Branford Marsalis tells the Truth!

[AndyCat]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rz2jRHA9fo

[MartyNeilan]

Bingo.

[bort]

Wow Branford, is that *really* what you've learned from your students?

(Not that I totally disagree with what he's saying, just seems a bit tacky and agenda-driven, more than actually useful or interesting... Kids are and always have been full of crap. That's part of being a kid... how to learn your place, know your goals, and figure out how to make them happen. Maybe the full interview would give more context?)

[tbn.al]

All I can say is AMEN Brother! I haven't followed Branford very closely and didn't realize he was so in touch with our society. WOW! He really hit the nail on the head. I bought my grandaugther a violin for Christmas last year. She takes from a wonderful teacher who not only understands violin but kids. Whenever she gets stuck on something she just wants to throw down the violin and quit. She loves it when someone percieves her as a violinist but doesn't want to do the work to become one. She is only 6 however. There is time to fix it if we really want to.

I am embroiled in a similar situation with adults in a large religious organization I am very close to. The perception of reality is deemed to be more important than reality itself. In my opinion, few of the "praise choruses" we are now using will stand the test of time, while music that has stood the test of time is being ignored, because it is too hard to pull it off and the musically illiterate in the pews don't know the difference. I am finding this everywhere in our society it seems except one place. Work. Sales figures are sales figures. At the end of the month no one cares about what your perception of your performance is. What a shock is in store for these kids when they find out that all these good vibes they are getting don't translate into food, clothing and shelter. RANT OVER!

[Todd S. Malicoate]

As someone who teaches "jazz improvisation" at a university (a rather UNTEACHABLE subject, but that's another thread), I can say without a doubt that Branford is spot on. Almost all of my students enter that class with the expectation that they will learn to play like Charlie Parker without having to practice.

[BVD Press]

Me thinks I must be one of Branford's students...

[Mojo workin']

"It works as long as everyone is winking at the same time."

Man, he couldn't have said it any better.

[bort]

Just seems like a bad answer to the question to me. The question was "What have you learned from your students?" All the stuff he said is interesting, but not particularly an answer to the question.

[chrisginstl]

I am finding this everywhere in our society it seems except one place. Work. Sales figures are sales figures. At the end of the month no one cares about what your perception of your performance is. What a shock is in store for these kids when they find out that all these good vibes they are getting don't translate into food, clothing and shelter. RANT OVER!

While true, not even sales figures are sales figures these days. In our "sh!t rolls downhill" paradigm, artificially crafted sales objectives get levied on inept sales VPs ... who believe that because they were promoted to sales VPs they are somehow "experts". And when I ... err, when "a sales person" goes out as a front to a company with no support, limited marketing, and an unclear value to the client our results are somehow linked to our individual abilities. Credit/blame gets assigned accordingly to preserve the inept Sales VP's title and the cycle continues...

Kids these days generally don't seem as self-directed and interested in mastery as in generations past. However, a more concerning problem to me is the self-preservation tactics of our current "masters". Credit and blame, life-time jobs, a focus on how we've always done it. A wave of youth is coming up, and increasingly changing what is important in our society. Their attitude towards today's masters: "if I can't grow beyond your skill level, then I will create my own ... and slowly you will become irrelevant".

Easy to scoff at the grass roots, but they will be very important ... very soon.

[Michael Bush]

Title seen on a child's poster displayed in an elementary school hallway:

SELF OF STEAM PROJECT

[mceuph]

Really off-topic, bad answer to the question that was asked of him. The question wasn't "what do you think about students today?", it was "What have you learned from your students?" Yes, some students today have a problem with a sense of entitlement, but name a time when this wasn't a problem. If he truly hasn't learned anything from his students, then the students may not be the problem. I have never seen him teach, but if he's ONLY telling his students how bad they are, then I would understand how he thinks they have an attitude problem.

[Dylan King]

This sort of behavior was accurately prophesied long ago...

2 Timothy 3
Perilous Times and Perilous Men
1 But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: 2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, 4 traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power.

[chrisginstl]

Pointy-haired boss in Dilbert cartoons has a strange talent ... he can be seen in almost every kind of organization or community. Pointing at students as being THE problem is a little simplistic don't you think?

[TexTuba]

Pointing at students as being THE problem is a little simplistic don't you think?

Are you one of Branford's students?

[chrisginstl]

Are you one of Branford's students?

Nope ... one of Branford's student's parents who has told my kid that they're a winner!

[TUBAD83]

Really off-topic, bad answer to the question that was asked of him. The question wasn't "what do you think about students today?", it was "What have you learned from your students?" Yes, some students today have a problem with a sense of entitlement, but name a time when this wasn't a problem. If he truly hasn't learned anything from his students, then the students may not be the problem. I have never seen him teach, but if he's ONLY telling his students how bad they are, then I would understand how he thinks they have an attitude problem.

My next question to Branford would have been "So why do you have them as students? Why take their money and waste your time and theirs if you think so poorly of them?" If you are going to be a teacher, be a REAL one--correct the mindset or send them on their way. I also think its really unprofessional to speak badly of your students in public--it makes you look bad as well as your students.

As far as kids of today are concerned, the young people I meet, for the most part, are good, respectful, hard working folk. Yes there are some lazy self absorbed brats out there (way over represented on TV of course) but let us be careful not to demonize an entire generation over the actions of a few (remember, the same thing was said about your generation when YOU were young...you do remember that far back right???).

JJ

[PMeuph]

I feel that his answer was too much of a political statement and not an answer. From what I know, he has been teaching at a university level for the for the past 15 years or so. If he feels the system is such bullshit and the students are so "full of ****" why hasn't he done any thing to rectify the situation. He could create a private school that would move away from the "grade" and "degree" ineptitudes that the his essentially ranting about. I would assume that someone with his authority on Jazz (he is one of the major figures in jazz, and his name is a household name in the US) would have the influence and power to start his own "school."

(I will watch the rest of the movie to find out if he does propose any alternatives...)

[The Jackson]

I can only speak for myself. I found his comments to be very helpful. What I've tried to do since the first time I saw that video was try to be more self-aware in all things I do and really catch myself when I'm trying to bee-ess myself or others. I want to make sure that I'm held accountabilty for all the things in the realm of my grasp. For example, the first thing I really wanted to get rid of was blaming my tuba playing problems on my mouthpiece and other pieces of equipment.

[swillafew]

One can earn a Master's Degree in Jazz Studies at the school where he teaches. Just something to ponder...