It is easy to be impressed by jazz musicians… if you are not one yourself. We are, after all, an impressive bunch. And I know what you’re thinking when you see us up on stage: Am I watching mere mortals, or have the very gods themselves descended from Olympus to bless us with their musical gifts?
Yep, we sound great. One might even say perfect. But I’m about to divulge an inside secret. Jazz musicians screw up all the time. But you might not actually notice, and I’m going to tell you why. It should be no surprise that people make mistakes whilst doing their jobs. But some jobs are more high-stakes than others. If, for example, a brain surgeon screws up badly enough, someone’s probably dead, and it will likely make the papers, and then the courts. But if a musician screws up, the only thing that gets hurt is our ego. And because no one is directly affected by our momentary lapses in musical precision, these blunders are actually quite easy to cover up.
At this point, the more artistically minded of you might be thinking, What’s the big deal? This is art. Mistakes are part of the beauty of performance, and wrong notes are an intrinsic fabric in the rich tapestry of improvised music. Let me tell you—anyone who’s thinking “there ain’t no wrong notes in jazz” never heard me play an early Sunday bunch gig with a hangover.
The good news is, if a jazz musician makes a
