Gretchen Carlson; The first book of its kind, Improvising the Score vividly investigates unique collaborations between contemporary jazz artists and influential film directors, providing a behind-the-scenes look at innovative and integrative jazz-film productions that challenge us to rethink the possibilities of movie music. These in-depth case studies include collaborations between Terence Blanchard and Spike Lee (Malcolm X, When the Levees Broke), Dick Hyman and Woody Allen (Hannah and Her Sisters), Antonio Sanchez and Alejandro Gonzalez Iänâarritu (Birdman), and Mark Isham and Alan Rudolph (Afterglow). Grounded in fascinating personal interviews, detailed film production analysis, and examinations of jazz artists' "creative labor" in the context of film production expectations, this book illustrates the dynamic possibilities of integrative artistic collaborations between jazz and film, and more broadly, music and media. Gretchen L. Carlson is a musicologist and professor of music history and culture at Towson University. She has published articles on jazz and film in the Journal of the Society for American Music and Jazz and Culture. An active pianist, Carlson balances her research and teaching with solo and collaborative performance and maintains a robust private piano studio.