the ability to create something very spiritual, something of one's own.

Lyons instinctively realizes that "It is far more challenging to improvise on the unfamiliar, as many of these patients and their families are doing, through a terrain, perhaps a minefield, where they must decide which guides to trust."

This is the action of compassion, and the medium is jazz-a healing balm for the body and soul.

Len Lyons, PhD, is a jazz pianist, independent scholar, author, and critic who studied with the legendary teacher Lennie Tristano. He was assistant professor of philosophy at Santa Clara University and is author of The 101 Best Jazz Albums, The Great Jazz Pianists and Jazz Portraits. Currently, he teaches "Exploring Jazz" in the Boston area and The Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at Santa Clara University.

References