80．Did anyone promote your musical education when you were growing up?
There were the older jazz musicians who hung around our house when I was young. I saw how much they practiced, how serious they were about their art. I knew then I had to work just as hard if I wanted to succeed. Of course, my father inspired me a lot, and many teachers took the time to nurture my latent and the talents of other students in our school.

81．Do established musicians have a responsibility to guide and assist young up-and-coming musicians?
Yes. We’ve done such a poor job with music education because, as a society, we haven’t maintained the kind of education that a true artist and musician needs. Young people haven’t been able to equate romance and talent with music. For instance, most of the people who make it in the music industry today have to look good. How they sound is secondary. Sarah Vaughan, Bessie Smith, Ella Fitzgerald — those big, romantic queens of jazz music wouldn’t make it in today’s music industry, and that’s a shame. We need to teach young people about the alternatives.

82．What kind of “world music” do you enjoy?Around the would people make music that, if you listen carefully to it, sounds a little like the cadence of their language. I’d call it folk music. When I’m away from home, I make a point of listening to regional folk music, not what’s on the radio.

83．What’s wrong with the music on the radio?The same music is on the radio all over the world, and the American sound is overwhelming. Even the pop music that’s produced and created in foreign countries has that American beat, that underscore of funk. As a musician, I’m not interested in hearing recycled versions of the same genre over and over. Any music that doesn’t have a development section just isn’t interesting to me.

84．Does the contemporary music press give jazz the coverage it deserves?
The music press has so much to introduce these days, and jazz is just a small fraction of it. Because some people are intimidated by jazz, they don’t cover it unless it’s a big name. New jazz musicians don’t get much of break. A lot of editors don’t say anything about jazz these days unless it’s Marsalis. That’s a shame. What VH1 is doing with their Save the Music campaign is phenomenal. They’re getting all these instruments out to needy kids. It’s the kind of thing all networks should be doing.

80在你成长过程中，是否有人促进你音乐知识修养的提高呢？

在我年少时，总有些老爵士乐手逗留在我们的房子旁。我看到他们有多么勤奋地练习，看到他们对待艺术有多么的认真严肃，那时我便明了：如果我想成功的话我就该跟他们一样努力。当然啦，我父亲给了我很多灵感，很多老师花时间挖掘我的潜力培养我们学校其他学生的天分。


81卓有成就的音乐家是否有责任指导帮助崭露头角的年轻音乐家呢？

是的。我们在音乐教育方面做得很不好，因为作为一个社会，我们已经没能保持一个真正的艺术家、音乐家所需的那种教育。年轻人已经不能把浪漫、天分和音乐相等同起来。比如说，今天在音乐界获得成功的大部分人都必须长得好看，他们唱得如何倒是其次。像Sarah Vaughan, Bessie Smith, Ella Fitzgerald 的爵士乐浪漫天后们在今天就不可能走红。这真是令人羞愧。我们需要教年轻人学会两者选其一。


82．你欣赏哪种“世界音乐”呢？

如果你仔细听，你会发现全世界的人们创造的音乐都有点像他们语言的调子。我称之为民俗音乐。每当我出门在外，我会特意去听地方民俗音乐，不是电台广播中的那种。


83．电台放的音乐有什么问题吗？

全世界的电台都播相同的音乐，而美国的声音具有压倒性的优势。即便是外国制造创造的流行音乐也有美国式的拍子,乡土音乐的下划线。作为音乐家，我对一次次地听这些同类型的再生版本不感兴趣。任何音乐如果没有发展的部分，它对我而言就很无趣。


84．当代的娱乐界是否给了爵士乐足够的报道呢？

现在的娱乐界有这么多东西需要介绍，而爵士乐只是其中很小的一部分。有些人害怕爵士乐，所以除非是事关爵士乐大人物，否则他们不会对爵士乐进行报道。新的爵士乐手很少有机会可以独奏爵士乐华彩段。除非是关于Marsalis的报道，否则许多编辑对爵士乐只字不提。真令人羞愧。VH1频道的“拯救音乐”活动效果显著。他们把所有这些乐器送给贫穷的小孩子们。这种行为是所有广播网都该效仿的。