[Dixielandjazz] Yogi Berra's take on: What is Jazz?

[Steve barbone]

>From another jazz list:

Someone sent this to me purportedly an interview with Yogi Berra (the old
American baseball player) on jazz.  Yogi, if you don't know, had a
reputation for twisting things he said.  I think it was Yogi who said, "It
ain't over 'til it's over," or "it's Deja Vu all over again." While I doubt
the authenticity, it's  still funny. Not only that, but it might remind us
all of posts over the years on the DJML.

Cheers,
Steve Barbone

INTERVIEWER: Welcome Yogi, can you explain what Jazz is?
YOGI: I can't, but I will. 90% of all jazz is half improvisation. The other
half is the part people play while others are playing something they never
played with anyone who played that part. So if you play the wrong  part,
it's right. If you play the right part, it might be right if you play it
wrong enough. But if you play it too right, it's  wrong.
 
INTERVIEWER: I don't understand.
YOGI: Anyone who  understands jazz knows that you can't understand it. It's
too complicated. That's what's so simple about it.
 
INTERVIEWER: Do you understand it?
YOGI: No. That's why I can explain it. If I understood it, I wouldn't know
how to explain anything about it.
 
INTERVIEWER: Are there any great jazz players alive today?
YOGI: No. All the great jazz players alive today are dead. Except for the
ones that are still alive. But so many of them are  dead, that the ones that
are still alive are dying to be like the  ones that are dead. Some would
kill for it.
 
INTERVIEWER: What is syncopation?
YOGI: That's when the  note that you should hear now happens either before
or after you hear it. In jazz, you don't hear notes when they happen because
that would  be some other type of music. Other types of music can be jazz,
but  only if they're the same as something different from those other
kinds.
 
INTERVIEWER: Now I really don't understand.
YOGI: That's because I  haven't taught you enough for you to not understand
jazz that  well.