The Rebirth of Improvisation as a Site for Religious Studies Research

Abstract

In this article, I propose that studies of music’s links to religion go beyond reductionistic links between religious traditions and music forms (e.g., “Music and/in Islam”), and look instead at ways in which music responds to or expresses concerns or aspirations that are linked to religion or spirituality. The article further proposes that, should this approach be adopted, the explosion of radical improvised music-making in the 1960s (associated with such artists as the Grateful Dead, John Coltrane, La Monte Young, Terry Riley, Albert Ayler, etc.) is a very promising site for investigation.