"...Parker was important, and it was with him that I first discovered that it is not enough to play melody, but that rhythm is also important and that melody is rhythm..."
"...Jazz is part of a tradition from before the word 'jazz' was invented; there was ragtime and other music building on harmony, and Afro-centric in that melody and harmony were an appendix to the rhythm. To keep the structure. It's important to check out the rhythm first. Do you understand it, or does it need more of an explanation? The rhythm was dominant, but to be what we call jazz, music must consist of certain elements of structure and form. In the Western world, melody is most important with rhythm and harmony as accompaniment. Always check out the rhythm, if it's static it means the music is dead. If you use an academic approach, you can learn the melodies, but they will lack rhythmic interaction..."
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