TO PLAY OR NOT TO PLAY
Do all jazz musicians know the tune “West Coast Blues”, or am I crazy? I had a strange experience almost surreal with members of the Columbus Jazz Society the other night. It’s a great organization, but I didn’t renew my membership for several reasons. I had a feeling these guys may not know the tune, so I emailed details. Obviously, they can’t read email either. Practice is very important to me, and I stress this quite often to my students. If one continues to play only tunes that one has known since birth, there can be no growth. It’s very important to get together with other musicians to practice and not continuously play the same things over and over again. Learning new material should be a joy, not a burden. There are times when one is not able to be paid for the practice. Nevertheless, it makes one feel good about the craft when there is sufficient practice.