Jazz Composer George Lewis and Psychoanalysts to Share Their Flair for Free Association and Improvisation

Newswise — "Both jazz composers and psychoanalysts work 'in the moment,'" says Krin Gabbard, Ph.D., a presenter at the University Forum and professor at Stony Brook University. "Only a handful of writers have explored this connection. Fewer still have ventured to take an analytical position on white America's conflicted fascination with African American culture, where jazz improvisation was born and nurtured."

Dr. Gabbard, along with nationally recognized jazz composer George Lewis, will endeavor to remedy these omissions by uniting scholars and musicians with psychoanalysts. Psychoanalysts Richard Karmel, Ph.D., also a jazz composer and co-editor of "Psychoanalytic Explorations in Music," and Henry Schwartz, M.D. will interview Dr. Gabbard and Professor Lewis.

A recipient of a MacArthur "Genius Grant" and a professor at Columbia University, Professor Lewis will be presenting part of his recent study of the avant-garde jazz artists who created a new improvisatory aesthetic in Chicago in the 1970s. Author of "Jammin' at the Margins: Jazz and the American Cinema" and editor of "Jazz among the Discourses," Dr. Gabbard will examine theories about improvisation that emerged when the passion for "Method Acting" linked psychoanalysis, jazz improvisation, and theatre in the late 1940s and early 1950s.

The American Psychoanalytic Association is a professional organization of psychoanalysts throughout the United States and is comprised of approximately 3,500 members. The Scientific Meetings of the American Psychoanalytic Association are intended for the continuing education of the members and other registrants. Visit www.apsa.org for more information.