The thing to judge in any jazz artist is, does the man project and does he have ideas.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
That's the thing: There are so many art songs in jazz. It's a much more rich experience for the singer than people think.
Jazz music creates so many phenomenal figures.
Jazz can be a blank canvas full of possibilities.
The beauty of jazz is that it's malleable. People are addressing it to suit their own personalities.
I have this theory that I hold on to, the theory that everything great in art and in life in general is jazz. It's just like all these things that just kind of seem to fall into place. You know, like mistakes that somehow turn into something beautiful.
I always felt of myself as a composer, performer, improviser. I've never called myself a jazz man. I make art.
The first thing is, jazz is one of the few things to let you know that there is a God and there is a creation.
I think as long as people are around and can hear a record and hear people like Lester Young on a recording, there will always be a great inspiration for somebody to try to create jazz.
I have to plead basic ignorance of most new jazz artists here.
I don't think that jazz, as any kind of an art form, has any permanence attached to it, apart from the practitioners of it.