Anyone Can Improvise The ABCs of Arts Entrepreneurship—A Case Study

Abstract

The concept of improvisation and the “Jazz Model” for Entrepreneurship as a gathering of creative minds with the goal of creating a new outcome is frequently used in the entrepreneurship literature. Especially the unique setting of a jazz jam session exemplifies a successful model of group creativity (Herzig & Baker, 2014) with options for training towards organizational innovation. This case study traces the entrepreneurial efforts of Jamey Aebersold, David Baker, and Jerry Coker, the ABCs of jazz education, who developed the foundation for teaching materials and curricula worldwide. Furthermore, this case study documents the entrepreneurial mindset of these three innovators as a result of their improvisational training and regular participation in jazz jam session situations and thus implies strategies for teaching creative thinking techniques in entrepreneurship education.