There is only one thing in jazz I wish were different,
The way they play it — they don’t.
But it’s not that they don’t, not on purpose,
The way they do it — it just is.
But maybe I am thinking what I think,
So why ask why they do what they do
just why they do?
It seems like a contradiction.
Is this what jazz is all about?
In a way, I suppose it is.
But it can’t be a contradiction,
it has to be contradictory.
Not to be contradictory is something else.
I think what happens in a good jazz song
is that the songwriter sets up a certain “jazzy” mood
or situation and then he lets the audience in on it.
It doesn’t have to be some kind of “jazz-babe”,
it can be your best friend or your dog,
or anything, as long as the listener recognizes
the mood or situation as “jazzy”.
That’s why some musicians,
who get called Jazz Musicians,
are not.
They are all kinds of musicians:
country, rock, or whatever.
But they still play some “jazzy” music.
The musicians who play Jazz know that
their music is a mood and it has to do
with rhythm.
That’s why,
a good jazz musician has a great memory.
If he can’t remember a particular rhythm,
he can improvise.
But that’s just when he’s improvising