I came across a small cafe with live jazz, and sat in for a while. I have played alto saxophone going on 10 years now, with an emphasis on jazz study and improvisation.

I have never heard jazz like I heard at this cafe.

The sound was foreign to me, and did not line up with my knowledge of the genre. The chord progressions didn’t seem to work, the meter changed almost at random, and the rhythm was erratic. It was different than what I knew.

But it was good.

I had been observing the places I traveled to, and contrasting them to what I knew from living in America. Hearing these musicians play shattered that entire frame of reference. I realized that observing difference is irrelevant. Experiencing a new place is best done without expectation or comparison, as each culture, city, or country is unique in its own right.

Each culture instills a set of values into its people, which often sets the precedent for the ignorance or misunderstanding of another’s. The values become rules. I decided to stop comparing the values of different places and people to what I knew from America, and rather focus on seeing and understanding these values to the best of my ability.

What sounds good to one group might not sound great to another. The rules are a construct, and every culture has its own set. I think it is necessary to abandon this construct, these rules and values, in order to find one’s truth, or one’s true sound.

It’s a lot like jazz, really.

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with Grandmother

1928-2015

and Manchester

Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland