8 | Jazz and Originality

Many years ago my dad took me to see Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra perform in Portland. I was an aspiring trumpet player and future band teacher at the time, so I was instantly mesmerized by everything the virtuoso could do. A lifetime later, one thing that sticks with me is the humble attitude he held. He's still considered to be the premier classical plus jazz master of our time. He can play like nobody's business. He sells out concert halls and stadiums everywhere. Still, he claimed then and still claims that he's not to be identified as an innovator. He considers himself merely an adapter of the classics before him.

Years later and thanks to google I finally tracked down the document Wynton was referring to. In Jon Panish's The Color of Jazz, the intensity of jazz improvisation (and music in general) is broken down into four levels: embellishment, imitation, assimilation, and innovation. Embellishment and imitation are harder to distinguish from each other, as they both follow closely to something original in style, tonality, and rhythm. Imitation gets away from the written music more and focuses on incorporating the feel and style with new motivic elements. Assimilation takes this to the next level by adapting previous styles to make something unique to that performer. Innovation is self explanatory: the performer takes historical context into perspective and then jumps in a completely new direction. As we move along the spectrum toward innovation, there are fewer examples.

None of this is to say that different levels are inherently better than the others. It points out a progression of creativity in the context of the work around. Even some of the most successful jazz performers moved little from the players before them. But the stuff that sticks around and leaves a lasting difference requires more than the norm. Keep this in mind and then consider advertising. Not everything can be truly innovative. Not even all the great work can break the mold to lead the industry and our culture in a new direction. But as advertisers we can acknowledge the actual originality of our work, which will enable us to avoid future repetition and create a world of more value.

To show how the four levels mentioned before can be applied to advertising, look at Apple's "Hi, I'm a Mac" campaign. I'll justify why I find this to be an example of "assimilation".

 

This stood out amidst the sea of visual noise constantly thrown at us.  Where everything else was loud, Apple showed that it was simple. One point of focus on a background of white is all there was. Seems innovative right? I argue that while this was a breath of very fresh air, it still draws from another source for significant inspiration:

DDB kicked already down the doors 50 years earlier with the Volkswagen print campaign. It would be naive to say the Apple campaign didn't attempt to incorporate some of the same elements as VW. Apple may or may not be paying homage to Bernbach's original masterpiece, but it takes the aspects and changes them to fit and define Apple uniquely. The Mac commericals then in turn became points of reference themselves for other advertising:

The UPS "Whiteboard" series imitates many aspects from before. It even adds a UPS flavor to make it reflect the values on sale. Though it doesn't distinguish itself as boldly individual as Apple managed. Finally, there are some ads that hardly go beyond copying previous work, and merely embellish (maybe only for the sake of copyright issues):

What will stand the test of time? What rises above the clutter and brings something new to audiences? It's not embellishments and imitations. Those might be well made, entertaining, and even tell a story, but they'll fade fast. I certainly have little desire to solve problems in a way that fades into the noise or even adds more static. I'm here to take the world around me and interpret it into things new, or at least things that aren't lost in the wash. Step away from what's tried and true. Be an innovator at all possible times. Be a Miles Davis. Be a John Coltrane. Be a Thelonious Monk. Even if you fall short, you're far more likely to end up a Wynton.

And while I have Wynton and Apple are in the same post...