Improvisation and Gestalt Therapy: A Comparison by Edward T. Daniel, Jr. MSW, LCSW

FONT board member/performer Ted Daniel is a revered jazz trumpeter and composer largely known for his work in the 1970s and collaborations with musicians including Andrew Cyrille, Henry Threadgill and the late Billy Bang. Recently in June 2011, Ted Daniel’s International Brass Membrane Corps performed at the Abrons Art Center, co-presented by FONT and the Vision Festival.
 
In his article “Improvisation and Gestalt Therapy: A Comparison”(p.11) published in the June 2013’s issue of The New York City Jazz Record Ted Daniel discusses the parallels between Gestalt therapeutic process and a creative musician’s experience improvising in a band setting. Ted looks deeply into the question that: “As creative artists, in our personal quest to experience meaningful improvisation in music and in life…Are we investing too much time in someone else’s authenticity to the detriment of our own?”