Who do you envy?

[Motorboat Cruiser]

While I would like to say that there is nobody that I envy, it isn't entirely true. There is a level of musicianship inherent in some of the greatest jazz artists that I long for.

Improvisation is what really makes music come alive for me, whether it be playing music or listening to it. There is nothing I love more than to hear someone with such a command of their instrument that they can take it in any direction they wish on a whim. Sometimes it's as if the music is being channeled through them from a higher source and they are just a middleman. Certain artists, such as Charlie Parker or Chick Corea or James Jamerson wouldn't, couldn't, ever play something the exact same way twice. That would go against everything they were about.

When I have the priviledge of hearing a musician do this at the level that these guys do, I can't help but enviously wish to experience what it would be like to hear and play music with that level of understanding.