JAZZ AESTHETICS: AN INTERSECTION BETWEEN PHILOSOPHY AND IMPROVISATION

Abstract

This article proposes an analysis of the aesthetics of jazz from two main perspectives: understanding its particularities as an art form and the intersection between jazz improvisation and philosophical concepts by Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari, such as territory, ritornello, territorialization, deterritorialization and bricolage. Initially, it discusses the difficulty of defining jazz and the inadequacy of restrictive aesthetic approaches, focusing on the criticism of Theodor W. Adorno's theory of the genre, which wrongly frames it as mere “entertainment music” and fails to recognize its complexity and autonomy. Subsequently, the study explores how improvisation in jazz can be understood through Deleuzian and Guattarian lenses, identifying the dynamics of creation, assimilation and reconfiguration of “musical territories”. It argues that free improvisation in jazz, by operating on the “surface of production”, challenges the notion of fixed territorialization, promoting an ethics of improvisation that values continuous experimentation.