NOW, A JAZZ MOMENT...

MUSIC: Naima

Dave Liebman:  What you communicate and what you have to say is based on who you are.  And that's really what the music's about.

FOR NEA JAZZ MASTER DAVE LIEBMAN (AND ALL US MUSICIANS OUT HERE!), THE CHALLENGE IN EXPRESSING WHO WE ARE LIES IN STRIKING THE PERFECT BALANCE BETWEEN TECHNIQUE AND EMOTION.

Dave Liebman: You're lookin' for a balance between it, and that's the goal, of course that's life long.  But that's a little bit of a story at the end.  We're talking about your life leads up to the ability to be able to emote and say the story which is based on technical and intellectual and understanding, then you can transcend that, ?cause that's not what people wanna hear.  They wanna hear feeling.  They wanna get a feeling.  And the only way you get to that is if you transcend the thought.  And that means, you've done enough work that you can do it.  I couldn't do it as good ten years ago, certainly not twenty years ago.  And that's what maturity is as an artist, is, not necessarily gain more, do more, faster, quicker, that could all happen...louder, softer, yes.  It's that, your ability to get to the heart of the music, for you, is quicker, easier and more apparent and therefore more convincing to the listener.

 MUSIC: up for punctuation, then fades under and out

THIS JAZZ MOMENT WITH SAXOPHONIST DAVE LIEBMAN WAS CREATED BY THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS.  I'M CHRISTIAN MCBRIDE.