Intentionality

p. 15

"When a group is working together effectively, the individual musicians don't need to play so many notes... when the band's rhythmic cohesion is floundering, each individual in the group is tempted to overplay... lots of activity is no substitute for skilled cohesion."

p. 25

"Phrases move effortlessly from one type of subdivision of the beat into another. In my own musical education, the moment of success came when I found I could play rhythmic patterns in the music that I could no longer analyze in real time."

p. 26

"Above all, I like to hear a clear sense of intentionality in a musician's phrasing... After I have heard a phrase played with intentionality, I feel as if it is absolutely the only combination of notes that would have fit the circumstances."

"Dizzy Gillespie once claimed that the first thing that came to his mind when improvising was the rhythmic structure of the line... lesser horn players seem to end their phrases when they run out of breath."

p. 27

"it isn't a matter of loudness or energy, but rather a sense of clear intention and personal agency embodied in the melodic lines."

"(When stealing from other players... choose a different instrument from your own, and people won't notice the theft)"

p. 28

"The best way to open up your ears to phrasing is by listening to the top tier jazz vocalists."