I have a few things outlined below that have been important to me over the years. This is by no means a complete list, just a few things that come to mind at the moment. This also assumes that the technical side of playing/improvisation is being taken care of to the best of one's ability. Listening to and learning music from many different styles. Even though I mostly talk about Jazz concepts on this channel, I play many different styles. The lessons I have learned play Afro Cuban music for example have been incredibly helpful for me as a Jazz musician. Playing with musicians who are better than you. This really helps push you and keeps you hungry to improve/learn. Finding my "voice" as a player. This hasn't really clicked for me until the last few years. For me this has meant connecting with the work I do as a composer and arranger but also from feeling confident in the fact that I don't/can't play like some of the more virtuosic players on the trombone (Carl Fontana, Marshall Gilkes, etc.). Coming to terms with the fact that I can still make valid, compelling creative statements even though I can't play super high or fast has been very freeing for me as a player. This has lead to a fair amount of growth in the last 4-5 years.

@@ShawnBellMusic Thanks for the thoughtful response, Shawn. Your transparent statement, "feeling confident in the fact that I don't/can't play like some of the more virtuosic players," hit home with me. I'm in my 8th year playing Sax and learning Jazz theory. The lack of confidence is always present despite people saying I have something special. I tend to think they don't know what they are saying. Part of it is the more I learn and get under my fingers, the more I realize how much more there is to master. Most people, including myself in the beginning, have no understanding of how difficult playing Jazz is.

@@joel6427 If you're at the "the more I learn, the more I realize I have a lot to learn" place in your playing, you are probably on the right path. That feeling is both the best and worse part about being a musician. Keep at it.

This is a bach 36 with a few modifications done to it. It has a removable lead pipe and a convertable bell section. I am using a brad close(brass ark) MV36 lead pipe in nickel.

Thanks for the reply

Gotta crawl before you run ...

Why are you on a video about learning standards? The point is to make them your own. Monk, Coltrane, Miles all played standards and made them their own. Kind of a huge part of jazz.

When you say try anything new, do you mean suggesting a tune nobody else knows at a jam session, or a totally improvised approach ? Or do you mean resistance from musicians to learning a new tune at a rehearsal (rare as such things may be)?

Anything new. Nothing made personal. Literally just playing off the sheet….

@nateshiz9696 Thinking that standards are only for a "bunch old dudes" tells me how ignorant you are. Look at all the young players out there playing standards. They put their own spin on them. And they're called "standards" for a reason: they're universally-known, and allow players who've never before played together to play. Any decent jazzer knows "Rhythm" changes, for example, and so many tunes are based on that chord progression. If you hate playing standards, you probably won't make it as a jazz musician.