I think the heart of impro is when a bunch of you are improvising (eek! playing jazz! call the witch doctor!) and either you know each other very well musically or you all know the song very well and you all lead into an unexpected area TOGETHER. I dunno if this is possible in folk as there are fewer musical possibilities both harmonically and rhythmically. But playing jazz, when the whole thing is working, it's working at a meta-conscious level. That is - you know your chords etc etc and you've got beyond having to think analytically about it and HEY PRESTO - there's your magic.

I find it unuseful when people come up with that old chestnut "well, improvising is easy. You just play ANYTHING", becasuse it's just not so. It's not until you know your limitations that you can stretch and go beyond them. A skilled improvisor isn't one who 'just plays anything'. There's got to be art and heart in what the person is playing. Or it's just nonsense.

Amen

Callie