Sense of humor.Coolness.

[emanresu]

Hey.

The attitude - do jazz musicians have a sense of humor? I haven't seen it myself.

The reason for asking this is not to troll at all - it just bugs me. I remember a visitor attending a classical guitar festival who
commented that all of us seem a bit crazy. Back then I couldn't see it but nowadays, I get it. So, do you have
a sense of humor about what you do music-wise? Can you afford making fun about what you are doing?

[A. Kingstone]

That's not funny.

[pamosmusic]

lSo, do you have
a sense of humor about what you do music-wise? Can you afford making fun about what you are doing?

Sure. Can’t really afford much else either way.

[mr. beaumont]

My self deprecating sense of humor is part of my charm.

[AllanAllen]

Humor is lost in text. Don’t judge us by the forum.

[emanresu]

Humor is lost in text. Don’t judge us by the forum.

True. I stopped joking in the Internet back in 2010. Too dangerous.

[pingu]

Ronnie Scott

[Doctor Jeff]

I wouldn’t generalize too much. I played with a sax player who had a dry sense of humor offstage but on the bandstand was like Buddy Rich—no nonsense.

And a lot of players take themselves too seriously.

OTOH, you have ample examples from Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, Joe Pass, Jon Scofield, and so many others to show that you can have fun both verbally and musically.

Look at Bucky and John Pizzarrelli playing together…John throwing in a riff from Smoke on the Water—Bucky flashing his s***-eating grin frequently…the players and the audience having a blast.

[Litterick]

Paul Desmond:

I was unfashionable before anyone knew who I was.

Our basic audience begins with creaking elderly types of twenty-three and above.

Sometimes I get the feeling that there are orgies going on all over new York City, and somebody says, `Let's call Desmond,' and somebody else says, 'Why bother? He's probably home reading the Encyclopedia Britannica.'

We're working as if it were going out of style — which of course it is.

I would also like to thank my father who discouraged me from playing the violin at an early age.

We used to get on planes, and they’d ask who we were, and we’d say, ‘The Dave Brubeck Quartet’, and they’d say, ‘Who?’ In later years they’d say, ‘Oh’, which amounts to the same thing.

[ragman1]

It's a sad world when we have to apologise for being light and happy about things, isn't it?

[Jimmy Smith]

My teacher is goofy. :P

[emanresu]

At one performance for large audience, Stan Getz said something like "well, the obligatory Girl from Ipanema now. Lets get it over with".
He didn't say it with a comical manner. But it was so funny still

[ragman1]

Start every day off with a smile and get it over with.

W.C. Fields.

[DonEsteban]

The problem is that the "funny" colleagues like to repeat themselves over and over again. And after 2 years you've heard the same "funny" line or joke 30 or more times and it just gets on your nerves.

By the way, in my experience this is no different with classical or rock/pop music, nothing worse than the "permanent joke makers".

But there are rare specimens of musicians who really let off creative stuff, and then you have a good laugh. But those are really rare.

Myself, for example, very rarely do I come up with a new funny thing that hasn't been said before. But sometimes I do...

[mr. beaumont]

Paul Desmond:

I was unfashionable before anyone knew who I was.

Our basic audience begins with creaking elderly types of twenty-three and above.

Sometimes I get the feeling that there are orgies going on all over new York City, and somebody says, `Let's call Desmond,' and somebody else says, 'Why bother? He's probably home reading the Encyclopedia Britannica.'

We're working as if it were going out of style — which of course it is.

I would also like to thank my father who discouraged me from playing the violin at an early age.

We used to get on planes, and they’d ask who we were, and we’d say, ‘The Dave Brubeck Quartet’, and they’d say, ‘Who?’ In later years they’d say, ‘Oh’, which amounts to the same thing.

Paul was reportedly writing (or thinking of writing) a memoir titled "How Many of You Are There in the Quartet?" (A question they were asked often by airline employees)

I wish he would have finished it.

[lammie200]

Les Paul had a great sense of humor, IMHO. Hell, they even named a guitar after him which he thought was joke.

[wintermoon]

Dizzy for President

[emanresu]

The problem is that the "funny" colleagues like to repeat themselves over and over again. And after 2 years you've heard the same "funny" line or joke 30 or more times and it just gets on your nerves.

That's exactly like word by word from a friend. A busy working drummer. Says that he cant wait for to just play and then quickly go home. Same old chit-chat gets old over the years.

[oldane]

Trumpeter Alan Rubin was a studio musician who became famous in the "Blues Brothers" movie. He was also known among other musicians for his dry wit.

"Blues Brothers" earned him a nice little sum of money. Part of it was spent on his life dream, a Mercedes "Gull Wing". One day he drove up in his Mercedes in the parking lot outside a studio where that days conductor noticed him.

Up in the studio the conductor asked him in front of the other musicians: "How come you can afford to drive a Gull Wing? You are just a trumpet player."

Rubin:" Yes, but you see, I double on fluegelhorn. "

[Irishmuso]

Playing at a gig in the cobbled yard at the side of a pub. Our alto sax player was taking a solo when one of the bar men came past the stage trundling a wheeled bin full of empty bottles. Made quite a racket on the cobbles. When the song ended our sax player turned around and said, 'what did you think of the xylophone solo?'

[princeplanet]

Yeah, but cool is more important than "funny" .... anyway, the coolest jazz musicians are always very dry, which is my favourite kinda humour. What's your's?

[grahambop]

I read that when the great Irish jazz guitarist Louis Stewart was on his death-bed, his family asked him whether he wished to be buried or cremated.

’Surprise me!’ said Louis.

[grahambop]

By the way, bassist Bill Crow’s books of jazz anecdotes are well worth reading. Loads of great examples of jazz musicians’ humour in there.

[emanresu]

Yeah, but cool is more important than "funny" .... anyway, the coolest jazz musicians are always very dry, which is my favourite kinda humour. What's your's?

Physical!

[Herbie]

My first jazz records in my late twenties was a randomly bought Miles Davis record. Once I listened one of the songs, Bag's Groove, and during the piano solo I suddenly started to wonder: WHAT... IS THIS??! The player tries to get a phrase straight but does not succeed. Tries and tries, no luck. At last he gets it right and solo continues.

I had never heard nothing as tickling and funny!

I had to check who the pianist was and so I made acquaintance with Monk. He is still my favourite pianist – or musician altogether – and I sense a lot of humor in his music. Not very apparent at all, lurking here and there. But of course Monk's music is not only humor.

I live in second biggest city in Finland. My friend double bassist once defined that You can always tell if a jazz musician comes from our capital city: he/she plays eyes closed, cool to the end, no expressions in the face. He/she takes him/herself seriously. No fun.

But instead a jazz musician from our smaller city can play hard, deep and seriously too – but in the end of the song or solo he/she has to play something comical, just to make clear that 'hey, this is only music, this ain't the whole world'.

I guess You know both types.