Intentions

Jazz does not owe us anything. With the countless active musicians worldwide, it will continue to grow and thrive as it has for the past hundred years, with or without our participation. This might be the toughest lesson for some: this music is not about the musicians or the audience; it’s about the art form. It is crucial for musicians to reflect on their intentions when performing or composing. One’s intention could be to prove themselves to the world that they are the “best”, or it could be to share their love of music with the listeners. When I was younger, my ego-driven intentions were geared towards the former; over the years, I have come to realize that my intentions have changed to be the latter. As challenging as it has been, I want to contribute to the legacy of jazz by playing notes I believe would serve the music.

It is a natural part of our humanity to have an ego. However, when we let go of the ego that we create the best music. To reflect on Roy Hargrove’s words:

"I play from the heart, and it's honest, it's the truth, it's from god. It's not me. I'm a vessel, I just try to keep the vessel open so that it can flow through. Everything that I do is from the creator. All the music that I play, I can't take credit for it, ‘cause it's just flowing through me and I just try to keep the vessel open so that it can be honest." - Roy Hargrove, 2011

I do not take Roy’s words as a religious statement, but rather as a humbling reflection on letting go of the ego.

The ego can appear as an obstruction in so many ways. For a musician whose intent is to serve the music, prioritizing “having fun” stems from ego. This is not to say that musicians should not have fun, as making music is inherently fun. The priority, however, is to serve the music and not to self-satisfy.

None of this is to say I am not guilty of losing sight of my intentions. I consistently find myself at fault for playing from a place of arrogance and not committing to the music. It is a difficult task to let go of the ego and act in accordance with the objectives at hand: to make the best music we possibly can.

It helps to pause and consider our intentions in anything we do. For example, what is our intention when we practice? The answer to this question might seem obvious, but many who have not actively thought about it might have a different one. To some, the intention behind a practice session is to perform through a consistent practice routine successfully. They give no thought to why their practice is beneficial and how those exercises can translate into real-world applications.

I am aware of this group of musicians, as I used to be one of them. I would practice hours on end aimlessly, playing through a routine that I had gathered from different teachers. That routine included saxophone sound workouts, various technical exercises, and learning new tunes. My goal was to hit a specific number of hours per day and to get better at playing certain exercises. I assumed that all that practicing would somehow magically make me a better player on stage. It was when one of my mentors, Clarence Penn, made me aware of my intentions that my practice became more efficient. I no longer felt as though I was wasting time, and my rate of improvement increased.

My new intention was to lose bad habits and to improve specific weaknesses. Mr. Penn encouraged me to integrate different elements of my practice, treating them as I would in a real-world context. I began implementing the sound workouts into the technical and musical portions of my practice, as I wanted to play everything with a great sound. My technical exercises addressed both my technical and musical shortcomings, helping me develop concepts in harmony, rhythm, and time. If I wanted to learn a new rhythmic pattern alongside a new harmonic idea, I would combine them into a single exercise, applying the rhythmic concept to the harmonic material, since this more closely reflects their practical use. I would also sometimes apply these technical exercises to a new tune I was learning. My goal was to play these tunes musically and improvise a solo with a beginning, middle, and end.

The intentions behind practicing shape a performer's intentions. For many, the intention is to hit the right notes at the right times. For some who are more technically or theoretically inclined, it might be to present what they consider the coolest musical concepts. For the listeners, however, “right notes” and “cool concepts” that do not contribute to the music mean very little. It is almost as if the ego-driven performers are living in a world of their own, hallucinating an inflated sense of status. 

Technically and theoretically fascinating concepts are great as long as they reflect the music at hand. A performer's intention is not to prove to the world that they are better than everyone in any way. While sometimes that is necessary in an audition-like environment, the intention of playing music is to serve the music. As performers, we should share our love of music rather than our egos. In the words of classical saxophonist Sigurd Rascher, "to be a musician is his goal, not an acrobat with fingers". Sometimes students need a gentle reminder that we are not presenting our homework assignments on the bandstand, but making music for an audience.

It could be helpful to imagine what one's heroes would think of them. What if Lester Young were to come back from the dead and show up to your gig? What would he think? Would he be proud of the legacy he left behind? Would he be happy to have left you with the music that he sacrificed his whole life for? Even if he does not like what you’re playing stylistically, it is possible that he may think in the right place and that you are doing what you truly think is benefiting the music.