"Truth is, I don't think people understood what it was I was doing at Shaffer. I wasn't there to conduct. Any fucking moron can wave his arms and keep people in tempo. I was there to push people beyond what's expected of them. I believe that is... an absolute necessity. Otherwise we're depriving the world the next Louie Armstrong, the next Charlie Parker. I told that story about how Charlie Parker became Charlie Parker.
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Jo Jones threw a cymbal at his head.
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Exactly. Parker's a young kid, pretty good on the sax. Gets up to play at a cutting session… and he fucks it up. And Jones nearly decapitates him for it, and he's laughed off-stage, Cries himself to sleep that night, but the next morning, what does he do? He practices, and he practices and he practices with one goal in mind: never to be laughed at again. And a year later, he goes back to the Reno. And he steps up on that stage and he plays the best motherfucking solo the world has ever heard. So imagine if Jones had just said, "Well, that's okay Charlie. Eh… that was alright. Good job." Then Charlie thinks to himself, "Well, shit. I did do a pretty good job.” End of story, no Bird. That, to me, is… an absolute tragedy. But that's just what the world wants now. People wonder why jazz is dying. I'll tell you man. And every Starbucks "jazz"album just proves my point, really. There are no two words in the English language more harmful than "good job."
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But is there a line? You know maybe... you go to far, you discourage next Charlie Parker from ever becoming Charlie Parker?
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No man, no. Because the next Charlie Parker would never be discouraged.
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Yeah.
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The truth is, Andrew... I never really had a Charlie Parker. But I tried. I actually fucking tried. And that's more than most people ever do. and I'll never apologize for how I tried."
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