How musical improvisation works

Musicologist and Jazzfest project director Anke Steinbeck talked with eight different musicians about the spontaneity of jazz improvisation. Star baritone and jazz singer Thomas Quasthoff, Cologne-based saxophonist Niels Klein and newcomer saxophonist Marius Neset of Norway were three of those to share their thoughts on the genre. All of them said they loved the power of creating impromptu music.

German vibraphonist and composer Christopher Dell also shared his expertise about the "technology of improvisation," calling his work "contemporary music infused with a great deal of improvisation."

Anke Steinbeck is author of the book "Fantasieren nach Beethoven - Praxis und Geschichte kreativer Musik" ("Imagining like Beethoven - The Practice and History of Creative Music"), which was published by Verlag Dohr.

Click through the gallery below for a closer look at women in jazz.