[78-L] fwd: Yogi Berra explains jazz ^

David Lennick dlennick at sympatico.ca
Thu Dec 18 07:45:04 PST 2008


Let's just say that if Yogi DID ever explain jazz, it would probably go 
something like this.

dl

-------

 > Yogi Berra Explains Jazz
 >
 > Interviewer: Can you explain jazz?
 >
 > Yogi: I can't, but I will. 90% of all jazz is half improvisation. The
 > other half is the part people play while others are playing something
 > they never played with anyone who played that part. So if you play
 > the wrong part, its right. If you play the right part, it might be
 > right if you play it wrong enough. But if you play it too right, it's
 > wrong.
 >
 > Interviewer: I don't understand.
 >
 > Yogi: Anyone who understands jazz knows that you can't understand it.
 > It's too complicated. That's what's so simple about it.
 >
 > Interviewer: Do you understand it?
 >
 > Yogi: No. That's why I can explain it. If I understood it, I wouldn't
 > know anything about it.
 >
 > Interviewer: Are there any great jazz players alive today?
 >
 > Yogi: No. All the great jazz players alive today are dead. Except for
 > the ones that are still alive. But so many of them are dead, that the
 > ones that are still alive are dying to be like the ones that are dead.
 > Some would kill for it.
 >
 > Interviewer: What is syncopation?
 >
 > Yogi: That's when the note that you should hear now happens either
 > before or after you hear it. In jazz, you don't hear notes when they
 > happen because that would be some other type of music. Other types of
 > music can be jazz, but only if they're the same as something
 > different from those other kinds.
 >
 > Interviewer: Now I really don't understand.
 >
 > Yogi: I haven't taught you enough for you to not understand jazz that
 > well.
 >


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