WEBVTT 00:00:06.990 --> 00:00:10.949 I want to present people with jazz theory, not 00:00:10.949 --> 00:00:16.230 as a really scary intellectual college level 00:00:16.230 --> 00:00:20.750 endeavor, but rather as this is like a core fundamental 00:00:20.750 --> 00:00:23.609 way for you to start enjoying the music better. 00:00:24.449 --> 00:00:28.190 Most approaches to theory out there assume an 00:00:28.190 --> 00:00:31.149 immense amount of knowledge. This is jazz starts 00:00:31.149 --> 00:00:34.759 from the ground up. Let me. open your mind or 00:00:34.759 --> 00:00:38.060 blow your mind and we're going to start understanding 00:00:38.060 --> 00:00:47.979 jazz from just the foundational elements. I think 00:00:47.979 --> 00:00:51.060 that there's a place for This Is Jazz to be for 00:00:51.060 --> 00:00:55.920 students. Kids, young adults that want to learn 00:00:55.920 --> 00:00:58.859 jazz, that want to understand jazz on a deeper 00:00:58.859 --> 00:01:01.939 level. This Is Jazz can be for teachers that 00:01:01.939 --> 00:01:05.340 recognize jazz as a special, unique style of 00:01:05.340 --> 00:01:27.109 music that inspires students. Welcome to another 00:01:27.109 --> 00:01:29.849 episode of The Piano Pod, everyone. This season 00:01:29.849 --> 00:01:32.829 is all about creativity and connection, exploring 00:01:32.829 --> 00:01:36.189 how artists across the piano world are reshaping 00:01:36.189 --> 00:01:39.209 what it means to create and connect in today's 00:01:39.209 --> 00:01:42.489 ever -evolving musical landscape. Today's guest 00:01:42.489 --> 00:01:45.769 perfectly embodies that mission. Quentin Walston, 00:01:45.989 --> 00:01:48.709 an active pianist, educator, and entrepreneur 00:01:48.709 --> 00:01:52.290 who is redefining how jazz can be taught, learned, 00:01:52.430 --> 00:01:55.989 and loved by people of all backgrounds. As the 00:01:55.989 --> 00:01:59.290 founder of This Is Jazz and author of How to 00:01:59.290 --> 00:02:02.769 Teach Jazz and Improvisation, Quentin has built 00:02:02.769 --> 00:02:05.409 a platform that empowers teachers nationwide 00:02:05.409 --> 00:02:09.210 to bring jazz and improvisation into their classrooms 00:02:09.210 --> 00:02:12.949 with confidence and creativity. Recognized as 00:02:12.949 --> 00:02:15.949 a Virginia Commission for the Arts Teaching Artist 00:02:15.949 --> 00:02:19.729 and a Maryland State Art Council Tourist Artist, 00:02:20.050 --> 00:02:23.939 he performs as a solo pianist, and with his jazz 00:02:23.939 --> 00:02:27.419 trio blending memorable melodies, striking rhythms, 00:02:27.680 --> 00:02:32.319 and adventurous improvisations. His album Retro 00:02:32.319 --> 00:02:35.560 Future draws inspiration from legends like Thelonio 00:02:35.560 --> 00:02:39.240 Monk and Jason Moran while establishing his own 00:02:39.240 --> 00:02:43.319 voice as a modern jazz artist and educator. Quinton's 00:02:43.319 --> 00:02:46.460 YouTube channel, This Is Jazz Official, and his 00:02:46.460 --> 00:02:49.560 online community have become hubs for educators 00:02:49.560 --> 00:02:52.879 and students alike, offering practical jazz tips, 00:02:53.080 --> 00:02:56.539 musical history, and accessible resources that 00:02:56.539 --> 00:03:00.419 make jazz fun, inspiring, and achievable for 00:03:00.419 --> 00:03:05.080 all ages. Before we begin, a heartfelt thank 00:03:05.080 --> 00:03:08.939 you to you, our listeners, and community. Every 00:03:08.939 --> 00:03:12.169 time you subscribe, rate, or share this show. 00:03:12.330 --> 00:03:15.169 You help us continue to build this space for 00:03:15.169 --> 00:03:19.310 creativity, dialogue, and inspiration. Here's 00:03:19.310 --> 00:03:22.949 Season 6, Episode 5 of the PianoPod with pianist, 00:03:22.969 --> 00:03:26.289 educator, and entrepreneur Quentin Walston. This 00:03:26.289 --> 00:03:29.490 is just making improvisation accessible for everyone. 00:03:29.909 --> 00:03:37.509 Please enjoy the show. You are listening to The 00:03:37.509 --> 00:03:39.949 Piano Pod, where we talk to the brightest minds 00:03:39.949 --> 00:03:42.409 in the industry about how they are bringing the 00:03:42.409 --> 00:03:45.349 piano into the future and thriving in a complex, 00:03:45.650 --> 00:03:51.090 ever -evolving world. Quinton, welcome to The 00:03:51.090 --> 00:03:53.689 Piano Pod. Thank you so much for being here today. 00:03:54.009 --> 00:03:57.229 Thank you for having me. My pleasure. And you 00:03:57.229 --> 00:04:00.349 are not only an accomplished performing artist. 00:04:01.039 --> 00:04:04.740 jazz pianist to be exact but also an entrepreneurial 00:04:04.740 --> 00:04:09.699 force in jazz education and through this is jazz 00:04:09.699 --> 00:04:14.229 that is the your educational brand and also your 00:04:14.229 --> 00:04:17.209 book. I actually purchased the PDF version, How 00:04:17.209 --> 00:04:20.470 to Teach Jazz Improvisation. We're going to talk 00:04:20.470 --> 00:04:23.589 really in depth about this book. You've created 00:04:23.589 --> 00:04:27.689 tools and resources that equip music teachers 00:04:27.689 --> 00:04:30.750 of all backgrounds to bring jazz and improvisation 00:04:30.750 --> 00:04:34.230 into their classrooms and lessons. And I'm excited 00:04:34.230 --> 00:04:37.310 to explore both your artistic journey and the 00:04:37.310 --> 00:04:40.069 business you've built to inspire and empower 00:04:40.069 --> 00:04:43.490 others. As we begin, I'd like to start with this 00:04:43.490 --> 00:04:46.649 question. If you had to describe your mission 00:04:46.649 --> 00:04:50.269 or passion in just a few words or sentences, 00:04:50.610 --> 00:04:54.060 how would you describe it? Well, one, thank you 00:04:54.060 --> 00:04:57.000 for having me. It's an honor to be on this podcast. 00:04:57.160 --> 00:05:00.540 I really, really appreciate it. And my mission, 00:05:00.899 --> 00:05:04.819 especially as far as jazz education goes, is 00:05:04.819 --> 00:05:08.279 I believe that all teachers can teach jazz. So 00:05:08.279 --> 00:05:12.699 everything I do, whether it's in -person training 00:05:12.699 --> 00:05:16.800 sessions, books, courses, my social media presence, 00:05:16.860 --> 00:05:20.040 it's to help equip teachers and really get over 00:05:20.040 --> 00:05:24.500 that. intimidation that is often associated with 00:05:24.500 --> 00:05:27.740 jazz or improvisation so that's uh yeah i guess 00:05:27.740 --> 00:05:30.759 that's more than a couple words but no that's 00:05:30.759 --> 00:05:34.019 great perfect thank you and you are the founder 00:05:34.019 --> 00:05:38.939 of this is jazz and the uh so at the heart of 00:05:38.939 --> 00:05:41.120 your work what is your mission in jazz education 00:05:41.120 --> 00:05:45.259 to be exact and outreach how are you reaching 00:05:45.259 --> 00:05:48.319 out to i guess people through a jazz education 00:05:49.259 --> 00:05:54.060 Yeah, primarily now I do. I'm mostly trying to 00:05:54.060 --> 00:05:56.699 connect with other teachers, helping teachers 00:05:56.699 --> 00:06:01.290 specifically. uh be better equipped to teach 00:06:01.290 --> 00:06:03.790 jazz and improvisation and not just piano teachers 00:06:03.790 --> 00:06:07.050 but also public school teachers whether that's 00:06:07.050 --> 00:06:10.209 middle school band or high school band other 00:06:10.209 --> 00:06:15.750 other areas as well the college level and thereby 00:06:15.750 --> 00:06:18.850 that also reaches a lot of students i've found 00:06:18.850 --> 00:06:22.009 that there is a lot of material out there that's 00:06:22.009 --> 00:06:24.850 gained towards students like you can go on youtube 00:06:24.850 --> 00:06:27.589 and look up really really fascinating videos 00:06:27.589 --> 00:06:31.610 about how to be a jazz player, but not much is 00:06:31.610 --> 00:06:34.490 there to equip teachers. So I sometimes feel 00:06:34.490 --> 00:06:38.449 that teachers get locked into, well, I'm a classical 00:06:38.449 --> 00:06:41.569 teacher. I can't do jazz or I'm this and I can't 00:06:41.569 --> 00:06:45.610 do that. So I really want to kind of extend out 00:06:45.610 --> 00:06:48.810 to teachers and help them in any way I can. Yeah, 00:06:48.910 --> 00:06:52.899 that's great. you know watched your some of the 00:06:52.899 --> 00:06:55.980 video clips on youtube you have a big channel 00:06:55.980 --> 00:06:59.620 youtube channel and also instagram as well it's 00:06:59.620 --> 00:07:03.220 uh of course it's educational but i think what's 00:07:03.220 --> 00:07:05.879 great about is it pretty comprehensive you're 00:07:05.879 --> 00:07:09.339 not just talking about technique or chords but 00:07:09.339 --> 00:07:13.240 also there's a historical elements to it and 00:07:13.240 --> 00:07:16.660 which is super helpful for anybody to understand 00:07:16.660 --> 00:07:19.519 jazz music and then even like there are so many 00:07:19.519 --> 00:07:22.920 different styles of jazz music depending on the 00:07:22.920 --> 00:07:26.439 you know era for example right so you're really 00:07:26.439 --> 00:07:29.300 describing it so well but i want to start actually 00:07:29.300 --> 00:07:33.019 with a book how to teach jazz and improvisation 00:07:33.019 --> 00:07:37.699 i bought a pdf but I think instead of giving 00:07:37.699 --> 00:07:41.000 my audience my impression, I think it's nice 00:07:41.000 --> 00:07:44.920 that you tell us what exactly this book is about. 00:07:45.100 --> 00:07:47.240 Awesome. Well, thank you for getting the PDF 00:07:47.240 --> 00:07:50.759 right. It's online. It's also available in print. 00:07:50.980 --> 00:07:55.079 And the book seeks to fill this gap. There are 00:07:55.079 --> 00:08:00.000 jazz books out there that have fully composed 00:08:00.000 --> 00:08:03.000 or through composed jazz pieces, especially if 00:08:03.000 --> 00:08:06.379 we're looking at beginner. material and and i 00:08:06.379 --> 00:08:08.120 love those pieces when i was in middle school 00:08:08.120 --> 00:08:10.680 high school i was learning those pieces as well 00:08:10.680 --> 00:08:14.560 but there's not very much or you could even say 00:08:14.560 --> 00:08:18.459 really nothing out there for beginner improvisation 00:08:18.459 --> 00:08:22.259 a lot of the improvisation materials out there 00:08:22.259 --> 00:08:26.060 already assume you have a high level of theory 00:08:26.060 --> 00:08:28.560 understanding or a high level of proficiency 00:08:28.560 --> 00:08:33.100 so this book fills that gap and it's a two -part 00:08:33.100 --> 00:08:36.059 book so half of the book is repertoire that you 00:08:36.059 --> 00:08:39.100 would do in your lessons or your classes and 00:08:39.100 --> 00:08:42.639 it's a duet format so the teacher they're playing 00:08:42.639 --> 00:08:46.220 a pre -written jazz chord progression event they 00:08:46.220 --> 00:08:47.820 don't have to worry about improvising themselves 00:08:47.820 --> 00:08:52.039 it lays down that stylistic foundation and then 00:08:52.039 --> 00:08:55.299 the students have just a small collection of 00:08:55.299 --> 00:08:58.230 notes to improvise with And what makes this a 00:08:58.230 --> 00:09:00.289 little bit different than some of the other pedagogical 00:09:00.289 --> 00:09:02.629 resources is it doesn't start with a full scale, 00:09:02.710 --> 00:09:05.309 because often I found in my own teaching experience, 00:09:05.450 --> 00:09:07.889 when you give a student a full scale, all of 00:09:07.889 --> 00:09:15.029 their improvisation is scaler. So the really 00:09:15.029 --> 00:09:17.590 underlying pedagogy is making sure that you're 00:09:17.590 --> 00:09:20.570 improvising and creating things that you can 00:09:20.570 --> 00:09:23.090 actually hear in your mind's ear, like you're 00:09:23.090 --> 00:09:27.110 really inventing a melody. I think piano, it's 00:09:27.110 --> 00:09:29.850 really easy just to play things based on the 00:09:29.850 --> 00:09:32.629 finger shapes or just what it looks like. And 00:09:32.629 --> 00:09:35.809 you can just get by with not truly instilling 00:09:35.809 --> 00:09:39.049 and really not knowing what sound it is you're 00:09:39.049 --> 00:09:42.879 trying to make. So the book presents. students 00:09:42.879 --> 00:09:45.399 with notes that always work on that teacher chord 00:09:45.399 --> 00:09:47.419 progression. No matter what note they play, what 00:09:47.419 --> 00:09:49.559 rhythm, what order, if they're playing from those 00:09:49.559 --> 00:09:51.320 notes, it's going to sound good. So it builds 00:09:51.320 --> 00:09:54.059 confidence. It gets rid of students' anxiety 00:09:54.059 --> 00:09:56.659 about maybe playing a quote -unquote wrong note. 00:09:57.179 --> 00:09:59.340 And then it builds from there. It gives them 00:09:59.340 --> 00:10:01.820 more options. It gives them other considerations. 00:10:02.059 --> 00:10:04.200 Hey, why don't we take rhythm into the equation? 00:10:05.049 --> 00:10:07.450 And the book has seven different compositions 00:10:07.450 --> 00:10:11.370 that all follow that pedagogy. So there's like 00:10:11.370 --> 00:10:14.370 a minor vamp. There's a bluesy one. There's a 00:10:14.370 --> 00:10:16.990 Latin jazz. There's a bebop one. There's a waltz 00:10:16.990 --> 00:10:20.350 and so on and so forth. So it introduces kids 00:10:20.350 --> 00:10:24.750 to real jazz styles that anyone can play. I've 00:10:24.750 --> 00:10:26.789 done these songs with eight -year -olds and I've 00:10:26.789 --> 00:10:31.230 done them with retirees, adult students. So that's 00:10:31.230 --> 00:10:34.639 the... in lesson portion and then the first half 00:10:34.639 --> 00:10:37.120 of the book is all about filling knowledge gaps 00:10:37.120 --> 00:10:40.340 so it's kind of the the teacher's resource if 00:10:40.340 --> 00:10:43.200 they want to know more about jazz harmony all 00:10:43.200 --> 00:10:46.220 those extensions or if they have a student that's 00:10:46.220 --> 00:10:48.940 taking high school jazz band tips for those it 00:10:48.940 --> 00:10:53.179 has improv games it really seeks to be a comprehensive 00:10:53.179 --> 00:10:57.320 resource that's easy to understand and easy to 00:10:57.320 --> 00:11:00.539 digest from a teacher that doesn't have a jazz 00:11:00.539 --> 00:11:07.269 background Yeah, I love teaching improvisation 00:11:07.269 --> 00:11:11.549 when I teach, you know, although my background 00:11:11.549 --> 00:11:14.049 is classical music, people think that I teach 00:11:14.049 --> 00:11:17.309 just a very strict classical music. But actually, 00:11:17.429 --> 00:11:20.870 I especially adult students, I have I live in 00:11:20.870 --> 00:11:23.330 Brooklyn, have so many adult students now for 00:11:23.330 --> 00:11:26.360 some reason. And then, you know, they. feel like 00:11:26.360 --> 00:11:28.539 once they sit at the piano, they can just play 00:11:28.539 --> 00:11:30.019 whatever they want, but it doesn't work that 00:11:30.019 --> 00:11:32.759 way. So improvisation is one of the ways. But 00:11:32.759 --> 00:11:36.059 even then, jazz is a different language to me, 00:11:36.139 --> 00:11:41.600 and I took lessons. So I'm very curious, where 00:11:41.600 --> 00:11:46.580 should we start? Let's say you're talking to 00:11:46.580 --> 00:11:49.360 a teacher. Where is a good place to start in 00:11:49.360 --> 00:11:54.620 terms of teaching jazz style? I think it is melodically. 00:11:55.259 --> 00:12:00.340 And really getting to the base of playing what's 00:12:00.340 --> 00:12:05.340 in your mind's ear. I think piano, because it 00:12:05.340 --> 00:12:08.879 can be such a rich harmonic instrument, sometimes 00:12:08.879 --> 00:12:11.919 teachers feel that they have to go straight into 00:12:11.919 --> 00:12:14.639 all of the elaborate jazz harmony and jazz chords 00:12:14.639 --> 00:12:17.500 and jazz accompaniment. And all of those are 00:12:17.500 --> 00:12:21.279 great, but so much of the jazz language is a 00:12:21.279 --> 00:12:25.590 melodic language. And you can say so much through 00:12:25.590 --> 00:12:29.929 the melody. So I like focusing on first the melody, 00:12:29.990 --> 00:12:32.629 even with a beginner piano student, like let's 00:12:32.629 --> 00:12:34.570 just improvise with your right hand. Your left 00:12:34.570 --> 00:12:37.490 hand will come, but let's get that right hand 00:12:37.490 --> 00:12:42.289 going. And then the other thing is probably one 00:12:42.289 --> 00:12:45.370 of the more difficult things for teachers that 00:12:45.370 --> 00:12:48.889 aren't familiar with jazz is the articulation 00:12:48.889 --> 00:12:52.940 and the phrasing. Jazz has... a lot that can't 00:12:52.940 --> 00:12:57.419 be captured by notation perfectly. So the book 00:12:57.419 --> 00:13:00.539 talks about some of those rules of articulation, 00:13:00.799 --> 00:13:03.960 swing feel, accents and things like that. But 00:13:03.960 --> 00:13:07.779 I think a beginner teacher into jazz should focus 00:13:07.779 --> 00:13:11.360 on being able to improvise what's in their mind's 00:13:11.360 --> 00:13:13.649 ear. It can just be, I mean, you can do it with 00:13:13.649 --> 00:13:20.549 two notes. It doesn't have to be complicated, 00:13:20.610 --> 00:13:24.690 but can you execute the concept that's in your 00:13:24.690 --> 00:13:27.129 head? And then, yeah, and then really getting 00:13:27.129 --> 00:13:29.789 the phrasing. So, yeah, that's where I would 00:13:29.789 --> 00:13:33.889 start. Wow. And what inspired you to, first of 00:13:33.889 --> 00:13:39.600 all? write this book um yeah like is it a years 00:13:39.600 --> 00:13:41.860 of experience or maybe decades of experience 00:13:41.860 --> 00:13:46.620 as a educator and what you saw in firsthand oh 00:13:46.620 --> 00:13:48.639 my gosh this is what something is missing or 00:13:48.639 --> 00:13:51.919 is there some one particular or few particular 00:13:51.919 --> 00:13:55.799 events that oh my gosh i need to write this that's 00:13:55.799 --> 00:14:00.019 a great question i remember so much of the writing 00:14:00.019 --> 00:14:05.460 process but i think what The initial germ of 00:14:05.460 --> 00:14:08.440 the idea, I think, was a little more subtle because 00:14:08.440 --> 00:14:11.960 the first song in the book called Hit It, I've 00:14:11.960 --> 00:14:14.500 been doing for years in lessons. Just when I 00:14:14.500 --> 00:14:17.759 want to do an improvisation activity, I'll just 00:14:17.759 --> 00:14:19.840 play this chord vamp and I'll give my students 00:14:19.840 --> 00:14:23.059 four notes. And it's just a way to get any age 00:14:23.059 --> 00:14:26.500 kid playing or adult, any age student, any level, 00:14:26.580 --> 00:14:29.360 creating something. So it's a great just, you 00:14:29.360 --> 00:14:31.299 can do it in the last two minutes of a lesson. 00:14:31.419 --> 00:14:34.960 Hey, why don't we try this out? And that was 00:14:34.960 --> 00:14:37.679 the idea that I ran with. But I do remember there 00:14:37.679 --> 00:14:41.340 was a time where I was like, man, there is nothing 00:14:41.340 --> 00:14:45.000 out there. There's this hole in the pedagogy. 00:14:45.059 --> 00:14:48.519 And I had a student that loves jazz. So part 00:14:48.519 --> 00:14:51.000 of it was like, well, maybe I'll write some of 00:14:51.000 --> 00:14:53.759 this for him or he can kind of be my trial student. 00:14:53.799 --> 00:14:57.279 So I think there's a few things that led to it. 00:14:57.320 --> 00:15:02.620 But it was essentially a last. A little over 00:15:02.620 --> 00:15:05.679 a year ago is when I really started the composing 00:15:05.679 --> 00:15:09.779 process for it. You said, so missing something. 00:15:09.919 --> 00:15:16.080 So missing part was the melodic writing? I think 00:15:16.080 --> 00:15:21.139 for me, what was missing is just beginner improvisation. 00:15:23.720 --> 00:15:27.120 I guess to name names, I love Martha Mears' Jazz 00:15:27.120 --> 00:15:30.039 Rags and Blues. I'm very familiar with those. 00:15:30.299 --> 00:15:34.440 Yeah. So I played them when I was 13 years old 00:15:34.440 --> 00:15:36.879 and all that. I love them. I think they do a 00:15:36.879 --> 00:15:39.379 great job. I think they're really succinctly 00:15:39.379 --> 00:15:42.840 written. But those don't have any improvisation, 00:15:42.840 --> 00:15:46.100 nor do a lot of songs at that level. When you 00:15:46.100 --> 00:15:50.460 get to Jamie Abersole, who is... kind of for 00:15:50.460 --> 00:15:55.500 decades has been the core jazz beginner improv 00:15:55.500 --> 00:15:57.879 material. He's one of the first people that did 00:15:57.879 --> 00:16:00.799 play along recordings. Those are amazing too, 00:16:00.899 --> 00:16:03.539 but those start pretty high. Like a beginner 00:16:03.539 --> 00:16:05.960 song in the Abrasol series would be like Take 00:16:05.960 --> 00:16:08.730 the A -Train. And yes, to an experienced jazz 00:16:08.730 --> 00:16:10.870 player, Take the A -Train is a beginner song. 00:16:11.289 --> 00:16:13.330 But to play Take the A -Train, you have to be 00:16:13.330 --> 00:16:17.509 able to feel a 32 -bar form. That's A -A -B -A. 00:16:17.649 --> 00:16:20.429 You need to know six or seven different chords. 00:16:20.730 --> 00:16:23.049 You need to know the modes that go with those 00:16:23.049 --> 00:16:25.850 chords. And that's just too much to introduce 00:16:25.850 --> 00:16:28.620 to a nine -year -old. Or even a 30 -year -old 00:16:28.620 --> 00:16:30.940 that wants to try jazz out for the first time. 00:16:31.019 --> 00:16:34.019 So that was that gap that was missing. And I 00:16:34.019 --> 00:16:36.559 really wanted to fill that gap and felt that 00:16:36.559 --> 00:16:40.379 with my background as both a performer and a 00:16:40.379 --> 00:16:43.799 composer and an educator specifically in the 00:16:43.799 --> 00:16:51.240 jazz area, I could fill that gap. I have the 00:16:51.240 --> 00:16:54.039 PDF right in front of me. I am happy to share 00:16:54.039 --> 00:16:57.200 the screen, but I know this is your book, so 00:16:57.200 --> 00:17:00.000 you tell me. You can share the screen. Can I 00:17:00.000 --> 00:17:04.720 share this? Yeah. All right. Here we go. So I 00:17:04.720 --> 00:17:08.180 have your book. This is your front page. I'm 00:17:08.180 --> 00:17:09.779 just going to go all the way back to the front 00:17:09.779 --> 00:17:12.059 page. How to teach jazz improvisation. I love 00:17:12.059 --> 00:17:16.720 this front page. Very nice design. Is there a 00:17:16.720 --> 00:17:19.980 specific page number you want to go to? Yeah, 00:17:20.079 --> 00:17:25.119 well, why don't we jump to 35? And that's going 00:17:25.119 --> 00:17:29.039 to be a sample of the repertoire that people 00:17:29.039 --> 00:17:32.240 can see. There we go. So hit it. So there's the 00:17:32.240 --> 00:17:35.839 teacher part. So it's pretty sight readable. 00:17:36.019 --> 00:17:39.400 It's not meant to burden the teacher at all. 00:17:39.779 --> 00:17:43.099 And the teacher would just play that vamp. on 00:17:43.099 --> 00:17:52.440 repeat and just so you're listening here it's 00:17:52.440 --> 00:17:55.500 kind of that classic um like hit the road jack 00:17:55.500 --> 00:17:59.859 a classic minor tetrachord sound And then if 00:17:59.859 --> 00:18:01.740 you go to the next page, you'll see what the 00:18:01.740 --> 00:18:04.019 student has. So it just starts with four notes. 00:18:04.180 --> 00:18:06.839 They can play anything of those top four notes, 00:18:06.900 --> 00:18:09.779 any order, any rhythm, and it's always going 00:18:09.779 --> 00:18:23.400 to work well with the harmony. So any rhythm, 00:18:23.559 --> 00:18:26.279 any order, they're getting to that idea of constructing 00:18:26.279 --> 00:18:28.799 melodies. And then you see once they feel comfortable 00:18:28.799 --> 00:18:32.119 with that, we add new notes. The third line down 00:18:32.119 --> 00:18:36.000 is conceiving of things in rhythms. One of the 00:18:36.000 --> 00:18:39.059 biggest things with teaching improvisation is 00:18:39.059 --> 00:18:42.660 guiding students to things that they wouldn't 00:18:42.660 --> 00:18:45.079 come up with on their own. A lot of times students 00:18:45.079 --> 00:18:47.400 don't realize it, but they fall into habits. 00:18:47.480 --> 00:18:50.000 Like they might always start with an ascending 00:18:50.000 --> 00:18:52.559 line. Or they might always start with a half 00:18:52.559 --> 00:18:56.319 note, things like that. So the book really tries 00:18:56.319 --> 00:19:00.759 to suggest new ways of soloing, but always within 00:19:00.759 --> 00:19:02.799 the realm of you're not playing wrong notes. 00:19:02.880 --> 00:19:04.279 You don't have to be scared that you're playing 00:19:04.279 --> 00:19:07.079 something that sounds bad. So this first one, 00:19:07.160 --> 00:19:11.259 let's say we pick or the third one, you can do 00:19:11.259 --> 00:19:24.970 a whole solo with. So the idea being that they're 00:19:24.970 --> 00:19:29.309 building new layers of creativity. Yeah. But 00:19:29.309 --> 00:19:32.109 it's great because you're giving us this four 00:19:32.109 --> 00:19:35.470 notes to begin with. Yeah. And then, you know, 00:19:35.609 --> 00:19:39.190 if I were teaching, I'm going to teach this today. 00:19:39.309 --> 00:19:42.589 I have a student coming in. She is like only 00:19:42.589 --> 00:19:45.589 eight years old. And so, you know, I would have 00:19:45.589 --> 00:19:49.470 her pick. Let's say today, let's start with A. 00:19:50.059 --> 00:19:52.940 Then maybe next day, next week, let's start with 00:19:52.940 --> 00:19:56.380 E flat. Yeah. Yeah. Something like that. Start 00:19:56.380 --> 00:20:08.059 your line with E flat. Yeah, like those little 00:20:08.059 --> 00:20:11.180 things get them creating new melodies. Yeah, 00:20:11.259 --> 00:20:14.259 absolutely. This is great because then it's not 00:20:14.259 --> 00:20:17.900 overwhelming. It's not. And you don't have to 00:20:17.900 --> 00:20:21.839 have a degree in jazz studies or something like 00:20:21.839 --> 00:20:24.420 that to be able to do it. It's really designed 00:20:24.420 --> 00:20:28.839 to get any teacher, any student playing. Thank 00:20:28.839 --> 00:20:32.880 you. Because like you said, I was more thinking 00:20:32.880 --> 00:20:36.579 of chord progressions. Like, oh my gosh, I have 00:20:36.579 --> 00:20:38.960 to learn all these chords. And then to me, I 00:20:38.960 --> 00:20:42.660 took a few months of jazz lessons during COVID 00:20:42.660 --> 00:20:47.619 and it was, I failed because I didn't have time 00:20:47.619 --> 00:20:52.500 to practice. And also I was so overwhelmed with 00:20:52.500 --> 00:20:54.960 the amount of extensions that you had to sort 00:20:54.960 --> 00:20:58.299 of memorize. Oh, that's hard. I don't think music 00:20:58.299 --> 00:21:01.759 that way. You know what I mean? I'm a trained 00:21:01.759 --> 00:21:05.799 classical music and I do, I am able to do harmonization 00:21:05.799 --> 00:21:08.579 easily. I'm able to do transposition easily. 00:21:09.000 --> 00:21:13.980 I do a classical style, but you know, improvisation, 00:21:13.980 --> 00:21:16.900 you know, but then when it comes to extension 00:21:16.900 --> 00:21:20.880 and then, Oh, flat five, my mind doesn't work 00:21:20.880 --> 00:21:23.099 that way. You know, it's interesting because 00:21:23.099 --> 00:21:26.000 that's the way that I was taught and I've talked 00:21:26.000 --> 00:21:28.259 to other jazz pianists and that's the way they 00:21:28.259 --> 00:21:29.799 were taught. So it's like this, this kind of 00:21:29.799 --> 00:21:31.819 recurring thing of like, okay, you're going to 00:21:31.819 --> 00:21:34.730 be a jazz pianist. Well, What you mostly do as 00:21:34.730 --> 00:21:37.890 a company. So now you have to memorize this exhausting 00:21:37.890 --> 00:21:42.309 list of chords and chord progressions. And that 00:21:42.309 --> 00:21:45.650 is necessary if you want to master jazz piano. 00:21:45.809 --> 00:21:48.410 Like if you want to master harmony, you need 00:21:48.410 --> 00:21:51.890 to know every chord type in multiple inversions, 00:21:51.890 --> 00:21:55.230 in different orchestrations, two hand, one hand. 00:21:55.349 --> 00:22:00.609 Like you do need that. But that way of starting. 00:22:01.659 --> 00:22:06.799 I think that it detracts people. And I learned 00:22:06.799 --> 00:22:09.119 that experience the hard way myself. When I was 00:22:09.119 --> 00:22:13.259 right out of school, I had someone through my 00:22:13.259 --> 00:22:15.420 church that wanted to take jazz lessons. She 00:22:15.420 --> 00:22:17.940 said, I want to do something jazzy. And I did 00:22:17.940 --> 00:22:20.519 the very first thing that you kind of mentioned. 00:22:20.579 --> 00:22:22.279 I was like, all right, let's work on some dominant 00:22:22.279 --> 00:22:25.259 ninth chords. And I think she lasted two lessons. 00:22:25.460 --> 00:22:28.299 And I'm like, what did I go wrong? Those are 00:22:28.299 --> 00:22:32.369 big words for a beginner. Yeah. Now let's bring 00:22:32.369 --> 00:22:34.670 your book back on screen. I want everyone to 00:22:34.670 --> 00:22:38.490 see more of what it offers. So if you scroll 00:22:38.490 --> 00:22:41.829 back towards the beginning of the book, that's 00:22:41.829 --> 00:22:45.670 where a lot of those other resources are. So 00:22:45.670 --> 00:22:49.130 if you do want to learn jazz harmony, I do have 00:22:49.130 --> 00:22:52.710 a page in there all about different jazz chords. 00:22:53.579 --> 00:22:56.579 Or if you do want to... Oh, yeah, right here, 00:22:56.720 --> 00:22:59.019 2 -5 -1. Yeah, so that's a little bit of the 00:22:59.019 --> 00:23:01.460 theory behind the 2 -5 -1 and why it's such a 00:23:01.460 --> 00:23:04.279 ubiquitous chord progression. If you want to 00:23:04.279 --> 00:23:06.539 learn how to do walking bass lines in your left 00:23:06.539 --> 00:23:08.440 hand, or even if you're a bass player, there's 00:23:08.440 --> 00:23:11.579 things in there. This is the bass line? Yes, 00:23:11.640 --> 00:23:14.299 yep. You know, Quentin, I'm sorry to interrupt, 00:23:14.380 --> 00:23:17.970 but bass line is also difficult. It is. It is. 00:23:18.009 --> 00:23:20.609 It's something that you hear it as jazz musician 00:23:20.609 --> 00:23:23.730 and then it's not easy. It doesn't come naturally. 00:23:23.730 --> 00:23:26.849 No, no. There are definitely things in there. 00:23:26.930 --> 00:23:29.730 There are rules. There's freedom, but there's 00:23:29.730 --> 00:23:34.250 still rules to it. And to do it convincingly. 00:23:34.809 --> 00:23:37.609 It's good to know what those typical rules are. 00:23:37.710 --> 00:23:40.890 So yeah, the books laid out to be, I mean, I 00:23:40.890 --> 00:23:43.950 think each concept is one, maybe two pages. So 00:23:43.950 --> 00:23:46.430 it's just a succinct way of saying this is what 00:23:46.430 --> 00:23:51.250 it is. This isn't super theory dense, heavy jargony 00:23:51.250 --> 00:23:54.819 stuff. It's meant for all instruments, too. That's 00:23:54.819 --> 00:23:57.640 why you saw that page about jazz guitar chords. 00:23:57.980 --> 00:24:00.819 They're your piano chords. So if somebody wants 00:24:00.819 --> 00:24:04.720 the top row is simple, what we call shell voicings, 00:24:04.720 --> 00:24:08.519 you only have the root in the third or the seventh. 00:24:09.220 --> 00:24:11.559 So that kind of walks through the chords that 00:24:11.559 --> 00:24:15.940 would apply for it. So this is great. Yeah. If 00:24:15.940 --> 00:24:19.039 you have a student that that's eager to really. 00:24:19.909 --> 00:24:23.130 run the full race of mastering harmony. But as 00:24:23.130 --> 00:24:26.190 you saw from the other section, that doesn't 00:24:26.190 --> 00:24:28.390 have to be the only thing you use the book for. 00:24:28.430 --> 00:24:30.670 You can use it for your eight -year -old student, 00:24:30.750 --> 00:24:33.990 so to speak. Oh, yeah, yeah, I can see that. 00:24:34.569 --> 00:24:37.789 Yes, perfect. But, you know, as a teacher, I 00:24:37.789 --> 00:24:40.470 can read this thing, right? Like a little bit 00:24:40.470 --> 00:24:46.250 more, let's say, filled with jargon and everything. 00:24:47.289 --> 00:24:49.549 when it comes to teaching eight -year -olds for 00:24:49.549 --> 00:24:51.950 example today i don't have to go through all 00:24:51.950 --> 00:24:55.490 that exactly i can just go straight to page 35 00:24:55.490 --> 00:24:59.609 that we first took a look at and start improvising 00:24:59.609 --> 00:25:01.950 without explaining just use these four notes 00:25:01.950 --> 00:25:04.109 that's right i will do the accompaniment part 00:25:04.109 --> 00:25:07.849 just no just do it that's the sort of thing yeah 00:25:07.849 --> 00:25:11.029 yeah when i i've talked to teachers before when 00:25:11.029 --> 00:25:12.940 i I'm giving them information about the book. 00:25:13.000 --> 00:25:15.039 I'll say like, you can start this in your first 00:25:15.039 --> 00:25:17.859 lesson and then grow with this book for years. 00:25:19.049 --> 00:25:21.670 You can use it right away and then it can be 00:25:21.670 --> 00:25:24.970 on your bookshelf, in your lesson, on your piano 00:25:24.970 --> 00:25:28.609 as you continue to grow in jazz. It's also got 00:25:28.609 --> 00:25:30.890 recommended recordings in there because a lot 00:25:30.890 --> 00:25:33.730 of jazz is learned through listening. So I break 00:25:33.730 --> 00:25:36.509 down recordings not only by subgenre, but also 00:25:36.509 --> 00:25:39.829 by instrument. So if you're like a high school 00:25:39.829 --> 00:25:43.170 band teacher and you want your trombone players 00:25:43.170 --> 00:25:46.410 to get inspired, you can show them some albums 00:25:46.410 --> 00:25:48.859 by trombone players and stuff like that. Oh, 00:25:48.859 --> 00:25:51.940 wow. That's cool. That's great. Yeah. Nice to 00:25:51.940 --> 00:25:54.380 be able to connect what you're doing with the 00:25:54.380 --> 00:25:58.420 actual playing actual pieces. Now you mentioned 00:25:58.420 --> 00:26:04.160 about part two. Right, right. So the first half 00:26:04.160 --> 00:26:07.380 of the book is where you are right now, or the 00:26:07.380 --> 00:26:10.039 information aspect, filling in those information 00:26:10.039 --> 00:26:12.819 gaps. What is jazz harmony? What are these kind 00:26:12.819 --> 00:26:16.839 of things? The second part is the songs. Yes, 00:26:16.839 --> 00:26:23.480 right here is the part two. And then let's say 00:26:23.480 --> 00:26:25.859 second piece is the Summer Storm Blues. So talking 00:26:25.859 --> 00:26:30.960 about blues. maybe more of a boogie boogie feel 00:26:30.960 --> 00:26:38.759 that kind of old school boogie sound. Um, it 00:26:38.759 --> 00:26:41.579 introduces kids to the 12 bar blues. There's 00:26:41.579 --> 00:26:46.460 an uptempo bebop one there. Oh yes. Dizzy Bob, 00:26:46.660 --> 00:26:51.920 uh, named after Dizzy Gillespie. Um, I also recorded 00:26:51.920 --> 00:26:58.500 sample solos of every tune where, um, I'm improvising 00:26:58.500 --> 00:27:00.720 with the parameters so students can hear it. 00:27:00.819 --> 00:27:03.420 And then also I recorded all the teacher parts 00:27:03.420 --> 00:27:06.559 as play alongs that are on Spotify and YouTube 00:27:06.559 --> 00:27:09.579 and all the streaming platforms. So it can be 00:27:09.579 --> 00:27:12.440 helpful, one, if a teacher doesn't want to play 00:27:12.440 --> 00:27:15.119 it in their lesson, or if you have like a band 00:27:15.119 --> 00:27:17.759 teacher that isn't really savvy with piano, they 00:27:17.759 --> 00:27:20.160 can just put on the recording. And then also 00:27:20.160 --> 00:27:24.059 students can practice at home. that's cool very 00:27:24.059 --> 00:27:27.779 practical yeah yeah that's very important because 00:27:27.779 --> 00:27:30.740 you first lesson you come and you really want 00:27:30.740 --> 00:27:32.839 to be able to play something instead of just 00:27:32.839 --> 00:27:36.920 listening to theory you know yeah yeah very nice 00:27:36.920 --> 00:27:40.200 yes i'm going to definitely use this now i understand 00:27:40.200 --> 00:27:43.240 that uh do you want to continue sharing i'm happy 00:27:43.240 --> 00:27:45.339 to i have to move on i think that that covers 00:27:45.339 --> 00:27:48.259 that covers the book it's uh it's on this is 00:27:48.259 --> 00:27:51.420 jazz .com and it's uh it's on amazon as well 00:27:51.720 --> 00:27:55.619 so okay this is jazz oh this is jazz .com i thought 00:27:55.619 --> 00:27:59.940 it was the quentinwalson .com that's also that's 00:27:59.940 --> 00:28:03.400 also that that uh website was my is like my artist 00:28:03.400 --> 00:28:06.539 website where i post my concerts and stuff this 00:28:06.539 --> 00:28:10.960 is jazz .com is specifically the the publisher, 00:28:11.200 --> 00:28:14.259 the course website, all of the stuff about teacher 00:28:14.259 --> 00:28:17.740 education. And then I also posted it on my artist 00:28:17.740 --> 00:28:20.500 website since I'm a performer as well. So you 00:28:20.500 --> 00:28:25.079 can find it on both. Wonderful. Now, I also noticed 00:28:25.079 --> 00:28:28.819 that there's a course that you teach, but it's 00:28:28.819 --> 00:28:31.900 actually, it's a pre -recorded on demand. You 00:28:31.900 --> 00:28:36.900 can purchase. Yes. I have courses on. jazz pedagogy. 00:28:37.140 --> 00:28:43.019 It's essentially expounding on the book. So going 00:28:43.019 --> 00:28:46.420 into more depth gives you that kind of benefit 00:28:46.420 --> 00:28:49.279 of somebody explaining it and playing examples 00:28:49.279 --> 00:28:51.400 and things like that. So that course is tied 00:28:51.400 --> 00:28:54.180 in with the book. And then I also have courses 00:28:54.180 --> 00:28:58.799 on jazz theory. I think that jazz theory to some 00:28:58.799 --> 00:29:01.799 people seems incredibly daunting and overwhelming. 00:29:02.519 --> 00:29:05.779 And a lot of jazz theory starts really high level. 00:29:05.880 --> 00:29:09.200 So what might be considered an intro to jazz 00:29:09.200 --> 00:29:12.099 theory course is actually like a college level 00:29:12.099 --> 00:29:15.240 jazz theory course. So the series I have is called 00:29:15.240 --> 00:29:18.380 Jazz Unlocked. So it basically kind of helps 00:29:18.380 --> 00:29:22.420 you enjoy jazz more. I know that sounds crazy, 00:29:22.460 --> 00:29:25.140 but I think that... understanding the way the 00:29:25.140 --> 00:29:28.160 music is structured helps us appreciate it even 00:29:28.160 --> 00:29:31.960 more. It's kind of like if you, for me, I love 00:29:31.960 --> 00:29:34.619 painting and architecture and like knowing the 00:29:34.619 --> 00:29:37.539 craftsmanship behind it helps me enjoy it more. 00:29:37.660 --> 00:29:41.420 So my big kind of eureka moment when I was in 00:29:41.420 --> 00:29:45.019 high school jazz band is we were listening to 00:29:45.019 --> 00:29:48.589 this. crazy fast version of Love for Sale by 00:29:48.589 --> 00:29:51.269 the Buddy Rich Big Band. And there's this tenor 00:29:51.269 --> 00:29:54.250 saxophone solo, and it's just this torrent of 00:29:54.250 --> 00:29:57.150 notes. And it's like way over my head. I don't 00:29:57.150 --> 00:30:00.029 understand how he knows what notes to play, how 00:30:00.029 --> 00:30:02.609 he knows how long to play, and then how the band 00:30:02.609 --> 00:30:05.690 knows when to come back in. Like, how does this 00:30:05.690 --> 00:30:08.509 solo happen for so long? And then everybody immediately 00:30:08.509 --> 00:30:12.609 knows. And my teacher explained that, well, He's 00:30:12.609 --> 00:30:15.029 improvising on a predetermined chord progression. 00:30:15.210 --> 00:30:17.849 The chord progression's already set. It's locked 00:30:17.849 --> 00:30:21.089 into time. So he's playing notes that work well 00:30:21.089 --> 00:30:24.670 with those chords. And then since it's a predetermined 00:30:24.670 --> 00:30:27.170 length, the whole band can just follow along 00:30:27.170 --> 00:30:29.210 with the chord progression. So everybody knows 00:30:29.210 --> 00:30:32.609 where everyone is all at once. And just that 00:30:32.609 --> 00:30:35.869 insight made jazz so much cooler for me and so 00:30:35.869 --> 00:30:37.710 much more fascinating because I could follow 00:30:37.710 --> 00:30:42.150 along and it's like I now understand. kind of 00:30:42.150 --> 00:30:45.210 how the magician did the trick kind of thing. 00:30:45.329 --> 00:30:50.910 So the theory courses seek to do that to people, 00:30:51.029 --> 00:30:53.309 to kind of give them this cool understanding 00:30:53.309 --> 00:30:56.430 of jazz. This is why the chords sound like this. 00:30:56.470 --> 00:31:01.390 This is why solos work like that. So yeah, so 00:31:01.390 --> 00:31:03.650 those are the courses they're available to. And 00:31:03.650 --> 00:31:05.829 then also I have one on piano history because 00:31:05.829 --> 00:31:09.490 I'm a history dork. I did one on jazz piano history. 00:31:10.389 --> 00:31:13.849 Wow. Yeah, but I can tell. I mean, I'm not calling 00:31:13.849 --> 00:31:20.630 you a dork. I didn't say that. But I can tell 00:31:20.630 --> 00:31:23.609 that you are history buff. Like when I see all 00:31:23.609 --> 00:31:29.430 the clips and you have like. 100 like 225 000 00:31:29.430 --> 00:31:32.309 followers on something something like that on 00:31:32.309 --> 00:31:36.390 instagram and then 3 800 subscribers on youtube 00:31:36.390 --> 00:31:39.069 i mean you can tell because it's so engaging 00:31:39.069 --> 00:31:42.369 very educational and then especially the part 00:31:42.369 --> 00:31:46.710 where you talk about you know very renowned historic 00:31:46.710 --> 00:31:51.230 jazz pianists jazz musicians and you're just 00:31:51.230 --> 00:31:55.329 giving the audience the context not just yeah 00:31:55.329 --> 00:31:59.369 right i love doing i love doing that just point 00:31:59.369 --> 00:32:03.869 blank and even before i i got into the book and 00:32:03.869 --> 00:32:07.009 teaching teachers that was something i was already 00:32:07.009 --> 00:32:10.289 doing um just kind of making jazz more accessible 00:32:10.289 --> 00:32:13.170 to everyone and that's something i do as a performer 00:32:13.170 --> 00:32:15.589 as well like in my concerts i love getting the 00:32:15.589 --> 00:32:18.289 backstory behind the composers or how the song 00:32:18.289 --> 00:32:20.390 works i think people connect with the music more 00:32:20.390 --> 00:32:24.400 especially since uh I'm an instrumental performer. 00:32:24.680 --> 00:32:28.440 I don't sing. I don't work with vocalists typically. 00:32:28.720 --> 00:32:33.660 So I found that sometimes audiences that aren't 00:32:33.660 --> 00:32:35.799 musicians themselves or aren't very musically 00:32:35.799 --> 00:32:39.920 savvy, it can be helpful for them to have kind 00:32:39.920 --> 00:32:43.039 of those guideposts, those little nuggets of 00:32:43.039 --> 00:32:45.859 information, whether it's biographical or analytical. 00:32:46.000 --> 00:32:48.319 It just helps them connect and enjoy the music 00:32:48.319 --> 00:32:51.059 a little bit more. You also give, you've been 00:32:51.059 --> 00:32:53.599 giving like, you know, workshops and training 00:32:53.599 --> 00:32:56.740 sessions in schools. That's amazing. So basically 00:32:56.740 --> 00:32:59.920 going to schools and then teach band, right? 00:32:59.980 --> 00:33:06.400 Yeah. Yeah. That's been really fun. I've been, 00:33:06.440 --> 00:33:08.900 I've done different residencies at everything 00:33:08.900 --> 00:33:12.220 from elementary schools where I'll take over 00:33:12.220 --> 00:33:15.539 their elementary classes for a whole week. So 00:33:15.539 --> 00:33:19.059 I get, I get like. All of the kindergartners 00:33:19.059 --> 00:33:22.099 and they have percussion and we're trading fours 00:33:22.099 --> 00:33:26.200 and doing like different jazz exercises. I was 00:33:26.200 --> 00:33:29.660 at a school in D .C. where I had everyone had 00:33:29.660 --> 00:33:32.779 the xylophones and I took out all of the bars 00:33:32.779 --> 00:33:36.339 except for notes so they could play the opening 00:33:36.339 --> 00:33:38.200 phrase to a don't mean a thing if it ain't got 00:33:38.200 --> 00:33:43.380 that swing. Yeah, it was cool. It's like a bunch 00:33:43.380 --> 00:33:47.119 of a bunch of. DC students were playing some 00:33:47.119 --> 00:33:50.140 Duke Ellington and it was a lot of fun. So I 00:33:50.140 --> 00:33:53.440 love getting to do that. I'm doing some stuff 00:33:53.440 --> 00:33:57.740 at the collegiate level this fall. And then I 00:33:57.740 --> 00:34:00.759 do teacher trainings as well. So that'll be like 00:34:00.759 --> 00:34:03.220 going into a music academy or a public school 00:34:03.220 --> 00:34:06.759 and just helping teachers. So just trying to 00:34:06.759 --> 00:34:09.659 do everything I can to help spread jazz and get 00:34:09.659 --> 00:34:14.619 people to enjoy it and play it. Wow. Obviously, 00:34:14.860 --> 00:34:18.239 you are a jazz pianist. You have this amazing 00:34:18.239 --> 00:34:21.840 solo career, too. That's the reason you want 00:34:21.840 --> 00:34:24.559 to really spread the gospel of jazz, I guess. 00:34:24.699 --> 00:34:28.400 But why jazz? Why do you want to really use this 00:34:28.400 --> 00:34:34.400 tool, music, to educate from young students to 00:34:34.400 --> 00:34:38.079 adults with jazz? Why jazz? I think jazz has 00:34:38.079 --> 00:34:44.860 such a freedom of expression. And it's not that 00:34:44.860 --> 00:34:47.119 I think they're not just that I should say, I 00:34:47.119 --> 00:34:49.659 think there are so many amazing things that, 00:34:49.659 --> 00:34:53.880 that all coalesce in the musical style of jazz. 00:34:53.980 --> 00:34:57.420 So for people that want to be very expressive, 00:34:57.619 --> 00:35:01.599 you have the avenues of improvisation that jazz 00:35:01.599 --> 00:35:04.360 offers for people that are very analytical. You 00:35:04.360 --> 00:35:06.619 have all the exciting music theory that jazz 00:35:06.619 --> 00:35:09.460 offers, whether it's the history, I think, or 00:35:09.460 --> 00:35:12.480 even if people just. resonate with it and they 00:35:12.480 --> 00:35:15.559 like the beat and the drive jazz has such an 00:35:15.559 --> 00:35:18.679 exciting feeling to it, that rhythmic pulse. 00:35:18.800 --> 00:35:21.699 So I think just the, from a musical standpoint, 00:35:21.719 --> 00:35:26.699 it kind of satisfies all of those inklings that, 00:35:26.760 --> 00:35:30.590 that one might experience. And then also, I mean, 00:35:30.590 --> 00:35:33.070 I love the idea of preservation. I think it's 00:35:33.070 --> 00:35:36.710 a very special type of cultural art form that 00:35:36.710 --> 00:35:39.969 is worthy of preserving. And when I speak to 00:35:39.969 --> 00:35:43.309 that, I'm also speaking to the swing style of 00:35:43.309 --> 00:35:46.789 jazz, which jazz is not limited to swing anymore. 00:35:47.010 --> 00:35:49.889 It hasn't been for some time, but I do think 00:35:49.889 --> 00:35:54.469 that the swing style of jazz should be preserved. 00:35:55.429 --> 00:35:59.840 But yeah, I think it's accessible to all. i think 00:35:59.840 --> 00:36:03.500 kids can enjoy jazz adults can enjoy jazz and 00:36:03.500 --> 00:36:06.099 i think it satisfies all those musical musical 00:36:06.099 --> 00:36:10.699 aspects yeah wow and also empowering too you 00:36:10.699 --> 00:36:14.239 know being able to create their own music yeah 00:36:14.239 --> 00:36:19.559 yeah absolutely yeah absolutely now um it's it's 00:36:19.559 --> 00:36:24.280 uh so admiring that you are able to teach group 00:36:24.280 --> 00:36:27.340 of young people to play a musical instrument 00:36:27.340 --> 00:36:30.659 because I'm more a one -on -one person, a classical 00:36:30.659 --> 00:36:37.139 musician. So how do you engage them? Because, 00:36:37.139 --> 00:36:40.639 you know, shorter attention span, you hear this 00:36:40.639 --> 00:36:46.440 a lot. But how do you excite them about learning 00:36:46.440 --> 00:36:50.699 music? That is a good question. I don't know 00:36:50.699 --> 00:36:56.269 if I've kind of self -analyzed. In that regard, 00:36:56.449 --> 00:37:00.670 I tried to. Let's see, I'm trying to think through 00:37:00.670 --> 00:37:06.050 like what I've done in classes before. I think 00:37:06.050 --> 00:37:09.710 doing hands on stuff is really exciting. I think 00:37:09.710 --> 00:37:13.210 allowing kids to create can be exciting. But 00:37:13.210 --> 00:37:18.269 have I had I definitely had like behavioral issues. 00:37:18.369 --> 00:37:21.349 I think certain age groups, they get distracted 00:37:21.349 --> 00:37:26.780 and sidetracked and. And yeah, I think any teacher 00:37:26.780 --> 00:37:30.079 has that difficulty. And that's one of the reasons 00:37:30.079 --> 00:37:33.719 I have so much respect for public school or even 00:37:33.719 --> 00:37:35.619 private school classroom teachers, because I 00:37:35.619 --> 00:37:39.480 can do it in a week, but I couldn't do it long 00:37:39.480 --> 00:37:42.519 term. It is so draining and it's such a unique 00:37:42.519 --> 00:37:46.280 style. So I have so much respect for that. But 00:37:46.280 --> 00:37:52.670 yeah, I try to engage the students kind of. set 00:37:52.670 --> 00:37:55.489 the set the bar high where where they can rise 00:37:55.489 --> 00:38:00.650 to the occasion um and and yeah do things that 00:38:00.650 --> 00:38:02.989 i think would be exciting for them one of the 00:38:02.989 --> 00:38:06.730 activities that i'll do um i'll say like everyone's 00:38:06.730 --> 00:38:10.150 a composer is i'll i'll give everyone like xylophones 00:38:10.150 --> 00:38:12.849 or something uh and and take out the bars that 00:38:12.849 --> 00:38:15.909 that wouldn't be tonally enjoyable so i'll usually 00:38:15.909 --> 00:38:18.550 give them like a pentatonic scale or even fewer 00:38:18.550 --> 00:38:21.210 notes than that and we'll go on the board and 00:38:21.210 --> 00:38:25.070 we'll write down certain moods like so it might 00:38:25.070 --> 00:38:28.309 be like energetic sad happy and then i'll have 00:38:28.309 --> 00:38:30.829 them write down or shout out musical characteristics 00:38:30.829 --> 00:38:34.070 that are attributed to that mood so if it's sad 00:38:34.070 --> 00:38:35.849 i'll be like is that slow or fast and they'll 00:38:35.849 --> 00:38:38.530 write slow is that major or minor and they'll 00:38:38.530 --> 00:38:41.949 put minor is that like uh loud or quiet and we'll 00:38:41.949 --> 00:38:45.570 do that and then We'll all improvise together. 00:38:45.769 --> 00:38:48.469 It sounds totally chaotic, by the way. It doesn't 00:38:48.469 --> 00:38:51.349 sound refined at all. But they feel like that 00:38:51.349 --> 00:38:55.210 they got to create music that didn't exist 20 00:38:55.210 --> 00:38:59.530 minutes before that. So and we'll kind of plug 00:38:59.530 --> 00:39:03.110 along where they get to create a story or create 00:39:03.110 --> 00:39:06.190 a musical piece. So when I do work with students, 00:39:06.269 --> 00:39:09.309 I really try to come up with stuff that is really 00:39:09.309 --> 00:39:12.309 engaging and challenging all at the same time. 00:39:14.199 --> 00:39:19.320 Wow. Bravo to you. Obviously, you've been quite 00:39:19.320 --> 00:39:23.639 very successful. Now, so let's dive into more 00:39:23.639 --> 00:39:27.880 business side of your being. And let's talk about 00:39:27.880 --> 00:39:31.500 social media and YouTube. Why not? It's really 00:39:31.500 --> 00:39:37.659 love and hate, right? But you are actually doing 00:39:37.659 --> 00:39:43.269 amazing. It's a lot of work. It is a lot of work. 00:39:43.449 --> 00:39:49.989 It is frustrating, though. I mean, yeah, it's 00:39:49.989 --> 00:39:54.010 a lot of work. I've done most of my stuff on 00:39:54.010 --> 00:39:57.010 Instagram. I'm in the process of pivoting to 00:39:57.010 --> 00:40:00.889 YouTube. I think one of the hardest things about 00:40:00.889 --> 00:40:06.150 it is being beholden to the algorithm. There's 00:40:06.150 --> 00:40:10.909 so much stuff that you would like to see. There 00:40:10.909 --> 00:40:14.389 are things that you, whether it's from a strategy 00:40:14.389 --> 00:40:18.590 point of view or from like a belief in your content 00:40:18.590 --> 00:40:24.489 or anything like that, where you put it up and 00:40:24.489 --> 00:40:26.210 the algorithm decides who it's going to show 00:40:26.210 --> 00:40:29.010 to. So that's really challenging. I think one 00:40:29.010 --> 00:40:31.289 of the things that's also challenging is that 00:40:31.289 --> 00:40:33.969 just because you have a certain amount of followers, 00:40:34.170 --> 00:40:36.409 that doesn't mean your followers get to see what 00:40:36.409 --> 00:40:38.929 you put out. And I think that is one of the most 00:40:38.929 --> 00:40:41.250 frustrating things about Instagram for me, not 00:40:41.250 --> 00:40:44.030 to just turn this into an Instagram bashing thing. 00:40:44.230 --> 00:40:47.429 But you mentioned I have a high follower count 00:40:47.429 --> 00:40:51.789 on Instagram, but Instagram won't show all of 00:40:51.789 --> 00:40:54.429 my followers my content. So it's disappointing 00:40:54.429 --> 00:40:56.030 because you're like, man, I'm really excited 00:40:56.030 --> 00:40:58.769 about this or I'll put a lot of love and labor 00:40:58.769 --> 00:41:01.489 into something. And you hope that it resonates 00:41:01.489 --> 00:41:05.250 with that audience. And then to find out that 00:41:05.250 --> 00:41:08.019 the audience didn't see it. because of something 00:41:08.019 --> 00:41:10.440 that's out of your control can be really discouraging. 00:41:10.559 --> 00:41:14.500 So I think recently I've been a little bit more 00:41:14.500 --> 00:41:17.739 discouraged by social media than encouraged, 00:41:17.840 --> 00:41:20.619 but I think the ultimate thing is to persevere. 00:41:20.699 --> 00:41:25.380 Like that was one of the things that really got 00:41:25.380 --> 00:41:28.039 me boosted on social media to begin with was 00:41:28.039 --> 00:41:32.360 just consistent posting and a consistent presence. 00:41:32.980 --> 00:41:36.349 Also your platform, this is jazz. Tell us more. 00:41:36.489 --> 00:41:39.369 I know there's a book that you can purchase. 00:41:39.670 --> 00:41:44.250 Do you also do blogs? And I know you have a podcast 00:41:44.250 --> 00:41:49.250 too, right? I've interviewed people that I will 00:41:49.250 --> 00:41:55.090 highlight or feature on This Is Jazz. So thisisjazz 00:41:55.090 --> 00:42:01.710 .com is the brand. It's something that I want 00:42:01.710 --> 00:42:05.130 to see grow and help. All teachers and even people 00:42:05.130 --> 00:42:08.489 that are self -taught musicians and music fans 00:42:08.489 --> 00:42:13.110 and things like that. So part of that has included, 00:42:13.250 --> 00:42:16.849 of course, the products, the books and the courses 00:42:16.849 --> 00:42:19.570 and stuff. But we want to offer free resources 00:42:19.570 --> 00:42:21.730 and things that have value, things that people 00:42:21.730 --> 00:42:25.969 enjoy. So I have blog stuff up there, articles. 00:42:27.469 --> 00:42:31.010 Some of them are. music theater related. Some 00:42:31.010 --> 00:42:33.230 of them are music industry related. Like I did 00:42:33.230 --> 00:42:36.250 one that was, how can you make money as a jazz 00:42:36.250 --> 00:42:39.090 musician? Because, you know, you come out of 00:42:39.090 --> 00:42:41.130 music school and you've got a very fancy jazz 00:42:41.130 --> 00:42:43.829 degree, but how are you going to pay the rent? 00:42:44.670 --> 00:42:47.630 So yeah, just trying to help people. And I think 00:42:47.630 --> 00:42:49.489 that one, it was just the whole blog was just 00:42:49.489 --> 00:42:52.510 like, here's 20 things that I've done personally 00:42:52.510 --> 00:42:56.219 as a jazz musician that that'll, that'll. make 00:42:56.219 --> 00:42:58.860 you money. And then the interviews has been incredible 00:42:58.860 --> 00:43:02.039 too, because I've had the chance to connect with 00:43:02.039 --> 00:43:07.960 some incredible musicians like Aaron Parks, Ari 00:43:07.960 --> 00:43:13.239 Honig, Pat Bianchi, just these amazing, like 00:43:13.239 --> 00:43:16.159 top tier jazz artists and just getting to sit 00:43:16.159 --> 00:43:18.219 down with them for an hour and talk music has 00:43:18.219 --> 00:43:22.219 been so cool. I recently did one with Dom Flemons, 00:43:22.219 --> 00:43:28.570 who is a a banjo player and a master of African 00:43:28.570 --> 00:43:31.670 -American folk music, like roots music. So just 00:43:31.670 --> 00:43:34.869 talking about what are the parallels to like 00:43:34.869 --> 00:43:38.869 blues music and jug band music of the 1920s and 00:43:38.869 --> 00:43:42.670 jazz. So it, I mean, it serves my greater audience. 00:43:42.710 --> 00:43:45.469 And then it also is like, it's personally really 00:43:45.469 --> 00:43:48.670 satisfying just to get to talk with these people. 00:43:49.090 --> 00:43:52.840 But yeah. Oh. I totally understand. That's the 00:43:52.840 --> 00:43:55.920 reason of the piano part too. It's like, yes, 00:43:56.000 --> 00:44:02.420 I want to serve my audience, but my audience 00:44:02.420 --> 00:44:04.920 is actually me. I'm thinking about myself. If 00:44:04.920 --> 00:44:07.519 I interview this person, then I get to learn. 00:44:07.659 --> 00:44:10.539 And then if I interview you, I get to learn more 00:44:10.539 --> 00:44:14.019 about jazz and how to teach jazz. So this has 00:44:14.019 --> 00:44:17.059 been really a wonderful conversation. Yeah, thank 00:44:17.059 --> 00:44:21.320 you. Hmm. What advice would you give for those 00:44:21.320 --> 00:44:23.719 that you mentioned about, you know, graduating 00:44:23.719 --> 00:44:27.420 from this fancy degree, but the thing is once 00:44:27.420 --> 00:44:30.679 you get that degree, it's like, now what do I 00:44:30.679 --> 00:44:34.260 do? Right. So, and then you built this empire 00:44:34.260 --> 00:44:39.420 of this is jazz. So, but where do you, do you 00:44:39.420 --> 00:44:42.300 start, you know, you can't just think about this 00:44:42.300 --> 00:44:44.760 big thing, but you have to start one step at 00:44:44.760 --> 00:44:50.239 a time, you know? Yeah. I think people should, 00:44:50.320 --> 00:44:52.679 well, one understand that they have to do multiple 00:44:52.679 --> 00:44:55.199 things. Like you have to do multiple streams 00:44:55.199 --> 00:45:01.260 of income. So that, that can be teach. Like I 00:45:01.260 --> 00:45:03.119 still teach private piano lessons. I love teaching 00:45:03.119 --> 00:45:06.000 private piano lessons. Like I get to connect 00:45:06.000 --> 00:45:08.039 with students and I get to be really close with 00:45:08.039 --> 00:45:10.780 families. But yeah, so like it can be teaching, 00:45:10.900 --> 00:45:14.019 it can be gigging just within the realm of gigging. 00:45:14.059 --> 00:45:17.690 There are, there are so many avenues. for gigs 00:45:17.690 --> 00:45:20.909 if you live in a major city i would try to do 00:45:20.909 --> 00:45:24.010 corporate gigs get on the roster of as many agencies 00:45:24.010 --> 00:45:27.530 as you can where i mean i do those where there's 00:45:27.530 --> 00:45:30.269 a law firm that's having a yearly celebration 00:45:30.269 --> 00:45:33.929 and you're the background artist or like um if 00:45:33.929 --> 00:45:35.869 you live in an area that has a bunch of wineries 00:45:35.869 --> 00:45:41.349 and breweries like you've got to learn how to 00:45:41.349 --> 00:45:44.909 be a performer and a lot of that is through background 00:45:44.909 --> 00:45:49.239 music gigs like You have to master your art of 00:45:49.239 --> 00:45:51.599 doing it in front of people. You have to master 00:45:51.599 --> 00:45:53.739 your business acumen. You have to master your 00:45:53.739 --> 00:45:57.139 communication skills, all of that. So background 00:45:57.139 --> 00:46:01.539 gigs is where it usually starts. I know we all 00:46:01.539 --> 00:46:05.480 want to play at Blue's Alley or Village Vanguard 00:46:05.480 --> 00:46:08.139 or any of that, but you got to do your background 00:46:08.139 --> 00:46:13.500 gigs. And then I think a big thing too that would 00:46:13.500 --> 00:46:17.920 be a pitfall to avoid. for beginner jazz artists, 00:46:18.199 --> 00:46:20.019 and it could be beginner artists in general, 00:46:20.099 --> 00:46:26.119 is that the music industry is not what you thought 00:46:26.119 --> 00:46:29.500 it was in regards to like traditional success 00:46:29.500 --> 00:46:32.239 stories. And especially, I mean, I was in college 00:46:32.239 --> 00:46:36.340 over 10 years ago when Spotify was kind of just. 00:46:36.760 --> 00:46:39.159 picking up steam and stuff like that. But like 00:46:39.159 --> 00:46:41.960 the whole concept of I'm going to get signed 00:46:41.960 --> 00:46:44.500 to a record label and then I'm going to be rich 00:46:44.500 --> 00:46:46.880 or these kinds of things, or I, well, if I just 00:46:46.880 --> 00:46:49.619 get an agent, then I'll be set. Or if I just 00:46:49.619 --> 00:46:52.719 get a manager, these kinds of really traditional 00:46:52.719 --> 00:46:55.719 sounding paths to success in the music career, 00:46:55.800 --> 00:46:59.519 I have found have been more of a time sink in 00:46:59.519 --> 00:47:03.500 an effort sink. than actually pay out dividends 00:47:03.500 --> 00:47:06.539 that are actually worth it. So I think if students 00:47:06.539 --> 00:47:09.840 understand that, or not students, but young artists 00:47:09.840 --> 00:47:12.199 and young entrepreneurs understand that they 00:47:12.199 --> 00:47:16.159 shouldn't put their hopes in a traditional model 00:47:16.159 --> 00:47:18.639 and should instead work on other models, that 00:47:18.639 --> 00:47:22.599 would be helpful. And I guess the last thing 00:47:22.599 --> 00:47:25.960 I would say, well, I guess there's a few things. 00:47:26.780 --> 00:47:28.940 don't hope that Spotify is going to pay your 00:47:28.940 --> 00:47:30.460 bills and don't hope that YouTube is going to 00:47:30.460 --> 00:47:33.719 pay your bills. Like I think people also will 00:47:33.719 --> 00:47:36.179 get these kinds of false misconceptions that 00:47:36.179 --> 00:47:39.579 if they just nail that Spotify editorial playlist, 00:47:39.659 --> 00:47:42.699 then they're going to be raking in money. Don't, 00:47:42.699 --> 00:47:46.039 don't bet on that. So yeah, it's a lot of hard 00:47:46.039 --> 00:47:49.039 work. It's diversifying what you do as a professional 00:47:49.039 --> 00:47:54.360 musician and it's not giving up. It's just. persevering 00:47:54.360 --> 00:47:56.199 and doing it and doing it and doing it and doing 00:47:56.199 --> 00:48:00.460 it. Yeah, that's true. That's true. So let's 00:48:00.460 --> 00:48:04.579 talk about your album, Retro Future. Yeah. That 00:48:04.579 --> 00:48:08.119 blends inspiration from Philonious Monk to Jason 00:48:08.119 --> 00:48:11.360 Moran. Yeah. Jason Moran. He's an incredible 00:48:11.360 --> 00:48:16.099 pianist. Yeah. So the album Retro Future we did 00:48:16.099 --> 00:48:19.159 out last year, it was with my trio, piano, bass, 00:48:19.239 --> 00:48:24.469 and drum set. And it's, It has swing in the jazz 00:48:24.469 --> 00:48:26.889 world. We refer to that as straight ahead, straight 00:48:26.889 --> 00:48:32.929 ahead jazz. And for me, I've always been so inspired 00:48:32.929 --> 00:48:38.590 and my attention is always so captured by pianists 00:48:38.590 --> 00:48:43.420 that. kind of play with the boundaries, like 00:48:43.420 --> 00:48:46.599 are really kind of pushing. So like Flonius Monk 00:48:46.599 --> 00:48:49.320 to me is a great example of that. He swings, 00:48:49.539 --> 00:48:53.780 he uses traditional chord progressions, but he 00:48:53.780 --> 00:48:57.300 has a certain percussiveness to his playing. 00:48:57.480 --> 00:49:00.739 He's not afraid to experiment with dissonance. 00:49:01.039 --> 00:49:05.280 The same thing goes with like a lot of Duke Ellington's 00:49:05.280 --> 00:49:07.559 trio recordings. He didn't make many, but of 00:49:07.559 --> 00:49:10.230 them, They're like, wow, this is coming from 00:49:10.230 --> 00:49:12.829 that super popular big band artist. Like this 00:49:12.829 --> 00:49:16.869 is pretty out there. So I really like that balance 00:49:16.869 --> 00:49:20.750 of traditional and pushing the boundaries. And 00:49:20.750 --> 00:49:23.329 a modern artist like that would be Jason Moran. 00:49:23.530 --> 00:49:27.550 You can hear he's inspired by people like Fats 00:49:27.550 --> 00:49:30.389 Waller, but then can play some stuff that is 00:49:30.389 --> 00:49:34.750 just, it's kind of atonal, but it's also really, 00:49:34.869 --> 00:49:38.599 really fascinating. um that's where the the name 00:49:38.599 --> 00:49:41.219 retro future comes from i wanted to look back 00:49:41.219 --> 00:49:44.579 to the traditions of jazz but also have my own 00:49:44.579 --> 00:49:48.800 modern take to it and it has i think i can't 00:49:48.800 --> 00:49:50.500 remember how many tracks eight or nine tracks 00:49:50.500 --> 00:49:53.840 or something and many of them are originals and 00:49:53.840 --> 00:49:56.239 they all kind of will play around with that so 00:49:56.239 --> 00:50:01.960 the first one um I'm beating my own track names 00:50:01.960 --> 00:50:03.840 right now. But anyway, they'll do that. They 00:50:03.840 --> 00:50:06.719 kind of play around with that dissonance while 00:50:06.719 --> 00:50:09.900 swinging. And it was just so much fun. It was 00:50:09.900 --> 00:50:12.219 an idea that had been in my head for a while, 00:50:12.340 --> 00:50:14.340 like a sonic idea, like a sound that had been 00:50:14.340 --> 00:50:17.000 in my head for a while. And it was really cool 00:50:17.000 --> 00:50:21.960 to hear that realized and made tangible. They 00:50:21.960 --> 00:50:25.130 are all original, as in your original one. Pieces? 00:50:25.230 --> 00:50:29.210 Yes. Yeah. Original compositions. I believe the 00:50:29.210 --> 00:50:32.949 only covers we did was Take Five. Right. Yes. 00:50:33.090 --> 00:50:35.409 I heard that. Yeah. That's your solo, don't you? 00:50:35.429 --> 00:50:39.670 No? Yeah. Take Five was solo piano. Tracks on 00:50:39.670 --> 00:50:42.010 there that are solo piano. Yeah. I mean, Take 00:50:42.010 --> 00:50:44.809 Five, I think it's great. Sometimes I think a 00:50:44.809 --> 00:50:48.880 little, for a little while. it was kind of relegated 00:50:48.880 --> 00:50:52.320 to like being too popular kind of like like a 00:50:52.320 --> 00:50:54.900 band playing freebird or something like oh don't 00:50:54.900 --> 00:50:57.199 do that that's been over overdone but it's like 00:50:57.199 --> 00:50:59.820 you know it's a cool tune and people love it 00:50:59.820 --> 00:51:05.119 like my first reel that that went viral on instagram 00:51:05.119 --> 00:51:07.780 was me breaking down the theory of take five 00:51:07.780 --> 00:51:10.699 and it's like that song resonates with people 00:51:10.699 --> 00:51:13.340 like just because something's popular doesn't 00:51:13.340 --> 00:51:16.619 mean it's it's like uncool so anyway That's a 00:51:16.619 --> 00:51:21.539 different thing. But yeah, so we did Retro Future. 00:51:21.719 --> 00:51:25.619 We printed it on vinyl, which was a goal of mine 00:51:25.619 --> 00:51:29.659 since I was in high school. It was fun. Wow. 00:51:29.780 --> 00:51:34.219 And so now this Retro Future is available on 00:51:34.219 --> 00:51:37.619 streaming services like Spotify, iTunes. Yep, 00:51:37.760 --> 00:51:39.960 it's on all the streaming services. And that 00:51:39.960 --> 00:51:42.679 one's on QuentinWalson .com because that one's 00:51:42.679 --> 00:51:46.920 my artist website. I try to... keep them a little 00:51:46.920 --> 00:51:49.880 bit separate. This is jazz. I don't want to just 00:51:49.880 --> 00:51:55.360 have it up there just to sell my own music. I'd 00:51:55.360 --> 00:51:58.000 love This Is Jazz to grow to have other teachers 00:51:58.000 --> 00:52:00.639 involved and other books and other things. So 00:52:00.639 --> 00:52:02.400 I want it to be something kind of bigger than 00:52:02.400 --> 00:52:05.940 myself. But yeah, QuentinWilson .com has got 00:52:05.940 --> 00:52:10.159 my records and stuff like that. How was jazz 00:52:10.159 --> 00:52:16.000 being introduced to you? Did you... start out 00:52:16.000 --> 00:52:20.079 as a regular like a piano lessons like you know 00:52:20.079 --> 00:52:23.559 learn middle c and all the stuff and you know 00:52:23.559 --> 00:52:28.280 major minor chords and yeah yeah so when i was 00:52:28.280 --> 00:52:33.059 i think 12 yeah i think when i was 12 my mom 00:52:33.059 --> 00:52:39.300 bought this 1898 giant upright piano beautiful 00:52:39.300 --> 00:52:43.340 mahogany cabinet off of ebay and my dad like 00:52:43.719 --> 00:52:45.719 put it in the back of the pickup truck and drove 00:52:45.719 --> 00:52:48.000 it and we backed up to the house and pushed the 00:52:48.000 --> 00:52:50.739 piano in. And I was like a moth through a flame. 00:52:50.800 --> 00:52:56.300 I was just all over it. And it had to get fixed 00:52:56.300 --> 00:52:58.420 up. So while they were getting it fixed up, I 00:52:58.420 --> 00:53:01.300 got one of those tiny little like 50 key Yamaha, 00:53:01.420 --> 00:53:05.960 no weighted keys pianos. And I was tinkering 00:53:05.960 --> 00:53:08.699 on that in my room. And so I was teaching myself 00:53:08.699 --> 00:53:12.610 for about a year. And I was figuring it out and 00:53:12.610 --> 00:53:15.030 I was really, really enjoying it. And my parents 00:53:15.030 --> 00:53:18.110 saw that, okay, this isn't just like a passing 00:53:18.110 --> 00:53:21.409 fad. He's genuinely interested in it. So they 00:53:21.409 --> 00:53:23.769 got me piano lessons. They got me traditional 00:53:23.769 --> 00:53:27.690 style piano lessons. I had a great teacher that 00:53:27.690 --> 00:53:30.650 was open to jazz, but she didn't have a strong 00:53:30.650 --> 00:53:33.150 jazz background. So that's where the whole Martha 00:53:33.150 --> 00:53:36.349 Muir stuff came in. Like she did her best to 00:53:36.349 --> 00:53:40.179 find resources. that would match my my enjoyment 00:53:40.179 --> 00:53:44.039 of jazz i also was really interested in ragtime 00:53:44.039 --> 00:53:47.619 and boogie woogie probably at the time for the 00:53:47.619 --> 00:53:49.400 majority of my middle school and high school 00:53:49.400 --> 00:53:52.079 years i would have told you that i preferred 00:53:52.079 --> 00:53:55.199 ragtime and boogie woogie and i think that was 00:53:55.199 --> 00:53:59.530 more of just not being exposed to jazz proper 00:53:59.530 --> 00:54:03.329 like i did not being uh super familiar with who 00:54:03.329 --> 00:54:06.789 oscar peterson was or bill evan was or mary lou 00:54:06.789 --> 00:54:10.210 williams or anything like that um and then the 00:54:10.210 --> 00:54:13.269 really interesting kind of side story that's 00:54:13.269 --> 00:54:17.670 so necessary to telling my my jazz story is that 00:54:17.670 --> 00:54:22.809 i was in a bluegrass band when i was in uh cool 00:54:22.809 --> 00:54:26.929 cool yeah so i i love bluegrass yeah i grew up 00:54:26.929 --> 00:54:30.260 in virginia and there is a big bluegrass presence 00:54:30.260 --> 00:54:34.380 there and the thing with bluegrass is it also 00:54:34.380 --> 00:54:37.519 has a lot of improvisation and there's a lot 00:54:37.519 --> 00:54:40.059 of similar structures you're improvising over 00:54:40.059 --> 00:54:43.460 the set chord progression in a performance it'll 00:54:43.460 --> 00:54:46.219 alternate between improvised solos and verses 00:54:46.219 --> 00:54:49.099 so you'll sing the verse then there's a guitar 00:54:49.099 --> 00:54:51.519 solo sing the verse then a fiddle solo sing the 00:54:51.519 --> 00:54:55.880 verse than a mandolin solo um So I was doing 00:54:55.880 --> 00:54:59.860 that in parallel to my piano lessons. And it 00:54:59.860 --> 00:55:02.539 wasn't until I think junior year of high school 00:55:02.539 --> 00:55:05.820 that they finally overlapped. And I realized 00:55:05.820 --> 00:55:08.940 I could take my love of improvisation that's 00:55:08.940 --> 00:55:12.239 in this genre and blend it with my love of piano 00:55:12.239 --> 00:55:16.239 that's over here. And once they met, that's where 00:55:16.239 --> 00:55:19.260 I really started pursuing jazz. But by that time 00:55:19.260 --> 00:55:22.260 I was a junior in high school. I told my teacher 00:55:22.260 --> 00:55:25.750 like within, I didn't have very much time. I 00:55:25.750 --> 00:55:27.469 was like, hey, I think I want to go to college 00:55:27.469 --> 00:55:30.949 for jazz. She was like, okay, then we've got 00:55:30.949 --> 00:55:33.570 to get you ready for an audition in a few months. 00:55:35.389 --> 00:55:38.269 Wow. But once you get caught by the bug, you're 00:55:38.269 --> 00:55:42.630 on your way, right? Yeah. But that, I don't know, 00:55:42.650 --> 00:55:45.869 that inspiration is we're trying to cultivate 00:55:45.869 --> 00:55:50.829 to students, no? Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Because, 00:55:50.869 --> 00:55:54.340 I mean, you don't. It's tough with trying to 00:55:54.340 --> 00:55:56.380 cultivate inspiration because a student doesn't 00:55:56.380 --> 00:55:58.320 know what they're going to love as soon as they 00:55:58.320 --> 00:56:00.559 know what they're going to be passionate about. 00:56:02.659 --> 00:56:07.300 Like, I mean, this is my son is four. And I remember 00:56:07.300 --> 00:56:10.079 I was doing some work and I put a Beethoven record 00:56:10.079 --> 00:56:12.699 on to do some work and I turned around and he's 00:56:12.699 --> 00:56:18.039 just transfixed. He's just amazed at Beethoven. 00:56:18.059 --> 00:56:20.599 And it's like, he didn't know that he was going 00:56:20.599 --> 00:56:23.010 to. be it in love with Beethoven and students 00:56:23.010 --> 00:56:26.110 might not know that they're going to love whatever 00:56:26.110 --> 00:56:28.789 music they love. So, yeah, we as teachers try 00:56:28.789 --> 00:56:31.289 to expose our students to various things, hoping 00:56:31.289 --> 00:56:36.690 that something grabs hold of them. Yeah. Now, 00:56:36.969 --> 00:56:39.869 I want to talk about improvisation, the importance 00:56:39.869 --> 00:56:44.530 of. So, you know, that you mentioned about, oh, 00:56:44.590 --> 00:56:47.590 bluegrass being so similar to the jazz structure 00:56:47.590 --> 00:56:51.019 where there's this part and then the. improvisation 00:56:51.019 --> 00:56:54.280 part and then the band comes back. It used to 00:56:54.280 --> 00:57:00.239 be like this in Baroque music. Right? Yes. We 00:57:00.239 --> 00:57:04.840 need that improv back into classical music too. 00:57:05.420 --> 00:57:10.780 That trend is happening in a teaching level. 00:57:11.119 --> 00:57:15.639 A lot more teachers are now being really taught 00:57:15.639 --> 00:57:19.750 and encouraged to teach. students to improvise. 00:57:19.889 --> 00:57:24.269 So I think it's important to ask you this question. 00:57:24.909 --> 00:57:30.269 How do you think music teachers, how important 00:57:30.269 --> 00:57:33.469 is this to teach young people improvisation? 00:57:33.489 --> 00:57:35.849 I think it's incredible. And I love that you 00:57:35.849 --> 00:57:38.110 touched on, I think it's incredibly important. 00:57:38.289 --> 00:57:41.269 And I love that you touched on Baroque improvisation. 00:57:41.309 --> 00:57:44.469 I remember learning in college about Basso Continuo 00:57:44.469 --> 00:57:46.969 and like, wait a second, this is, this is. or 00:57:46.969 --> 00:57:50.190 jazz is like history repeating itself because 00:57:50.190 --> 00:57:52.449 that came first, of course. But yeah, I mean, 00:57:52.449 --> 00:57:54.550 you get the baseline and the intervals above 00:57:54.550 --> 00:57:56.750 and then you constructing all these things and, 00:57:56.769 --> 00:58:00.469 and yeah, so that's incredible. And it's very 00:58:00.469 --> 00:58:03.230 similar to the way a jazz lead sheet is arranged 00:58:03.230 --> 00:58:08.710 today. And I do think that there is a growing 00:58:08.710 --> 00:58:13.780 sense of the importance. importance of improvisation. 00:58:13.880 --> 00:58:18.079 And I think that's also coupled with, or I think 00:58:18.079 --> 00:58:21.659 that the necessary predicate for that is people 00:58:21.659 --> 00:58:26.079 realizing what has been lost by not having improvisation. 00:58:26.079 --> 00:58:30.340 Because when we talk about the great composers, 00:58:30.420 --> 00:58:33.440 commonly Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven, we all 00:58:33.440 --> 00:58:36.219 know that they were incredible improvisers. All 00:58:36.219 --> 00:58:38.639 three of them. I mean, there's this, I mean, 00:58:38.659 --> 00:58:42.159 Bach was, We know that he could improvise on 00:58:42.159 --> 00:58:45.460 a fugue level, which blows my mind to improvise 00:58:45.460 --> 00:58:49.619 four separate voices. And then we know Mozart, 00:58:49.659 --> 00:58:52.420 of course, improvising. And then Beethoven, there's 00:58:52.420 --> 00:58:54.820 that story of him turning someone's theme upside 00:58:54.820 --> 00:58:56.840 down. I don't know if that's true or not, but 00:58:56.840 --> 00:58:59.159 we know that they were incredible improvisers. 00:58:59.320 --> 00:59:02.460 So I think we're aware that something is missing 00:59:02.460 --> 00:59:05.980 from the core pedagogy. So it's a really exciting 00:59:05.980 --> 00:59:10.289 time for, I think. jazz to be one of the more 00:59:10.289 --> 00:59:12.829 accessible ways for that to make its way back. 00:59:12.989 --> 00:59:16.429 I don't think jazz is the only way to bring improvisation 00:59:16.429 --> 00:59:20.730 back. I think there's a lot of ways to improvise. 00:59:21.010 --> 00:59:24.110 I think one of the benefits with jazz improvisation 00:59:24.110 --> 00:59:26.949 is that it has that kind of language that goes 00:59:26.949 --> 00:59:29.190 with it. Like if you're going to learn jazz, 00:59:29.309 --> 00:59:33.829 you kind of have an idea or ready -made examples 00:59:34.719 --> 00:59:36.980 of master improvisers so you can say okay that's 00:59:36.980 --> 00:59:41.000 what i want to achieve um i personally haven't 00:59:41.000 --> 00:59:45.699 looked deep enough into 20th century classical 00:59:45.699 --> 00:59:48.880 improvisation or 21st century classical improvisation 00:59:48.880 --> 00:59:52.119 um so i'm not sure exactly what the language 00:59:52.119 --> 00:59:55.739 is for that style of improvisation but i can't 00:59:55.739 --> 00:59:58.639 say it's it's incredibly important it it has 00:59:58.639 --> 01:00:02.780 kids experiencing creativity in a different way. 01:00:02.840 --> 01:00:05.239 I think it uses different parts of the brain. 01:00:05.880 --> 01:00:10.519 It helps budding composers getting that idea 01:00:10.519 --> 01:00:13.860 of creating something in real time. It's a way 01:00:13.860 --> 01:00:17.480 to process emotions. I know before I ever put 01:00:17.480 --> 01:00:20.099 pen to paper as a composer, just sitting down 01:00:20.099 --> 01:00:24.119 at the piano and just making stuff up as a 13 01:00:24.119 --> 01:00:26.360 or a 14 year old. So I think there's something 01:00:26.360 --> 01:00:29.260 that's deeply important about it. regardless 01:00:29.260 --> 01:00:32.559 of how it comes out yeah and then you know we 01:00:32.559 --> 01:00:37.039 always say music is like is language so you know 01:00:37.039 --> 01:00:40.840 when we speak our native language how we started 01:00:40.840 --> 01:00:43.880 learning the language is by speaking listening 01:00:43.880 --> 01:00:47.199 and speaking so listening is there but speaking 01:00:47.199 --> 01:00:50.219 is not there in music education was not there 01:00:50.219 --> 01:00:53.320 for a while you know so I think in that sense 01:00:53.320 --> 01:00:56.780 improvisation and composing learning to compose 01:00:56.780 --> 01:01:01.170 is equally important yeah as important as reading 01:01:01.170 --> 01:01:06.929 yeah yeah absolutely yeah and then and then trying 01:01:06.929 --> 01:01:10.190 to equip teachers to do that because then we 01:01:10.190 --> 01:01:13.429 can recognize the need of of it and then how 01:01:13.429 --> 01:01:16.989 do we get from point a to point b so um but yeah 01:01:16.989 --> 01:01:19.590 i'm so happy that it's that it's starting to 01:01:19.590 --> 01:01:22.090 really start to to build up steam i mean i've 01:01:22.090 --> 01:01:24.210 even seen it in some method books like some really 01:01:24.210 --> 01:01:27.349 traditional method books and their theory you'll 01:01:27.349 --> 01:01:30.110 do your theory homework and it'll say like finish 01:01:30.110 --> 01:01:33.510 these melodies or improvise with these notes 01:01:33.510 --> 01:01:36.730 and it's just baby steps but at least it's it's 01:01:36.730 --> 01:01:40.320 making a conscious effort to bring improvisation 01:01:40.320 --> 01:01:44.639 and creativity back into just standard musical 01:01:44.639 --> 01:01:50.639 study. So what's next for you? Is there any exciting 01:01:50.639 --> 01:01:53.559 project coming up in terms of like a solo work 01:01:53.559 --> 01:01:58.099 or trio, maybe both? And also I want to know 01:01:58.099 --> 01:02:04.380 the next step for this jazz. Yes. So a few answers, 01:02:04.420 --> 01:02:08.070 I guess for my. Trio stuff for my artistic stuff. 01:02:08.369 --> 01:02:12.849 I am, I've got probably close to another album's 01:02:12.849 --> 01:02:18.369 worth of originals. And I'd love to record them. 01:02:18.489 --> 01:02:21.530 I think I want to play them more like in the 01:02:21.530 --> 01:02:24.150 concert setting, just really, really feel them 01:02:24.150 --> 01:02:28.110 out. I love my band. I have Daniel Kelly on drums 01:02:28.110 --> 01:02:31.349 and Jacob Pembleton on bass. They're both in 01:02:31.349 --> 01:02:36.699 my area around the DC Virginia area. And, It's 01:02:36.699 --> 01:02:38.900 incredible to be able to write something that 01:02:38.900 --> 01:02:41.280 kind of lives in your head and then they take 01:02:41.280 --> 01:02:43.460 it and take it to places that you couldn't imagine. 01:02:43.760 --> 01:02:47.300 And so it's an incredible band. So I'm not exactly 01:02:47.300 --> 01:02:53.099 sure when we'll record those. I often feel like 01:02:53.099 --> 01:02:55.900 I don't have enough time in the day to do things. 01:02:56.380 --> 01:02:58.440 But yeah, so that's something that's probably 01:02:58.440 --> 01:03:02.699 on the greater horizon. For This Is Jazz, I'm 01:03:02.699 --> 01:03:08.349 planning on a new book. um for students so not 01:03:08.349 --> 01:03:10.269 necessarily geared specifically toward teachers 01:03:10.269 --> 01:03:13.989 but a repertoire book will likely be coming out 01:03:13.989 --> 01:03:17.869 uh late winter or early spring of next year um 01:03:17.869 --> 01:03:21.489 i'll probably be premiering it at the mtna conference 01:03:21.489 --> 01:03:24.349 that's where i premiered um how to teach jazz 01:03:24.349 --> 01:03:28.409 improvisation this year okay fantastic so what's 01:03:28.409 --> 01:03:32.510 so different about from the this is uh i mean 01:03:32.510 --> 01:03:37.000 how to improvise book that you yeah i don't want 01:03:37.000 --> 01:03:40.619 to give it all away but uh but it'll uh i can 01:03:40.619 --> 01:03:44.760 i can say that it will be jazz repertoire for 01:03:44.760 --> 01:03:47.039 for students so i think that that's that's as 01:03:47.039 --> 01:03:50.480 far as i'll go i i think teachers will find it 01:03:50.480 --> 01:03:55.179 uh novel in a good way not not gimmicky i think 01:03:55.179 --> 01:03:58.500 they'll find it novel something that similar 01:03:58.500 --> 01:04:01.719 to how to teach jazz improvisation fills a gap 01:04:01.719 --> 01:04:05.820 that currently isn't there in the resources that 01:04:05.820 --> 01:04:10.840 are available. And I've been testing these compositions 01:04:10.840 --> 01:04:13.800 out with my students and they really enjoy them. 01:04:14.619 --> 01:04:17.860 One of the things that I'm really trying to do 01:04:17.860 --> 01:04:21.300 is make sure that even if they're intermediate 01:04:21.300 --> 01:04:26.019 or lower level compositions, that they use actual 01:04:26.019 --> 01:04:29.079 techniques and melodies that you would expect 01:04:29.079 --> 01:04:32.179 to hear on a jazz recording. I think sometimes 01:04:32.179 --> 01:04:36.210 jazz repertoire, jazz method book repertoire 01:04:36.210 --> 01:04:41.510 has almost become its own genre. Again, this 01:04:41.510 --> 01:04:45.119 isn't to throw any composers under the bus. sometimes 01:04:45.119 --> 01:04:49.119 it verges on parody of jazz. I don't think they're 01:04:49.119 --> 01:04:51.300 trying to parody, but sometimes things can sound 01:04:51.300 --> 01:04:53.760 a little corny, a little campy. So I really want 01:04:53.760 --> 01:04:56.500 to make sure that any composition that I put 01:04:56.500 --> 01:04:59.619 out there sounds like you could hear it off of 01:04:59.619 --> 01:05:02.079 Miles Davis' record from the 50s, something like 01:05:02.079 --> 01:05:05.820 that. So anyway, I probably have given away too 01:05:05.820 --> 01:05:09.739 much. I think teachers will love it. I'll stop 01:05:09.739 --> 01:05:15.699 there. Oh, I can't wait. I can't wait. We're 01:05:15.699 --> 01:05:18.860 toward the end of our conversation. What would 01:05:18.860 --> 01:05:21.940 be one takeaway from our conversation today? 01:05:22.260 --> 01:05:27.280 I'm sorry, I'm not a jazz pianist. You might 01:05:27.280 --> 01:05:32.119 want to talk more about this jazz pianist and 01:05:32.119 --> 01:05:36.940 that, but we basically touched upon basic information 01:05:36.940 --> 01:05:40.900 about jazz today. What would be one takeaway? 01:05:41.619 --> 01:05:45.670 What's this one that my my audience to understand 01:05:45.670 --> 01:05:50.170 i think don't be don't be scared of jazz like 01:05:50.170 --> 01:05:53.369 anyone can play jazz anyone can improvise there 01:05:53.369 --> 01:05:55.809 there's there's that fear of what if i play something 01:05:55.809 --> 01:05:57.989 wrong or i don't know how to do this i'm not 01:05:57.989 --> 01:06:00.349 a master therefore i've never been trained in 01:06:00.349 --> 01:06:04.210 it you can't like it is totally doable um yeah 01:06:04.210 --> 01:06:06.789 don't be don't be afraid of jazz it's so much 01:06:06.789 --> 01:06:10.000 fun to play Yeah, I think that would be the biggest 01:06:10.000 --> 01:06:12.699 takeaway that any teacher can teach jazz and 01:06:12.699 --> 01:06:17.400 your students can play jazz. And the best way 01:06:17.400 --> 01:06:21.380 is to go to thisisjazz .com and purchase your 01:06:21.380 --> 01:06:24.500 book. Yeah, thisisjazz .com. You can get my book. 01:06:24.559 --> 01:06:29.480 We have, I think it's Code Improv. for it's either 01:06:29.480 --> 01:06:32.900 five dollars off for free shipping um and yeah 01:06:32.900 --> 01:06:36.460 it's spiral bound so it stays open on the music 01:06:36.460 --> 01:06:39.860 stand it's also available there as an ebook and 01:06:39.860 --> 01:06:43.360 it's on amazon too if people uh prefer amazon 01:06:43.360 --> 01:06:47.239 i always prefer this is jazz .com but if if you 01:06:47.239 --> 01:06:49.940 want it's on amazon it's uh digital on music 01:06:49.940 --> 01:06:53.159 notes and uh and if you have piano marvel um 01:06:53.159 --> 01:06:56.550 that's that interactive We're also on Piano Marvel, 01:06:56.730 --> 01:06:58.889 just the compositions, though, not the information 01:06:58.889 --> 01:07:02.130 stuff. So if you want to do the play alongs there. 01:07:02.309 --> 01:07:06.750 But yeah, that's probably more than enough. Short 01:07:06.750 --> 01:07:10.269 answer, just go to thisisjazz .com. Great. So 01:07:10.269 --> 01:07:13.320 what's the best way for my audience to... get 01:07:13.320 --> 01:07:16.099 in touch with you that would be Instagram account 01:07:16.099 --> 01:07:20.920 or yeah Instagram is it's my name Quentin Walston 01:07:20.920 --> 01:07:24.980 Q -U -E -N -T -I -N you can also reach out directly 01:07:24.980 --> 01:07:27.480 at this is jazz I think it's contact at this 01:07:27.480 --> 01:07:31.559 is jazz you're not going to go to a spam folder. 01:07:31.739 --> 01:07:34.400 I'll, I'll, I'll read your stuff personally and 01:07:34.400 --> 01:07:37.340 I'll, I'll, I'll be happy to answer any questions. 01:07:38.000 --> 01:07:40.239 And yeah, I'm not, I just want to help teachers. 01:07:40.340 --> 01:07:42.380 So if you have, if you have questions, you're 01:07:42.380 --> 01:07:44.139 like, Hey, this chord doesn't make sense. Or 01:07:44.139 --> 01:07:46.280 just, just let me know. I'm happy to, I'm happy 01:07:46.280 --> 01:07:49.039 to help. I'm available. Great. And then you, 01:07:49.099 --> 01:07:52.679 your YouTube channel is at, this is jazz, no? 01:07:53.019 --> 01:07:56.000 This is jazz. I think it's, this is jazz official. 01:07:56.420 --> 01:08:00.289 Official. Yes. This is jazz official. Yeah. uh 01:08:00.289 --> 01:08:03.289 this is jazz official yes somebody this is jazz 01:08:03.289 --> 01:08:06.690 oh you need to fight them for it no okay well 01:08:06.690 --> 01:08:09.449 it's official so your yours is more official 01:08:09.449 --> 01:08:14.690 all right thank you so much for this conversation 01:08:14.690 --> 01:08:17.729 is is there anything else i mean we are going 01:08:17.729 --> 01:08:20.720 to go to the rapid fire questions but Anything 01:08:20.720 --> 01:08:22.840 else that you need to cover? I don't think so. 01:08:22.939 --> 01:08:26.140 I enjoyed this so much. Thank you for having 01:08:26.140 --> 01:08:29.640 me. This has been incredible. Oh, thank you so 01:08:29.640 --> 01:08:32.760 much. So before I let you go, we have one more 01:08:32.760 --> 01:08:34.939 thing to do. The Pianopods rapid fire questions. 01:08:34.979 --> 01:08:38.539 Now we take this segment very seriously. You've 01:08:38.539 --> 01:08:41.159 shared your stories and expertise today, but 01:08:41.159 --> 01:08:44.609 these. Questions carefully curated by our team 01:08:44.609 --> 01:08:47.689 will give our listeners a glimpse into who you 01:08:47.689 --> 01:08:50.609 truly are. So let's do this. Let's do it. So 01:08:50.609 --> 01:08:54.090 answer each question as short as possible. No 01:08:54.090 --> 01:08:58.229 explanation is necessary. Level one. What is 01:08:58.229 --> 01:09:03.770 your comfort food? Sweets. In anything particular? 01:09:05.390 --> 01:09:09.069 Probably chocolate. Probably chocolate. All right. 01:09:09.880 --> 01:09:12.760 How do you like your coffee in the morning? Black, 01:09:12.979 --> 01:09:16.340 no cream, no sugar. All right. Cats or dogs? 01:09:17.600 --> 01:09:23.699 Dogs, but I have one of each. Oh, poor cat. Sunrise 01:09:23.699 --> 01:09:31.800 or sunset? Probably sunset, though I am an early 01:09:31.800 --> 01:09:38.239 riser. Okay. Summer or winter? Summer. Okay. 01:09:38.720 --> 01:09:42.399 now level two okay what skill have you always 01:09:42.399 --> 01:09:45.319 wanted to learn but haven't had a chance to oh 01:09:45.319 --> 01:09:48.060 skill i've always wanted to learn haven't had 01:09:48.060 --> 01:09:52.739 a chance to i can't dance and my wife can so 01:09:52.739 --> 01:09:55.479 i bet she would love it and i know she told me 01:09:55.479 --> 01:09:57.640 she would love it if i could dance so that that's 01:09:57.640 --> 01:10:00.539 probably that would be okay sounds good what 01:10:00.539 --> 01:10:03.100 is your favorite word oh what is your word or 01:10:03.100 --> 01:10:07.989 words to live by Words to live by. I'm Christian, 01:10:08.149 --> 01:10:09.689 so I'm going to have to go with that. I'm going 01:10:09.689 --> 01:10:11.029 to love the Lord your God with all your heart, 01:10:11.050 --> 01:10:13.289 soul, and mind and strength. All right. Sounds 01:10:13.289 --> 01:10:16.810 good. What is the most important quality you 01:10:16.810 --> 01:10:21.449 look for in other people? Oh, man. Kindness. 01:10:22.989 --> 01:10:27.069 Name a composer or jazz pianist you wish more 01:10:27.069 --> 01:10:31.689 people knew about. More people knew about? Probably 01:10:31.689 --> 01:10:37.039 Lenny Tristano. Oh, I don't know. Lenny Tristano. 01:10:37.460 --> 01:10:42.880 Okay. I need to look this person up. Okay. Now, 01:10:42.960 --> 01:10:44.979 level three. Two more questions to go. All right. 01:10:45.479 --> 01:10:48.760 Name one piece or one song in your current playlist. 01:10:49.000 --> 01:10:51.520 It doesn't matter what genre it is. Oh, just 01:10:51.520 --> 01:10:55.420 one piece or one song. I was listening to Brad 01:10:55.420 --> 01:11:00.020 Meldow play Think of One, which is a Thelonious 01:11:00.020 --> 01:11:04.310 Monk. I'm working on Monk and I wanted to hear 01:11:04.310 --> 01:11:07.970 how he interpreted that piece. Okay. I'll check 01:11:07.970 --> 01:11:11.170 it out. Now fill in the blank. Usually it's music 01:11:11.170 --> 01:11:18.010 is blank, but for you, it's jazz is blank. Creative. 01:11:19.470 --> 01:11:23.369 Oh, yeah. Great. Great answer. Quentin, thank 01:11:23.369 --> 01:11:25.689 you so much for joining us today, for sharing 01:11:25.689 --> 01:11:28.250 your story and with some expertise. I really 01:11:28.250 --> 01:11:30.949 enjoyed it. And thank you so much for being such, 01:11:31.010 --> 01:11:36.189 for your openness and generosity. So to our audience, 01:11:36.289 --> 01:11:38.710 if you'd like to explore more of Quentin's work, 01:11:38.810 --> 01:11:41.829 visit his website at QuentinWalston .com and 01:11:41.829 --> 01:11:45.029 follow his YouTube channel at This Is Jazz Official. 01:11:45.949 --> 01:11:50.390 full practical jazz tips and educational materials 01:11:50.390 --> 01:11:53.529 and performance clips as well. And behind the 01:11:53.529 --> 01:11:56.229 scenes insights into his projects. You can also 01:11:56.229 --> 01:11:59.430 connect with him on Instagram, Quentin Walston. 01:12:00.079 --> 01:12:02.520 And you can find all the links in the show notes. 01:12:02.680 --> 01:12:05.319 And of course, a huge thank you to all of you, 01:12:05.340 --> 01:12:07.600 our faithful fans and listeners for tuning in. 01:12:07.680 --> 01:12:09.640 If you enjoyed today's episode, please give it 01:12:09.640 --> 01:12:12.960 a thumbs up and subscribe to the PianoPod on 01:12:12.960 --> 01:12:15.539 YouTube. Share and review this episode on your 01:12:15.539 --> 01:12:18.159 favorite social media platform and tag the PianoPod. 01:12:18.300 --> 01:12:20.680 It's one of the best ways to help our community 01:12:20.680 --> 01:12:24.300 grow. And we love hearing your feedback. For 01:12:24.300 --> 01:12:27.239 the latest updates, guest news and stories that 01:12:27.239 --> 01:12:29.890 spark creativity and connection. Follow The Piano 01:12:29.890 --> 01:12:32.850 Pod on Substack, TikTok, and LinkedIn. I'll see 01:12:32.850 --> 01:12:34.970 you in the next episode of The Piano Pod. Thank 01:12:34.970 --> 01:12:37.090 you so much, Quentin. Thank you. I appreciate 01:12:37.090 --> 01:12:39.069 it. Thank you so much. Yay.