Hi O-10 - first, I want to say that I do feel bad at how acerbic my post last night was. I have been very ill with a strange stomach bug, and it was bothering me, and while that is not an excuse, it is a reason the bile came out in my post. I apologize for the tone of it.
Second - we actually had quite an extended conversation on this thread a couple of years ago, I think, about different ways that classical musicians improvise. Mostly it is keyboard players who do it on a regular basis. All professional organists, for instance, can improvise as well as a jazz musician - they do it every day in their jobs, too. I can improvise myself, though I do not do it in my job. I used to do it quite a bit when I was in grad school and when free-lancing shortly afterwards, before I won my permanent full time job, and even in public performance sometimes. Almost never in the jazz idiom, though - just once or twice in big band rehearsals when encouraged to try. I have also taught some of my horn students the basics of how to do it (which are the same no matter what the idiom, in fact one of those kids ended up immediately applying what I taught him to his jazz guitar playing with great success - surprised the hell out of the jazz band director at that university, who rewarded him with a couple of big features during the rest of his senior year). So yeah, I could very easily do it to save my ass. Am I saying I could do it like Coltrane or Frogman? No way. But in the classical idiom, I'm more than passable at it.
Second - we actually had quite an extended conversation on this thread a couple of years ago, I think, about different ways that classical musicians improvise. Mostly it is keyboard players who do it on a regular basis. All professional organists, for instance, can improvise as well as a jazz musician - they do it every day in their jobs, too. I can improvise myself, though I do not do it in my job. I used to do it quite a bit when I was in grad school and when free-lancing shortly afterwards, before I won my permanent full time job, and even in public performance sometimes. Almost never in the jazz idiom, though - just once or twice in big band rehearsals when encouraged to try. I have also taught some of my horn students the basics of how to do it (which are the same no matter what the idiom, in fact one of those kids ended up immediately applying what I taught him to his jazz guitar playing with great success - surprised the hell out of the jazz band director at that university, who rewarded him with a couple of big features during the rest of his senior year). So yeah, I could very easily do it to save my ass. Am I saying I could do it like Coltrane or Frogman? No way. But in the classical idiom, I'm more than passable at it.