I have had the fortunate pleasure of meeting and conversing with alot of young brothas in the jazz world. Many college graduates who have overcome the impossible of odds of not becoming statistics in the Amerikkkan genocide. Brothas who have been racially profiled like common thugs and have shed tears over fallen comrades in the drug game. Some of them looked to Miles and Clifford to replace the hole in their heart that their absentee fathers should’ve filled.
As a mother of a son, these young gentlemen impress me, they give me hope that one day my son can be somebody and that today he has role models in music outside the negative elements of hip hop. Through these brothas the legacies of Thelonious Monk, Woody Shaw, Bud Powell, Art Blakey, Paul Chambers, Fats Navarro and others are kept alive. However, it seems nostalgia and commercialism sometimes tries to choke out their voice in jazz. If they don’t sound like Freddie Hubbard or Wynton they are not worth listening to or are really playing jazz. This is quite unfortunate because jazz is more than just about technical prowess or a history lesson. Jazz as Robert Glasper once said is social commentary on the present time and the black jazz musician of today is one of the most eloquent voices of a minority of black men who don’t fit any stereotypes.
Many of my friends are faithful fathers, husbands and community activists. They perform not for “bling”, but simply for the sake of creating beauty. They have taught me to respect myself as a woman and encourage me to carry myself with the same class and dignity as a Sarah Vaughn. To work hard and to never let go of the importance and responsibility of being a jazz musician.
I encourage these brothas to come out of the shadow of Miles and see the beauty that the creator has placed inside of them. To be a great jazz musician is to have the ability to share your own unique story with wonderful melodies and harmonies. Those that came before us never knew what it was like to grow up in an integrated society, in crack infested neighborhoods, to compete with MTV and 300 channels of cable. Jazz aficionados of the past didn’t have easily accessible video clips and mp3s of all types of music at the click of a button. Today’s challenges for the jazz musician are astronomical but what never fails no matter what genre of music is authenticity. If you are a father put that in your music, if you’re a faithful husband put that. If you’re a clown or sports fanatic put that in your music. You can only be the best you, no one else. As you grow to accept and love yourself all the shedding you have done will be properly seasoned with your essence and give the world a new flavor of jazz musician they have never experienced: YOU.