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Originally Posted by Chrix  So does this mean that absolutely nothing can be gleaned from their music that would inform my free playing? Or am I too naive to think that I can try to listen to and study everything and try to learn from it in some manner whether I like it or not? |
You can listen too, study, analyze, learn from whatever you want. However the degree to which it will influence you in certain situations is questionable. I guess it again comes back to the limits of your individual creativity. Damon doesn't hear anything worthwhile, you do. Perhaps the opposite is true in regard to something else. While I could list many things that have influenced me as a jazz player, in those times when I've played free (truly free as opposed to free jazz) I drew from my classical studies and study and experience with other free music.
Now consider this for a moment. Not everything you enjoy has to be incorporated into your playing. Some music is just cool to dig on a casual basis. I really dig Parliament-Funkadelic, some Jimi Hendrix, certain Rolling Stones albums, James Brown, and recently Jef Lee Johnson, and some Jamaladeen Tacuma things. I dig listening to it and that's OK. I don't have to glean any more from it than just simple enjoyment.
I think Damon is offering sound advice on how to pursue becoming a free improviser. It's certainly worked for him and many others. Heeding his advice will almost certainly pay off for you too. If you think studying Bad Plus and the like will offer something of value, then I say do it. But you risk discovering you wasted time going down a dead end. Whichever path you choose, you'll learn something.
