A LESSON IN MUTUAL ADMIRATION

How does he do that??!!

RECENTLY, I WAS WRITING my cousin in Arkansas—recalling an experience I'd had back in college in a jazz studies class. A day or two later, I thought that this story might be an interesting tidbit to share with you, my readers. Read on . . . In that jazz class, there were only about 12 or 15 of us sitting around in a semi-circle—very informal. Peter Lewis, the instructor, was actually the head of the electronic music program there at the University of Iowa School of Music, and I was never quite sure why he was teaching a jazz class.

Peter Tod Lewis (click above for more info)

Nevertheless, in this class I felt like a fish out of water; 'cuz I certainly wasn't a jazz musician. Lewis, a brilliant intellectual, would encourage the class to discuss esoteric topics, things like "what is 'swing'", the philosophy of improvisation and the concept of "groove." Occasionally, he'd introduce a well-known tune to the class, such as "Sunny," and then go around the room to have each person perform their rendition of the song on their respective instrument. So, I'd get to hear some pretty interesting interpretations from my classmates—a diverse mix of both undergrad and grad students. An enduring "life's lesson" etched into my memory from that class involves a tall, lanky piano player named Michael, whom I'd heard perform several times at a local club. He had a style much like George Shearing, with lush block chords. His harmonic vocabulary was ultra-sophisticated, and I often wished I could play like that. Michael happened to be in this jazz class, and on the day we did our "Sunny" improvisations, he simply blew me away with his rendition. I was up right after his performance. I sat down at the piano and pressed on through my "pop" version—feeling intimidated and very inadequate. After class, while slogging down the hallway, I felt a tap on my shoulder; to my surprise, it was Michael. He said, "Man, how do you do that thing with your left hand?" It caught me so off guard that I stammered, "W-w-what do you mean?" "How do you play that bass line with your left hand while you play melody and accompaniment with your right hand?" Feeling both bewildered and elated, I blurted out, "I guess that's just how I play. But how do you do those those crazy, jazz chords?!'" From that day on, we ended up having a mutual admiration society! This taught me a valuable lesson: never undervalue your own unique abilities.