COMMUNICATION
Illustration★★★The great classical composer, Igor Stravinsky, wrote his “Ebony Concerto” expressly for the “Woody Herman Herd,” one of the swingingest jazz bands ever. At rehearsals, difficulties in com- munication arose between Stravinsky and the jazzmen. One day he said to the band, “I want a sudden sforzando fol- lowed by a subito decrescendo.”
He got blank stares. Whereupon, Woody Herman called in his longtime arranger, Neal Hefti. “Maestro,” Hefti said to Stravinsky, “tell me exactly what you want and I’ll try to get it across to the boys. “I want a sudden sforzando followed by a’subito decrescendo,” Stravinsky repeated.
“Gotcha,” Hefti said. With that he turned to the musicians and said, “Bend it, boys!”
— Previn
The point
A composer's technical jazz instructions only clicked with the band once translated into plain, familiar language, showing the value of communicating in terms your audience understands.