What Jazz Music Taught Me

I don't claim to know a ton about jazz. I can't tell you Charlie Parker's inspiration for the album, Bird of 52nd Street, the year Kind of Blue came out, or how Dizzy Gillespie got his nickname. All I can tell you is I like jazz and it's taught me a thing or two.

If you listen to a really skilled jazz musician it can sound as if they're improvising the whole number. There are spontaneous melodies, chord changes, and different contours of a familiar tune. I used to think the greats could just roll out of bed and play whatever their heart desired.

When I was asked about the best way to bring one's own interpretation to a character I immediately thought of jazz. A great composition is a lot like acting. We can bring our unique and authentic selves to a role if a framework is already in place. By honoring the given circumstances -- a character's age, line of work, and so on we then have the freedom to riff within a carefully composed structure. We can bring our original score to the work. Once we get into a good rhythm there's no telling where our originality will take us.