Re: Yogi Berra Explains Jazz

[Jesse Lucas <jlucas@neoprimitive.net>]

Oh, man, that is the shit.  Thanks for that.

-J


ArsOcarina@aol.com wrote:
> Hi all,
> 
> *Now for something completely different* -- but still /apropos/ methinks.
> This was sent to me by my friend (and one of my favorite drummers
> in SoCal) Dr. Bob Sterling -- some months ago. I dig it out now for what
> I think should be obvious reasons.
> 
> +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
> 
> **Yogi Berra Explains Jazz**
> 
> *Interviewer:* Can you explain jazz?
> 
> *Yogi:* I can't, but I will. 90% of all jazz is half improvisation. The 
> other
> half is the part people play while others are playing something they
> never played with anyone who played that part. So if you play the
> wrong part, it's right. If you play the right part, it might be right if 
> you
> play it wrong enough. But if you play it too right, it's wrong.
> 
> *Interviewer:* I don't understand.
> 
> *Yogi: *Anyone who understands jazz knows that you can't understand
> it. It's too complicated. That's what's so simple about it.
> 
> *Interviewer: *Do you understand it?
> 
> *Yogi:* No. That's why I can explain it. If I understood it, I wouldn't 
> know
> anything about it.
> 
> *Interviewer: *Are there any great jazz players alive today?
> 
> *Yogi: *No. All the great jazz players alive today are dead. Except for
> the ones that are still alive. But so many of them are dead, that the
> ones that are still alive are dying to be like the ones that are dead.
> Some would kill for it.
> 
> *Interviewer: *What is syncopation?
> 
> *Yogi: *That's when the note that you should hear now happens either
> before or after you hear it. In jazz, you don't hear notes when they
> happen because that would be some other type of music. Other
> types of music can be jazz, but only if they're the same as something
> different from those other kinds.
> 
> *Interviewer: *Now I really don't understand.
> 
> *Yogi: *I haven't taught you enough for you to not understand jazz that 
> well.
> 
> +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++