Renowned vibraphonist, and literal rising star Sasha Berliner and I chat about developing a deeper connection with harmony, practical ways to develop your own voice, and the community progress made since her 2017 “Open Letter“.
Everyone has a gift, and everyone has the potential to bring out that gift. That’s what makes all of us be able to exist in the music world at the same time. Even if there are other vibraphonists, or other drummers, the the fact that we all have different things to say is the reason why we can all exist and all have work at the same time.
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Actionable Advice
- Before then extensions were always just like numbers. I knew how to find the numbers but I didn’t understand the emotional relationship. What is the emotional poignancy of a dom7 13b9 chord? I just didn’t know.
- I feel like my whole time in jazz education has been a lot of people telling me to sound like someone else or someone who existed before me. Stefon, his whole thing was “you tell YOUR story.”
- I didn’t mind the inconsistency (of adjunct faculty). For me the impact alone of these musicians being working musicians doing things that are new to the industry even after a hundred years of it existing is the most inspiring stuff.
- Now I’m more preoccupied with the music speaking for itself. I got kind of sick of people asking me about the article all the time instead of my music. Hey, I’m a musician. I’m not an opportunity for you to get more views on your website or your newspaper because you have a catchy headliner like “sexism in jazz is coming to a head”. When you interview me I want you to ask me about ME.
- It’s not just because I’m a student and I’m till learning. No, people who are true masters of the music can still experience this kind of thing and that’s how deep it runs.
Sasha Highlights
An Open Letter To Ethan Iverson (And The Rest of Jazz Patriarchy)