Photo courtesy of Brisan on Flickr.
I rarely listen to records. Never during the four months or so process of planning, recording, mixing of record projects. Otherwise, occasionally, and always something far removed from my own music. Old jazz, classical, tango. The art of listening to the music around you when you’re performing in an ensemble: I try to lose myself into the motion and flow of sound in the music, I try to imagine that I am playing all the instruments, not just my own. I want to become the whole performance of the music. At first, young musicians focus almost exclusively on their own playing and barely notice other players. Over time, they should be able to give almost equal attention to the other sounds in the ensemble so they can react and blend with the other players on an instinctive level rather than a conscious level. This ability varies widely among even professional players. Some are very good at hearing the interplay of the whole ensemble; others remain mostly focused on their own playing.
— Gary Burton in an interview with Mike Brannon for Jazzreview.com
Song, ‘Ladies in Mercedes,’ written by Steve Swallow and performed on Gary Burton’s album Real Life Hits, 1984.
Gary Burton, vibraphone | Makoto Ozone, piano | Steve Swallow, bass | Mike Hyman, drums
