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Koko Taylor - Blow Top Blues

Jazz music is essentially a conversation. In classical music, by contrast, the musicians are expected to learn their parts perfectly and deliver consistently, according to a high standard of perfection. Jazz and blues, while also committed to high standards of performance, use a language that is more conversational, employing song structure, but with infinite ways to deliver a song. The song gives a context and excuse for conversation.

Is it possible that the way jazz musicians learn to speak with one another could offer new approaches for the way we speak to one another in organizations?

Every conversation you’ve ever had was improvised. You were unscripted. Someone said something and you responded in the best way that you were able, even if that response was silence. Herein is of course the joy and the risk. Because they are unscripted, conversations can go pear shaped. We can say the wrong thing at the wrong time, or we can listen with half a heart and suddenly we are in deep water. Yet jazz and blues artists take these risks all the time. And they do so in front of an audience that pays to listen to them.

Why would musicians take such a risk? There’s plenty of unimprovised music that is wonderful. And we can find analogies in business, certain keynote addresses work best when they’re delivered word for considered word.


Koko Taylor - Blow Top Blues
  • Produced by: Koko Taylor and Bruce Iglauer
  • Composed by: Leonard Feather
  • Genre: Blues, Chicago blues

"Koko Taylor's big, raw vocal style, led fans to crown her The Queen of Chicago Blues. Hit records and spectacular shows at the Montreux and Ann Arbor Festivals, constant touring and recording with her band, won her a string of Awards."

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