The First Thing I Learned Was The

I Have To Admit That More And More Lately, The Whole Idea Of Jazz As An Idiom Is One That I've Completely Rejected. I Just Don't See It As An Idiomatic Thing Any More...to Me, If Jazz Is Anything, It's A Process, And Maybe A Verb, But It's Not A Thing. It's A Form That Demands That You Bring To It Things Athat Are Valuable To You, That Are Personal To You. That, For Me, Is A Pretty Serious Distinction That Doesn't Have Anything To Do With Blues, Or Swing, Or Any Of These Other Things That Tend To Be Listed As Essentials In Order For Music To Be Jazz With A Capital J.

It's A Shame That Jazz Is Now Being Turned Into Dried Fruit. It's Becoming Quantized, Diced And Defined. It's Becoming An Idiom. To Me If It's Anything, Jazz Is A Verb ? It's More Like A Process Than It Is A Thing.

I Just Have Never Seen Anyone Build Anything Significant In Any Field Without Having A Deep And Detailed Sense Of What They Are Building On.

To Me, There Are Lots Of Different Stories To Tell And You Usually Find The Best Way To Tell The One You Are Telling Once You Are In It.

Listening Is The Key To Everything Good In Music.