Remembering Ron Miles: A Gentle Man and Gentle Spirit

The jazz world has lost not only a really great musician but a really nice one. I met Ron Miles in October of 2014 at Duke University as part of the Bad Plus Science Fiction project, along with Tim Berne on alto saxophone. The group performed as a part the University's Duke Performances series, which commissions musicians to present eclectic music.

I remember running into him in the hotel's lobby, right before our first rehearsal and soundcheck. We connected immediately. I imagined he did this with most people. Ron was an interesting mix of lucid humility, restrained confidence, and exorbitant kindness. For some reason, I was a little nervous meeting him, but that all went away within seconds of shaking his frail hand. He immediately told me that he was a fan. I was delightfully surprised that he was very familiar with my solo work and was a frequent reader of my blog. I remember thinking that if Ron Miles is reading my shit, I must be doing something right.

During the two years that the group was together, I was always impressed with how Ron approached each performance with a Zen-like patience. As a result, every solo was melodic, heartfelt, and memorable. He never forced the music. It always surfaced organically, like a spring flower.

At one point during our European tour, in the spring of 2015, I was having difficulty interpreting the Bad Plus's itinerary. It was packed with a lot of info, and I often had trouble deciphering what I needed to know. While in Germany, we were supposed to catch an 11:00 am train. And I thought it was an 11:00 am lobby call. Needless to say, I missed its departure. I did catch a later train and made the gig, thank goodness. 

At one point, one of the Bad Plus members was showing great impatience, and Ron sensed it, and for the remainder of the tour, always reached out to me to make sure I understood the travel plans. He was never condescending, which I appreciated. He sincerely just wanted to help. The challenge about the tour was that there was no tour manager, so we were basically on our own. As I've stated, I struggled with this.

The last time I saw Ron was on September 4, 2016, at the Chicago Jazz Festival. We played right before Anat Cohen's quartet on the beautiful Millennial Stage. We had a lot of downtime before the concert and  had the best time talking about music, being college professors, and the new O.J. Simpson mini series, The People v. OJ Simpson: American Crime Story. We both thought it was brilliant. He even told me he was close to being ordained as a priest. I just remember thinking, "How much more virtuous does this guy want to be?"

R.I.P. You will be missed by everyone who had the good fortune of crossing your path, with and without your horn.

Please enjoy what I believe is the only documentation of the Science Fiction project. This was filmed and recorded on September 12, 2015, at Jazz à la Villette, in Paris, France.

* Ron died on Tuesday at his home in Denver due to complications from Polycythemia vera, a rare blood disorder. He was 58 years old. 

How to Start of Movement

The TED Talk by Derek Sivers "How to Start a Movement" may be only three minutes in length, but it has given me years of inspiration and courage. It has played a significant role in how I manage my career and how I interact with others.

The talk is centered around a video of a young kid at the beach who demonstrates the courage to make a fool of himself. And as Sivers points out, this what it takes to start a movement. 

Key points from his talk:

1. A leader needs the guts to stand out and be ridiculed. 
2. The leader must embrace his or her FIRST follower as an EQUAL and not a follower. This way it’s about the movement, not the leader.
3. As Sivers points out, "The first follower transforms the lone nut into a leader."
4. The first follower, as Siver's also points out, is an "underestimated form of leadership."  He or she demonstrates just as much courage as the leader. 
5. New followers, ultimately emulate the first follower, not the leader. 
6. As more people join in, following the "lone nut" becomes less risky. 
7. Overtime it become more risky not to follow the leader and the crowd of others following the leader.
8. And before you know it, a new movement is born. 

This video is short and simple, but so profound. As I see it, it's bigger message is about being selfish enough to pursue that which makes you happy. And self-less enough to allow others to take ownership of the fruits of your courage. 

Thanks for your time!

Please check out my new book: Be Inspired, Stay Focused: Creativity, Learning, and the Business of Music.

Book review: Be Inspired, Stay Focused

Check out this wonderful book review by Donna Schwartz. Please check out Donna's amazing podcast Everything Saxophone.

 

Are You Trying to be Human or Perfect?

I’ve often written about why some players inspire us and others leave us shaking in our improvisatory boots. Or worse, leave us harboring feelings of resentment towards their musical existence.

Rather than rehash previous thoughts from earlier posts, I’ll just delve into new revelations.

“Intimidating players demonstrate what it’s like to be perfect. Inspiring players reveal to us what it’s like to be human.”

Let’s unpack this.

We’ve all heard that player with unlimited technical skills, the ability to play in any key, in any time signature, at any tempo. They are seemingly the perfect player. They never have bad nights, only great nights. On occasion, even better nights. Perfect! So much so, that young players from universities around the globe, follow this path because it’s the surest way to peer acceptance, and the surest way to get employment. I get it.

Here’s the problem.

With so many players aiming for machine-like perfection, the music starts to sound like an aesthetic race to the bottom. I’ve always felt that musicians should strive to play in a fashion that would be impossible to recreate via a machine. You can transcribe a solo by any number of revered players today, type those notes in Finale, press PLAY, and hear a very close replica. Try doing that with Ornettre Coleman or Albert Ayker. It would be nearly impossible. This is how it should be be.

Why have we ended up in this place? Easy. We’re only exploring perfect outcomes, and are failing to address human ones.

Let’s take this out of the musical realm for one moment. In fiction writing, budding authors are instructed to never write characters that are perfect. For a few reasons:

1. They are one-dimensional. Or flat. 
2. They are uninteresting.
3. And the reader can’t relate to them.

Again, why?

Because human beings are flawed. It’s what makes us human. It’s what makes each and every one of us unique and interesting. It makes us likable. This is why politicians have such a difficult time. They have to pretend to be perfect and usually end up failing in a big way.

So why do imperfect people appeal to us? Look at any reality show. Basketball Wives, The Housewives of Atlanta, Hanging with the Kardashians. It’s because we, too, are imperfect. We find comfort in knowing that others are like us, even those who seemingly have everything. We feel less lonely. Our quirks in the realm of humanness are not abnormalities, but things which make us as we were meant to be. 

Quick story: Years ago, I used to live in this huge house in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn. Many musicians resided there over the years. Whenever I invited friends over, I was known for always making them wait in the living room, the common area, while I went up stairs and made sure my room was tidied up  perfectly and was suited entertaining. One day, following my usual modus operandi, one of friends stop me before I headed up the stairs to do my usual pre-entertaining clean up. They said I didn't have to clean up. for them. That it was OK for me to show them my mess. They said it made me seem more human. This really resonated with me and certainly had some influence on this piece.

Let’s go back to music. The imperfections we’re taught to correct, can give our playing character. There are a lot of alto players who had better intonation than Jackie McClean, but they’re much less interesting. There were plenty of trumpet players who could play faster, louder, and higher than Don Cherry. But many of them were no where near as charismatic nor with the ability to move all of those within ear reach. Thank goodness they never settled for perfection. At least machine-like perfection.

There are numerous examples like this. Even looking at my own playing. I am so flawed. Sometimes I’m amazed that I have any career at all. By then again, I’m proof that it’s not about checking all of the boxes. Sometimes it’s about thinking outside of the box. 

The reality is this. All that we so desperately try to sweep under the rug, sometimes needs to be put on a silver platter and set at the center of our musical table. The world needs that which makes you imperfect. The world needs what which makes you human.

My tweet from a few years ago sums this up perfectly.

Please check out my new book: Be Inspired, Stay Focused: Creativity, Learning, and the Business of Music