Rok, interesting question and excellent comment on the possibilities. If you think about it, it is both. If one starts with the premise that everything that a great improviser does is done “on purpose”, which it is, then there’s your answer. Sure, they get “lost” in the moment, but they are in control at all times. However, “quoting”, as we know, is sometimes more effective than others. Sometimes a player wants to throw in some humor (speaking of humor) into a solo and throws in a quote of a tune in a way that isn’t in context logically as you say. Great as he was, how many times do we have to hear “Mona Lisa” in a Dexter Gordon solo? To me, it often sounds forced. Quoting is most effective when it is used more organically (hate the overused word, but appropriate). For instance, and I suspect this is what you refer to:
Kenny Garrett quotes twice (quoting the tune one is playing itself doesn’t count) in “Straight No Chaser”. Around 3:10 or so he quotes the beginning of “Camptowm Races” (!); then, around 4:00 or so he quotes “When The Saints ....”. Go back and notice how he starts his solo. He begins his solo with the very note that Hargrove ends his solo with. That very note happens to be the first note of the tune “Camptowm Races”. Perfect logic. These guys are brilliant. They have a huge “vocabulary” to draw from. Great clips, thanks.
Kenny Garrett quotes twice (quoting the tune one is playing itself doesn’t count) in “Straight No Chaser”. Around 3:10 or so he quotes the beginning of “Camptowm Races” (!); then, around 4:00 or so he quotes “When The Saints ....”. Go back and notice how he starts his solo. He begins his solo with the very note that Hargrove ends his solo with. That very note happens to be the first note of the tune “Camptowm Races”. Perfect logic. These guys are brilliant. They have a huge “vocabulary” to draw from. Great clips, thanks.