Great discussion.
I don't buy into the notion that backbeat music doesn't have the capacity for creativity that say jazz does. I do believe that there's more total time spent exercising creativity in jazz, it's just the nature of the music. So there's less amount of creativity in backbeat music, but the same capacity, if that makes sense. Creativity...if a person is truly creative, restraints can't contain that. The creativity may have to take a different, maybe a not as in your face route, but the capacity for creativity is not diminished. Creativity in backbeat music just has to be redirected in an manner that adds to, and doesn't detract, from the music. JMO. It's like no you can't take the superhighway to be creative. You have to take the back roads. But you still get there.
The general consensus here is that that less pieces forces creativity, which I don't really subscribe to. But by that model, music that has strict restraints should force creativity too right? Same principle. Only I'm detecting a double standard. It's been stated here that blues has too many restraints and you can only do so much. It doesn't go both ways. And creativity is not an end goal unto itself, great music is the end goal.
Like if I get to be creative say 20 seconds out of a 4 minute song, and a jazz player gets to be creative for 2 minutes out of a 4 minute song, and both songs have an equally wonderful response from a tough crowd, does it really matter that one guy got to create "more"? Or is the total resolved product more important than the amount of time each individual gets to use for their own creativity? I'm going with the latter.
I will gladly concede that jazz players in the real world play much more creatively than backbeat music players, the musical landscape is more conducive to that. Creativity in backbeat music takes on a different more subtle form IMO, that's not as easily detected as creativity in jazz. And not all backbeat music is the height of creativity or even creative of course, as is with jazz. JMO. The little nuanced stuff I do goes right by most people, and more musicians than I'd like to admit, where when a jazz drummer is being creative, it's way easier to spot is all I'm saying.
To even suggest that certain kinds of music stifles creativity...to any degree...in my mind goes against the very foundations of what music is.