Originally Posted By: Gordon Scott
if it's a single monophonic instrument player doing a solo over just a base harmony, then it's not counterpoint


Sure, but my point in asking that rhetorical question is to ask, well, if not, why not? And my point in asking THAT is, I don't think circling solos counts as counterpoint, either. Fugal, maybe, but not contrapuntal. To my mind, you need the element of simultaneity.

To be clear that I'm not saying anything about jazz in particular – I would say if you took a totally contrapuntal Baroque quartet and had the four players play each measure in turn, not in parallel, I wouldn't call that counterpoint, either, except in an obvious but very extended sense.

But if you DO allow that, I see not reason why not to extend the concept even further to a single serial soloist.