The Département Jazz et Musiques Improvisées was opened in 1991 at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris, a historical institution, founded on August 3 1795, as a result of a resolution taken by the National Convention of the French Republic, after the Revolution. The Département Jazz et Musiques Improvisées represents an interesting and unique experience, not only for the subject matter which includes Jazz and improvisation (recently obtaining an institutional acknowledgment), but in particular for its pioneering aspects. It already boasts a 20-year-long history, combining teaching methods with a range of technical and practical aspects, and extremely innovative methodologies and pedagogical studies. Since 2004 it has been directed by M° Riccardo Del Fra, a well-known double-bass player, who has worked with the most important jazz performers including Chet Baker, Art Farmer, Dizzy Gillespie, Art Blakey, Sonny Stitt, Lee Konitz, James Moody, Tommy Flanagan, Horace Parlan, Clifford Jordan, Vernell Fournier, Al Levitt, Michel Legrand, Alain Jean-Marie, Kenny Wheeler, Paul Motian, Dave Liebman and many more. He is also seen as a VIP within the new musical scene in Paris. The Department bears witness to a teaching policy focused on the cooperation between professors and students, in which the former are committed to transmitting their experiences while the latter to developing their creative personalities, without forgoing tradition, not seen merely as an absorption of the composition of interpretation rules but rather as a starting point, a cultural background on which to develop new ideas. From this point of view, an absolutely interesting and unique aspect is the blend of the heritage of Afro-American music with the European one (classical or folk) along with other cultures, in particular improvised Indian music. We hereby include an extract of the introductory DVD, available from the secretary's office of the department itself.