The worldwide jazz community was absolutely decimated during the pandemic. We lost so many- From old legends such as Jimmy Cobb, Jimmy Heath, Ira Sullivan, Joe Segal and McCoy Tyner to much younger and unexpected names like Chick Corea, Wallace Roney, Ralph Peterson and Mark Colby- everyone is leaving us. As is tradition for "us" jazz musicians, we must spend our short interactions with masters carefully, learning the intricacies and stories that are required to keep this precious music alive and fresh, with every new generation learning from and improving upon their predecessors.
These musicians did not achieve their respective levels of mastery with hard, sweaty, tough work, practice, and most importantly: playing with and learning from those around you. So that's exactly what I did (although is was by no means "masterful").
While my project may not have been staged in library mall, I feel as though I was still able to achieve a high level of interaction with my so-called audience. This project was eerily similar to some of the videos I saw coming out of my COVID location in Florence- Bringing music to the the streets, very distantly of course.
I had a great time putting my drums on the balcony, hearing my friends voices on the kit, learning and listening to the heroes we have lost this past year.