Confidence vs doubt?“0 Comments”
Jessica Jones | 7:56 pm | March 29, 2009
I’m not even sure of the title of the post…
But anyway it seems that people respond to confidence, it makes them feel comfortable. They feel more secure when someone else is willing to take the reins (and reigns!). I can understand that. And confidence on stage is pretty charismatic. However, there is a real beauty to doubt. Like, just plain “I don’t know the right answer. The first choice could work, but I can see how the second choice might also work. Who am I to say?” That can be a richer, more intriguing experience, even for an audience. That’s been my experience.
However, as a teacher, middle school students REALLY don’t respond well to doubt! I mean, in terms of structure of the class and what to expect. So the mother in me has learned to create structure and an architecture to start with, but hopefully – both in playing and teaching – it is a flexible structure that allows all kinds of variations based on the creativity of the people utilizing it. Seeing a lot of possibilities simultaneously is a skill that people are needing right now, in This Economy and all. The creativity that allows for pivoting from anywhere to get anywhere else. It’s like the training was all in a straight line and now everyone is lost except the artists or creative people, who can turn on a dime, change direction, think of new ways to try things.
That’s what I’ve been thinking about. Doubt might be creativity.
OK, here’s me“0 Comments”
Jessica Jones | 6:35 pm | March 26, 2009
In response to Lois’ comment, here’s a better one with me at the BHS concert:
So here is proof I was there. (with Lavell, Dayna, and Steven)
Berkeley High concert“4 Comments”
Jessica Jones | 11:31 am | March 25, 2009
These photos are all by Daniel S. Levine, and thanks to him it looks very historical and “great day in Berkeley”-ish.
This is Peter Apfelbaum, Elena Pinderhughes, Lavell Jones, Dayna Stephens, me, Steven Bernstein, Mariel Austin, Will Bernard, Sarah Cline and a drummer you can’t see performing a piece of Peter’s at a huge BHS jazz alumni fundraiser to honor their current esteemed leader, Mr. Hamilton. It was cool to see some of my high school buddies, although most of them who were at the event actually live in Brooklyn like me. Sweeter still was to see all my former students blossomed up into lovely flowers. From the Feather River Jazz Camp which I started and directed, these guys (who were 12 years old or younger when I met them!):
Ambrose Akinmusire, David Ewell, Jonathan Finlayson.
Here’s more:
That’s Cale Brandley, tenor saxophonist and general seeker. Here’s another, all-star historical multi-generational one:
That’s a near-Ellingtonian type tpt section: Sean Erick, Ambrose Akinmusire, Steven Bernstein, and Jonathan Finlayson. I won’t say which is Cootie Williams etc.
I don’t know the trombone player’s name – let me know if you know – he’s at BHS now I think; and that’s Lavell Jones on bari sax.
OK, a couple more. It’s like showing slides of my children to a captive audience!
That’s Ambrose again, with Selina Traylor on bass. They have been friends a long time, including at Feather River. Ah, memories…
That’s Hitomi Oba. The picture’s too small to see much, but you better watch out for her, another great tenor player in the BHS lineage.
Here’s one of my first serious saxophone students ever, and I have to say, the last time I saw him on this stage (which was King Middle School in Berkeley) he was in eighth grade, singing a solo soprano version of Stevie Wonder’s “Happy Birthday”, and winning a prestigious middle school award. I’ve admired him since that day, since I can’t imagine a more challenging audience than 500 of your peers in eighth grade (yech!), whom he had in the palm of his hand:
So that’s Dave Ellis on tenor (& listening), with Michael Aaberg on piano.
Anyway, it was a sweet day, and it sold out which is good for the coffers of the BHS jazz band. I was glad it wasn’t at Berkeley High, cause the smell of the music room there still makes my palms sweat. It was a wonderfully fertile time of my life, and, as many of us probably feel, it’s certainly nice to have that behind me and now real life in the present.
This jazz site is part of