original_query: What is polytonality and how did Shaw use it in his improvisations and compositions?
query: What is polytonality and how did Woody Shaw use it in his improvisations and compositions?
answer: Polytonality is the combination of two or more tonalities or keys at once.  In his improvisations and compositions, Shaw frequently used polytonality, often superimposing complex permutations of the pentatonic scale and interval sequences that modulated unpredictably through numerous key centers.