I agree with what you said about Diana. I’ve never read this quote but It helps reinforce this message that I’ve heard from other players in and out of the genre. All the technical understanding and mastery and tricks is great however it means nothing if it does not serve your ability to express through the music.

this music is all about us being able to channel our own feelings and interpretation of the songs through our own instruments. I definitely believe that technical understanding can help enhance our ability to express ourselves, however the ability to express ourselves can be present with or without the explicit technical mastery. well it certainly can help, it’s easy to get lost and miss the forest for the trees when putting in overemphasis on the technicalities. I really like the Bill Evans explanation about how jazz is falsely labeled an intellectual genre, he may put in a lot of effort to understand the technical aspects but then aims to forget all the technical stuff in and simply play what he feels.

as a young gen Zer who grew up listening to Miles Davis and Bill Evans, I didn’t get plagued by the looming tower of flashy high speed technical mastery that seemed to catch you in its shadow. however as someone who had no musical background until roughly 6 years ago, and one year of jazz, I still do not have enough confidence to play in a band. i’m confident in my feel and my ability to express myself through the instrument however I still need more development on my repertoire and my ears. seeing great established artists and even other players like you voice their self doubts and insecurities helps me grow to be a little bit more confident in my lack of perfection.

Self-awareness is crucial as well as awareness of what the genre requires is as well. I’m not caught up in gawking at the Oscar Petersons of the world and how I won’t be like them, and once i get the last pieces of what i need to be a competent jazz player, im excited to go into it with the full commitment to telling my story and being myself. I know I’m never gonna be like any other players before me but I can try to learn about what made them Graydon understand how I can interpret that into helping me be the best version of me I can be.