Contemporary Jazz Composition: From Concept to Quality Control

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to develop an integrated methodology for creating and analysing a contemporary jazz composition – from the initial concept to quality-control procedures. The research methodology is to apply a number of approaches: analytical – to critically examine scholarship on jazz composition, arranging, and harmony; musicological – to illuminate the parameters of contemporary jazz work; systems approach – to organise the collected material into a single structural-logical model. Scientific novelty: for the first time the article substantiates an operational framework for producing a contemporary jazz composition from conception to final verification and presents a systematic set of parameters for its creation and analysis. Conclusions. A contemporary jazz composition is an integrated system in which the blurred boundaries between authorship and performance heighten the need for a clear concept. The initial intent determines the style; the degree of authenticity or eclecticism; the engagement with cultural context; and the level of novelty, thereby setting the decision logic for instrumentation and the balance between written and improvised material. Its material realisation relies on proficient command of jazz melody, harmony, and rhythm, as well as on form-building and arranging that unite the freedom of small ensembles with the symphonised thinking of large ensembles and the precision of notation. The quality model operates as a continuous cycle from concept to meta-evaluation, where the criterion of success is the coherence and persuasiveness of the musical statement – capable of renewing tradition while remaining emotionally accessible.