Sir, - Regarding the exclusion of Louis Steward from Aosdana because it honours only "creative artists", I would like to draw your attention to the most succinct description of improvisation that I have heard.
Improvisation is "to create with the materials at hand". As at least 80 to 90 percent of jazz is improvised, I feel it is safe to say that gentlemen of the international stature of Dr Stewart are indeed creative artists and any tendency to describe great jazz artists as interpreters is, to say the least, insulting to the creators of one of the most exciting art forms of the 20th century. - Yours, etc., Hugh Fraser,
Jazz Composition Head, Royal Academy of Music, London, Jazz Programme Head, Banff Centre for the Arts, Alberta, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.