I was sitting yesterday. I have been wondering how I could be better at riff/solo writing. And for some reason I began singing what came into my head. I picked a key and matched all the different pitch changes according to what I was singing. And I was actually able to come up with a bit of something on the spot. Wow.

I believe it was...Ed Fuqua, maybe that has suggested that many times? Well I finally tried it, and it works. :)

yeah. I was at a jazz gig a few weeks ago and the bassists would sing his solos out loud. Just as loud as his basslines... So I started to imitate that and found soloing much easier...

Cool-aroonie. Next time, another trick is, imagine how a trombone player would play -- then play that.

There's no limit to the number of places you can turn to for inspiration. Singing is a fine one.